The morning of my IV infusion was a breeze. I requested the day off from work. My appointment was at 10:30 so I ate my breakfast peacefully and took my meds. I cared for my pets. Stress-free morning!

Question: Has anyone else noticed if you eat breakfast quickly it sometimes feels like you never ate breakfast? For me, if I don’t eat breakfast over at least an hour it feels like it does not metabolize correctly. Am I weird?

Every month, the technician monitors my blood pressure because Orencia is a biological medication. This month, my BP was low! This was not an issue but it was surprising! I had three glasses of water to stay hydrated. I took my time eating my breakfast and it should have metabolized by then. My BP should not have been 100/60. That is not to say this is a problem. I mean, better low than high but still…strange. I generally range between 110-120/80-90.

It just goes to show how interesting the body is. Things happen for no rhyme or reason but the body always manages to stay even-keeled.

The IV went through my right arm this month. No pain, no itching, no rash, no redness. The whole ordeal took about 45 minutes with no interesting updates. I brought my Instyle magazine and read it, patiently.

My infusion happened during the peak of my non-sleep cycle. I spent 5-10 minutes reading the same three paragraphs and retained nothing!

Huh…

Maybe that is why my blood pressure was so low? Lack of sleep? 

When I returned home I took a nap. As per usual, I felt groggy after the IV but thankfully, I did not need as long a nap as last month’s.

All in all, everything went smoothly. I had no trouble shipping my medications. I did not have any reactions. The infusion time was a little longer than usual but I think the technician made the drip slower because I did not have the usual IV reactions. This is a good sign! Hopefully, from now I will not have any bumps in the road!

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.