We didn't start the fire

Right, the plunge has been taken.

The Tecfidera has been cracked open and begun.

I had intended to start the new stuff over Christmas which, although possibly meaning a miserable festive time while I encountered the cornucopia of potential side effects, would have meant I was away from work.

But, as with many things in life, this was not to be as my MS nurse was off sick (still is actually, which is concerning as I have an appointment soon) and I couldn’t get the prescription signed off.

In the end, galloping to the rescue was my neurologist’s marvellous secretary who pinned down her boss and got him to sign it off. Not an easy task I would imagine.

But thanks to her, I was able to start the first week lower dose pack yesterday.

And while this was the day after a night out for a friend’s 40^th birthday, my thinking ran thus: a) if I’m feeling ropey the day after a few pints, I might as well combine it with any GI side effects and b) you can’t put it off forever.

I was prepared with my fatty, yet reasonably healthy, breakfast foods (avocado and banana smoothies – honestly, MUCH better than it sounds) and two slices of peanut butter on toast and took it.

Four hours after taking it I had a pretty firey flush from ears to chest which lasted for around an hour. Husband and daughter were on hand with a cool flannel and the cats merely stared, somewhat unnerved, as I stripped off clothing.

An hour later and the fire was out and my skin was back to normal. Later on, I was so tired I slept through any side effects of the second dose. I knew I was right to take it on a hangover because the evening-after sleeping was never going to be an issue.*

Today has been okay, mild flush, slightly itchy skin, slightly sore tum – it’s the upping to the double dose next week that I’m not looking forward to.

So far, and who knows what will happen next week with the double whammy, the main thing to deal with has been the twice daily, quite literally in-your-face reminder of disease.

As a once-a-week injectable it’s just something that I did on a Thursday and pretty much forgot about.

But with this, it’s every day, twice a day, a big green tablet with a voice which might as well be screaming “You have MS! You have MS!”

Previously I’ve managed to gag that voice – what side effect its constant repetition will have, I don’t know.

:: We didn’t start the fire by Billy Joel

*Please note: pretty sure this is not a medically recommended way of doing things. Don’t listen to me.