The lidocaine pop is when they inject a bleb of lidocaine under the skin where they do the IV. It stops the sting from the needle going in, it doesn't hurt when they go fishing and it stops that ache at the site when the IV is running. I tried it a few months ago and I swear by it now, since I always had that ache, sort of like you left ice on a sprain for too long.

The sore throat thing was after my first two or three infusions. It was like mild tonsillitis. I grew back part of my tonsils after removal when I was 4 or 5. I always had mild sore throats through the years when they would get inflamed during a cold or whatever. I got one after the first few infusions and I haven't had one since! Maybe Tysabri blocked the T cells there too!