Long story short, Accredo Speciality Pharmacy continually messed up and I was out quite a bit of money. Until I received my refund I stopped the Orencia…whether this was a good idea or not. Spoiler alert: a very terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea.

I was in so much pain the week after the “missed” dose. Marmalade sat on my lap and tried to console me, she tweaked my hip and I burst into a fresh wave of tears. She then started crying, too. Best cat ever. I do not know if I would be able to get through these flares without her.

I hobbled around enough to eat and sleep but I lay in bed for days. My immobility and pain were so bad I considered going to emergency for a shot or IV or something. I never spiked a fever so I held off (I hate hospitals, can you tell?) I increased the prednisone dose to 12 mg. It did not help a whole lot the first few days but it was enough to get me to work.

A half-day camp put me in bed the rest of the day; a two or three hour shift exhausted me. I could not increase my prednisone dose because I started to get anxious and depressed, the two emotions I needed to check when working with kids!

I spent the last two weeks in bed. I barely did anything of value, I could not walk, drive, paint my nails, and sitting up was a chore.

That was last week.

…What about this week?

I feel more stable but I have off from work this week. I am still on 12 mg of prednisone but I am sleeping alright as long as I take pain medication right before bed (otherwise, I am too painful to sleep). I care for my pets, I rock-climb a little, I am no longer unbearably nauseous and able to eat more than a yogurt.

I hope I feel better as my body adjusts to the Orencia’s absence. I hope I can stay off it because I refuse to use Accredo.

I hope I get my money back.

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.