Lots of good advice

For me hydration is truly key….start gulping lots of water two days before. You know you are at the ‘hydrated point’ when you have to use a bathroom about every 20-30 minutes…nothing less.
That helps get the catheter into you and can minimize side effects.
I myself have tried combos of a steroid pre-treatment, to heaps of Tylenol, to a combo of that and Benedryl, to now, heaps of Benedryl…enuf to knock out a football player..all I do is doze litely.
But any of these approaches helps to minimize the side effects. Critical is to speak to your doc if you have ANY side effects and be as concise as you can be about when it ‘hits’ you in terms of the rates increases. The rates SHOULD be adjusted accordingly but, you will have to be on the alert for any nurse trying to do short-cuts. There are no short-cuts with IV administration, ever.
I get infusions at home now, and the company’s policy is to never ever go over 240…Plus with each package of supplies comes a set of doctors’ instructions, which the IV nurse reviews, signs and takes with her as paperwork…You too should know what these instructions are, and be sure that they are being followed to the last I dotted and T crossed. Any doubts ask your doc…let the doc work it out with the infusing company… Do not get in the middle for any reason, unless something really wrong is happping in the here and now…then call your doc’s office and state situation and have doc speak to infusing nurse.
I once had a too fast rate and was severely headachy for over a week! Probably something like aseptic meningitis but the hospital staff didn’t know about such things…they got informed when all was said and done. None of us need to suffer due to any ignorances. We have to learn all we can and then know what should and shouldn’t be. It’s harder tho when you’ve got a nasty reaction tho…but stick to it. Hope it gets better in the future.