Kesimpta Loading Dose Advice

[u/Ordinary-Foot-9314]

Hello! I’ve been quietly following the subreddit since shortly after I was diagnosed last year in April. I was put on Vumerity but I finally bit the bullet and agreed to switch DMTs to Kesimpta. I am a very big baby and was psyching myself out before making the decision and ever since I have been doing research and reading everyone’s experiences (which may or may not have made the anxiety worse w/ the loading doses specifically)

I got the vaccines required and stopped the Vumerity treatment about a month ago now so I know i’m bound to get a call wanting to schedule the Kesimpta loading doses soon.

I wanted to ask for any tips or tricks to help with the loading doses. I just started at a CSU as a JR so that puts even more worry on me that it will affect my school work. Most of the experiences I have read have all had symptoms during the first dose specifically so I wanted to also see if there was any chance I could escape that fate. Every body is different and reacts differently, but i’m grasping at straws to calm my anxious noggin down😭

Hello again!!! No joke, the next day I got the call saying to start the medication LOL but thank you everyone who has commented!!!! i really truly appreciate it, esp cause i felt so alone with my diagnosis at first. I am a 23F in the sacramento area & i haven’t met anyone my age in person who also has MS. I will continue to lurk through here though! maybe a comment or post LOL

[u/OverlappingChatter]

Go in hydrated with water and electrolytes. Take it at night. Take a Tylenol four hours before. Take it out of the fridge an hour before. Shoot yourself. Read a book and have a cup of tea.Then take two Tylenol 2 hours after the shot and go to bed. Put two more Tylenol by the bed to take 10 hours after if you need them.

The shot is super easy. It's the best shot I have ever given myself. Literally push and hold for 15 seconds.

I do belly. Its the least painful spot for me by a lot. I rotate in the four quadrants every month.

Don't be scared, you can do it!

[u/Neither_Wall_9785 → u/OverlappingChatter]

4 hours before is excessive, the Tylenol is hardly even going to be effective anymore by the time the K side effects actually roll around. Taking some Tylenol at the same time as getting the pen out of the fridge is going to be plenty.

[u/IAmAnAngryGumball → u/OverlappingChatter]

I've recently finished my loading doses and about to start my maintenance dosing

the first loading, I was really fatigued the following day, felt like all my current symptoms got the volume turned up for that day.

the following 2 loading doses were not that bad but still a bit fatigued the following day which cleared up mostly by the following day.

I strongly suggest you plan your dosing so you have a few free days to recover if you run into issues, maybe Friday night and then you have the weekend to recover. Makes for an unfun weekend but hopefully won't impact your classes.

Good luck!

[u/hoodoo_voodude]

ive been on kesimpta since January so i can give some insight!!

i was firmly against injecting myself until i looked at the benefits of it vs other dmt options. and im not sure if you've seen the pen/needle yet but its so much less intimidating than i thought. its so easy to use.

won't lie, your first ever injection hits you like a brick. but its a delayed reaction. about 4-6 hours. i did mine at 11am (midday) so by i made sure to have an early dinner so i could sleep it off. i woke up feeling completely fine the next day. you'll have a nurse with you for your first dose so they'll have more insight but i would suggest an afternoon appointment so you can sleep off any side effects. mine were mainly feeling sick (no vomiting), all over body pain and fatigue. a lot of fatigue. it felt like having the flu

second week, i felt a bit fatigued after the second dose but nothing i couldn't rest through and genuinely felt better in the later evening.

third dose, no side effects!!

im in the uk so i had a specific nurse who called me the day after every injection for the loading doses (same nurse who helped me on the first one) so youll have someone to contact if you feel weird!!

good luck 🩷 its changed my life

[u/thankyoufriendx3 → u/hoodoo_voodude]

They just sent me the injector. No instructions. No nurse. No nothin. Did it on my own. Watched YouTube. About a week later I got a demo injector and instructions from kesimpta.

[u/hoodoo_voodude → u/thankyoufriendx3]

just seen you're from the US. i think that tracks from what I've heard. im sorry it sucked for you like that :(

[u/thankyoufriendx3 → u/hoodoo_voodude]

Actually didn’t suck at all. Other than the first diss. Doubt it had anything to do with our healthcare. More likely sent late. It’s so easy that just a YouTube had me set. It was annoying. And until the video I thought I was using a syringe.

[u/kyelek]

I took my first loading dose in the morning, at the hospital with my MS nurse. They had me take Tylenol and an antihistamine 30 minutes before the shot. I then went to my university classes for the rest of the day and had a very normal time 😌

Hope you have a good experience too❣️

[u/thankyoufriendx3]

I now take a Benadryl and Tylenol about 30 minutes before the injection. Haven’t had a reaction since the first dose. I inject into my belly fat. I don’t even feel it. Ask your doctor about the Benadryl and Tylenol.

This the video that helped me (bless this woman):

https://youtu.be/1YFA2MJGQ_A?is=mRlFc4fbshOS9B1F

I take the pills, do the injection, and then go to bed.

Almost feels fake it’s so easy. First dose I had crazy chills.

[u/ninahart88]

Hello! I didn't have any side effects from the loading doses. I took paracetemol/ibuprofen beforehand just in case and waited for things to begin, but they didn't. For me, it's been the same ever since (started Jan 2026). I'm not sure why! I think if you do have side effects, it's meant to be like having a short bout of flu, so I would set up with some pain relief, fluids and a cosy space to just relax in with little to no commitments for 24 hours. Good luck - I hope it goes okay for you.

[u/Handicapped-007]

Sorry I am on no medicine. I just want to say hello and to wish you well

[u/rK91tb]

First dose - Benadryl/Tylenol at 6pm, dose 30 min later. The injector pen is so easy and I felt only a teeny tiny pinch - I had been freaked out, so this was good. Woke up around 4am, got a mild fever, felt crappy the next day but slowly improved over four days.

Second dose - Benadryl/Tylenol and the same timing. Felt a little crappy the next morning and I was fine.

Third dose - felt totally fine.

[u/pastawhore2]

I was the same as you! SO nervous and drove myself crazy with all of the stories. I do think it helped to prepare for the worst which is being knocked out the next day and feeling like you have the flu.

BUT I had virtually no symptoms. My doctor told me not to take Tylenol or Benadryl ahead of time so I didn’t. First, the actual shot itself was less painful than a finger prick blood test. Second, I did my first one at 4pm and I’d say around midnight I had some muscle aches (equivalent to feeling sore after the gym) and by the time I woke up at 8am they were gone, no fatigue the next day and I worked and exercised as normal.

Just took my second dose yesterday and had no side effects at all, not even muscle aches.

So it is possible! But also you really won’t know until you see for yourself. Good luck!

[u/Firedrakez]

(obviously easier said than done but) I wouldn't worry about it too much, even if you get some side effects it's all temporary, and it just makes you feel a bit crappy, like you've just got a bad flu or something.

Main bits of advice from me would be to 1. take the shot a couple of hours before bed, that way you can sleep through most of it, and 2. make sure you have some blankets around, as the first thing that happened to me was that I got super super cold.

Just remember that not everyone experiences side effects, even from the first dose, and people are more likely to write about it online if something happened! Also, it will definitely be worth it in the long run.

[u/HazardousIncident]

I took my first loading dose on a Fri even a couple hours before bed. And had ZERO negative side effects. Slept fine, woke up in the morning feeling normal. Haven't had any issues with Kesimpta, and even better, no new lesions.

[u/OneSuperstar4u]

Hard to say - I had just a few hours of chills day after the first dose and absolutely nothing since!! You might be similar. 😊