OK, so maybe there was no "ultra-fatigue" in the immediate wake of my second round of Cimzia injections on Friday. But last night and today it showed up.
In spite of exhaustion, I couldn't sleep last night (or should I say this morning?) until after 3:30 a.m., when I finally downed 1/2 of a Zolpidem (generic for Ambien) and curled up downstairs on the recliner.
Some middle-of-the-night, together time with my daughter, Megan, was a welcome diversion when I would have been tossing and turning in bed otherwise. Then, once I did lie down, head, shoulder, neck and hip pain kept me awake with my eyes closed for too long.
I failed at napping this afternoon, too. After 45 minutes shifting from one position to another, sleep wasn't coming.
So I got up. Both times.
Cimzia's literature lists joint pain as one of its top-three-most-common side effects. It's true that the pain is worse since the injections Friday morning. But joint pain often interferes with my sleep. So I don't know how much to attribute to Cimzia.
I wonder if the uber fatigue that the Cimzia nurse warned me about results from missed sleep due to joint pain in most Cimzia users. Or do those side effects usually occur in isolation?
Hmmm. Watching for a pattern. And hoping for less pain and more sleep tonight.
I don't have Crohn's disease, but I appreciate what you are doing with this blog. Even if you only help one person along the way, it will be worth it. Keep on blogging!
ReplyDeleteI am reading this like a suspense novel! I just took my 2nd dose and found your blog by googling 'how long does cimzia take to kick in'. Before reading that your home health nurse told you extreme fatigue was a side effect I just thought I was in another bad flare. I took my second loading dose on Monday and by Wednesday couldn't get out of bed. Thank you so mic for journalist your experience and sharing it with us!
ReplyDeleteI sincerely hope that Cymzia works for you, Jenn. I turned out to be a "non-responder." So the outcome was just another medication on the list of ones that don't help me. I've read that some Crohns disease sufferers do well on it though! Fingers crossed!
ReplyDelete