IVSM Survival Kit.
 

Some of you may have seen this already, but i thought I would share on the board too for anyone who may be interested.

I am starting another 5 days of IVSM today. Which reminded me to go to the store before the nurse gets here and pick up all of the things I remember needing from the last time I did this. And then I thought I should share this for anyone who is about to go on IVSM. These are things my doctor didn't tell me I needed.

1. Gatorade! Lots and lots of gatorade!You will need all of the electrolytes you can get.

2. Hershey's chocolate bars!Big ones! Why? Because the IVSM causes your blood sugar to go haywire and they best solution is a little bit of chocolate to help regulate it.

3. Cranberry juice. The last time I was on IVSM I ended up on water pills because I was retaining fluid so bad. I gained 7 lbs in 3 days! You need to be able to pee to flush some of this out.

4. Mints. IVSM leaves a horrible taste in your mouth. The mints help you to make it thru the infusion without being nauseated.

5. True Lime water flavoring packets. These are very strong and normally don't taste very good. If you are not hydrated it increases your chances of blowing a vein. My last 5 day round resulted in 6 blown veins. I couldn't drink water because of the taste from the IVSM. The true lime is very strong and helped to override that taste so that I could drink water.

6. Excedrin. Migraines normally hit me when my blood sugar starts spiking and falling. Excedrin helps.

7. Make sure all of your prescriptions are refilled. You are not going to want to leave your house to go get medications if you run out.

8. Movies. I rented a bunch of movies this morning because I know I am going to be home alone and not feeling like moving.

9. Fruit, Veggie, and Cheese trays. I buy the little ones. It helps to be able to eat a little bit every few hours. These are very filling, they help settle your stomach and regulate your blood sugar. they are also a lot more nutritious than popcorn or candy while you are zoned out watching movies.

I am sure there are more things to add to the list, but these are the ones I remembered today. And if anyone else has any suggestions please feel free to comment.

One thing I found better than Gatorade is V8 Calcium Enriched because it has way more potassium in it and that helped me more than anything.

Also, have them infuse it very slowly. One time when they infused it too fast, I got bad headaches. My neuro had them slow it down to between 1 and 2 hours per IV and I did far better.

My veins are also shot from too much IVSM, so I leave the hep-lock in for the whole treatment. Once they get it in, leave it no more poking. I just wrap it in gauze to hide / protect it and I use Glad Press & Seal to keep it dry in the shower.

What a wonderfully thoughtful thread! Thank you, Legzzalot, for starting it, and thanks to all who contribute. I’ve never been on IVSM, but I suppose that this, as well as many other unpleasantries, is potentially in my future. Your sharing this information goes a long way toward making me feel that I am at least a little prepared for the worst. It really helps a lot. Thank you very much.
:hug:

Thanks you guys! I was just wondering how I am going to take a shower with this thing in my hand.

On the plus side I now have an excuse for not cooking or doing dishes for the next 4 days! And I made another yummy fruit smoothie which I drank while the bag dripped. so far so good aside from the one blown vein in my left hand and the yucky taste, no major issues to report.

I have also found that if I have the IVSM mixed with D5W instead of saline, it helps reduce that nasty taste, helps reduce the bloating, and saves the wear and tear on your veins that saline solution causes.

This is a little trick I learned early on from one of the nurses. My veins are so tiny that they roll and blow. The nurse said that saline solution just eats them. D5W is much kinder on your veins. Since we started using that mixture, I noticed an immediate change in the bloating - fluid retention and the most noticeable of all was the taste. That metallic taste from the solumedrol was reduced significantly.

Worth a try. You have to ask your doc to write the rx so the pharmacy will mix the solumedrol with D5W instead of saline.

I've had about 35 or so IVSM infusions since 2001. :eek: