I knew it was bound to happen. Nearly six months into treatment, I am experiencing serious shot fatigue.
We’ve not exactly been vigilant in following the when of the injection here lately. It’s supposed to be every other night, but I think we’ve gone about three days without doing one this past week.
The where is another issue.
My thighs are blooming with bruises — very Monet, yet very tricky to find a spot to prick myself that isn’t tender.
My stomach, usually an easy enough place to give the shot, developed some sort of allergic reaction last night.
So right now, me and the needle are not on good terms.
At our house, we refer to it as “shot night.” Which is a different animal to the “shot night” many might be familiar with.
For instance …
Shot night: It is primarily a spontaneous event, usually celebratory. Commences invariably after someone suggests, rather impishly, that shots are in order because: Someone got a promotion, a favorite sports team just won, someone finished school, it’s Tuesday.
Shot night, MS style: Not spontaneous or celebratory in the least. We have to plan around it, set aside a certain time for it, dutifully carry it out with no fanfare.
Shot night: Aspirin is needed the next morning because the room is still spinning.
Shot night, MS style: I load up on aspirin beforehand. The room still spins slightly the next morning.
Shot night: Wake up with hand stamp and something unintelligible written in Sharpie on an arm.
Shot night, MS style: Wake up with funny markings on whatever body part was up for the injection.
Shot night: Whoops of joy.
Shot night, MS style: Winces of pain.
Shot night: Can’t just do one.
Shot night, MS style: Don’t want to do even one.
Shot night: Concoctions include swirling of ingredients, taken quickly, followed sometimes by a chaser.
Shot night, MS style: Concoction includes swirling of ingredients, taken quickly, followed by a cold pack chaser.
Shot night: Vow to never do it again, even if it was a little bit fun.
Shot night, MS style: Vow to do it again, even if it was painful as all get-out.
One, Wild & Precious 
Oh man: I’m so sorry! I used to have to do shots every day, Copaxone, up from every week, Avonex. I have talked to another MSer who reports that Betaseron shots make her extremely fatigued the next day, so she is often prone to skipping them too. 😦
And I was so happy when my neurologist told me I could stop. But then I realized that it also meant that my disease had continued to progress. So I say, keep your eyes on the prize…(well, I wouldn’t really say ‘prize’!)
I did find that heating the area rather than icing the area was helpful. Good luck!
You poor thing! I know there is a topical ointment that you can use to numb kids’ legs before they get their shots. Would that be feasible for you?