Showing posts with label chronic illness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chronic illness. Show all posts

Side effects




I want to apologise for not updating sooner, this has always been my problem with blogs. I never seem to find the time (despite doing very little other than work) to update. I also haven’t been feeling particularly unwell this past week and have wanted to do little beyond lying down and going to sleep. There is a possibility it may be entirely unrelated to starting cimzia, but I highly doubt it.

The nurse said I may suffer some side effects after initial taking the drug. I thought was doing alright during the evening but the later it got, the worse and worse I began to feel. Around 9/10pm, I began to suffer a horrendous migraine. I had already emailed my boss to explain the potential side effects. I can't stress how understanding my work has been with my condition and I can imagine how much stressful this process could be if someone had employment where you couldn't regularly go for appointments, work from home or phone in sick short notice.

Delivery!

I'm sorry, I thought I had posted this post, but evidently I only saved it rather than published it!

My drugs were delivered on Friday! The kind people from BUPA text me the night before saying my delivery was due by courier sometime between 8am and 10am. They were delivered fairly quickly not long after 8am. These need to be signed for and placed straight in the fridge on receipt.

I was delivered my first three lots. My first three doses are loading doses, where I'll receive double the amount of medication every two weeks (x2 200mg syringes). Each package (image on left) contains 2 syringes. After the loading doses, I'll have x1 syringe every two weeks, so each package will be a monthly supply. I received the timetable for delivery until the middle of 2016 in which my drugs will be delivered monthly on a Tuesday. I was also provided with a yellow sharps container for disposing of the used needles. BUPA will also arrange a date to collect the used needles when full, which is handy. I didn't fancy taking a trip to the tip and handing the gentleman a container of needles to dispose of!

It was a simple thing, but I can't express the joy of receiving them. It made it feel so much more real that something was finally being done, especially after the brutal week I've been having with pain. Now I just have to keep them in the fridge (and resist the urge to open them or just give it a go myself) until Monday when the BUPA nurse comes to visit and I get my first injections :)

Robyn xx

Endless Struggles

It's beginning to feel like a constant struggle at the moment. I met with the rheumatology nurse last week to start treatment. We went through all the forms and such. I was contacted by BUPA to arrange a time to deliver the drugs and have a nurse come for my first dose. This feels like the longest week of my life. My drugs are due to be delivered on Friday (27.03.15) and my first loading dose is happening on Monday (30.03.15). This feels like the longest week of my life.

My steroids have now entirely worn off. All I have right now is Codiene to try and dull the pain, and it's really not working. I do have tramadol but the side effects are too much to use it consistently. My biggest issue is my back pain. I've had constant pain around the sacroilliac joints aswell as an increasing stiffness in my neck and upper back, severely limiting my flexibility and general movement. Emotionally, I'm at a very low point...