Hi all..
I will b starting my IVIG on Monday. First time. The hospital just told me they would give me some Tylenol and Benedryl beforehand. I need to know what else I need to do to prepare. I want to do all I can to prevent any side effects.

Thanks to all of you who have been down this road already and can share your words of wisdom with me!

God bless You!!
Jujuan

Hi Sweetheart! You are getting it for 5 days, right? If so you may want to have a PICC line placed - much less wear and tear on the veins.....

I can only speak form MY experience, but for ME, IV IG is GREAT stuff! Amazing!

The worst part for me was the line - that's why I requested the PICC line....if you DO have one placed they SHOULD do a sonogram of your arm - it will "feed" from around your elbow to right above your heart....THe next thing to remember to take a DEEP breath = literally. It will help with any discomfort. Keep the line DRY @ all times! Notify your dr or nurse if it swells or becomes red. This has NEVER, EVER happened to me - EVER!

As for the IV IG itself, it will be given over a course of several hours - @ first they will check your blood pressure and temp to make sure you are doing OK and will bump it up until they reach max rate.

Make sure to be very well hydrated before you go. It will make you feel better and the process to go faster.

Again for ME, it is AMAZING! The nurses all laugh @ me b/c once I have it in my system they can barely keep up with me! I love that stuff!

Make sure to pack for a LONG day -any books or comfy pillows can be stored by the nurses for you.

Hope this helps!
LOve,
Erin

Hi Jujuan,
Besides what Erin just wrote, I was advised to drink at least 1.5 liter of water per day during the IVIg's, it worked well for me.
About the rate of injection, it should be slow, about 3 hrs per bottle of 200 cc to start. If you're OK, (i.e. without headache), that rate could be increased to 1.5 hr per bottle, but you may only make suggestions…
Maurice.

Hi Erin
Thanks for the advice. I'm not sure what they are going to want to do. I guess I will know when I get there. I sure I do as well as you do when I go. I've never had anything like this before, so I hope I do well.



Thanks Maurice,
I wondered how much water to drink. I'm going to start hydrating myself tomorrow the day before. I was wondering about the rate, I'm willing to sit there all day if it would help with the side effects. Also thanks for the rate info, I'm going to be fully aware of how much they are doing when we start.

I agree with the others - drink lots of fluids, take some healthy snacks, and watch the rate at which they are infusing it. If they increase the rate and you start to feel bad - light-headed, headache, whatever - then ask them to slow it down to a rate at which you don't feel those side effects. My personal preference is to take as long as necessary for the infusion to avoid the side effects. Don't be afraid to tell them you aren't feeling good and to please slow it down.

When I do it, they start really slow and bump it up every 30 minutes, essentially doubling it each time. But, I've found that I start to feel bad if we increase it too much at once (like doubling it from 60 to 120), so I get them to go from a rate of 60 to 100 and then to 120. I also rarely go over 120, even though the pharmacy instructions say that it can go up to a rate of 240 or something like that.