Tag Archives: Orencia

The Chronicles of the Orencia Infusion: May

28 Wednesday May 2014

Posted by in Rheumatoid Arthritis

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, ,

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.

The Chronicles of the Orencia Infusion: April

24 Thursday Apr 2014

Posted by in Rheumatoid Arthritis

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

I may be taking a few days from my nail painting. My fingers and wrists are acting up. Just as well, I can catch up on my non-nail art related posts!

So, let us continue on my Orencia adventure…

 

April marks eight months on my IV infusion. This is the longest I have been on any biological medication since diagnosis. My symptoms are more even as the medication builds up in my system, I do not feel as awful towards the end of the month, and my flares are less severe.

However, and this makes me nervous…this past month, the immunosuppressant wore off two weeks early! I will not know for sure if this was the medication until next month’s infusion but I think it is since I should not have experienced such bad symptoms.

My knees were gone, my shoulders ached, I could not climb the stairs let alone get out bed. I increased the prednisone and still took double the amount of pain medications just to make it through work. My hand tremor returned. I was completely out of sorts.

Then I sat for my IV last Friday. Saturday, I felt wonderful! Like, I wanted to rock-climb and take a hike kind of wonderful! So…I guess I will see. There were other factors like working at the animal clinic more often and staying on my feet for more than eight hours a day, every day. Hopefully it was not all about the medication.

This month I received the IV in my left arm. Oh, the infamous left arm. Surprisingly, it was not painful and I barely felt the fluid entering my vein. My skin did not bruise or redden during or after and I had pretty good use of my left arm hours after the sit-down.

The only difference from last month was I zonked out afterwards. Last month, rested but did not take a nap. This month, I was out 30 minutes after I returned home and did not wake up for 3 hours.

I forgot to ask off from the gym so I had work in the evening. My pain levels were high, but my energy levels were pretty good.

 

All in all, I think this month was a success.

I am crossing my fingers that this medication will continue to work for me. I do not want to switch medicines AGAIN and have to feel awful for months. AGAIN.

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

What a Difference an IV Makes!

06 Friday Sep 2013

Posted by in Rheumatoid Arthritis

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, ,

I should not be as excited as I am.

Two weeks ago, I switched medicines…again.

Well, not really.

I took weekly Orencia injections. They worked well. I woke up feeling absolutely healthy.

Most days, I totally forgot I had RA.

Regardless, over the last month any strain on my joints resulted in a flare. Each flare lasted days.

Up until this point, I tried most of the biological immuno-suppresants except for the monthly Orencia IV infusion.

Supposedly, the intravenous formulation worked differently than its subcutaneous counterpart. The IV was 500mg versus the 125mg self-injections.

When I started the weekly shots, I had to sit for the 500mg infusion. On the same day I took one of the sub-q injections. It totaled to 625mg to kick-start the results. I still remember when I sat for that IV I felt good within days. I went for three hour hikes and I rock-climbed without breaks.

When I sat for my first monthly IV after the switch, I worried.

I did not feel good. I still flared and tired easily.

Suddenly, two weeks after the first IV dose, I felt great. I lowered my dose of prednisone and still managed to go about my daily life without hassle. I did not feel as lethargic or painful.

I do not know what happened. It was not a gradual change. I just woke up one morning feeling awesome.

I still have two weeks before my next dose. I hope that the effects do not taper off towards the end. Hopefully, the medication caries me through the entire month.

We will see.

I am trying to deflate my excitement, after all, these medications work for a time before they quit on me.

I can not help but feel optimistic. If I manage the symptoms now the disease will be totally manageable in the future.

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.