All is quiet

All is quiet in Crohns Land, as of late.  When you have crohns, this is what you want.  Nothing to report.  No pain, no weight gain or loss, no side effects and normal blood work.  So all is well.

We've also been given the green light for trying to get pregnant.  Hopefully, sometime in the not too distant future, this blog can be about crohns and pregnancy.

Using Humira (in pictures)

My box of 4 Humira syringes (One month's worth).

One pre-packaged syringe.  

My set up.  I always close myself in the bathroom, to keep the cats and dogs from messing me up.  I lay everything out on the toilet lid (sometimes I bring a snack too).  This is the syringe and an alcohol wipe.

Me getting ready.  (Gotta psych myself up)

You have to get the little bit of air out of the top.  This one is prepped.

Clean the area, then stab away.  (I'm not quite this fat, but I sit slumped so I have a good place to stab into). (At this point you're suppose to pull the plunger back to make sure you didn't hit blood, but I always skip this part).

The after; hard to see.  A red dot, and some Humira leaking out.

A used sharp.

My make-shift sharps container.  (Those aren't all mine, the little white ones are from my dad's Forteo)

All is well

I've actually been feeling good for a while.  I was really skeptical that Humira was going to work.  Especially since nothing else did.  But once a week Humira is working great.  I have no symptoms and no side effects.

This is what the syringe looks like, but it's not my picture.

My dad (after mucking with Pentasa dosages and ending up in the hospital) has been taking Humira twice a month, and having very good results too.  He's having a couple minor side effects, but is happy with the results.

I'm not looking forward to buying my first dose of the year, since my drug deductible has reset, so it'll cost $250-300 for the first dose, but then $35 a month after that.  I'm pretty pleased to have such a low drug deductible.

Actually I'm pleased with my insurance in general.  I often thank God for my insurance.  It costs almost $300 a month through my employer (I work for a small company), but it's very worth it.  Especially since I never know when I'll need specific care.

Oh, and other good news.  My blood work is completely normal.  Every test was well within range!

And the better news, if I can stay well for a few more months, I'll have the all clear to start trying to get pregnant!     

Tiny update

I finished the Prednisone. Yay.  But I'm still having little flare ups, moderate pain.  But I'm getting the "crohns bumps" some weird skin ulcers that I had the first time around.

So my GI is having me switch to Humira once a week, instead of every other week.  I'm not too thrilled, but it could be worst.

Plus I love Kaiser.  A month's worth of Humira (4 syringes) costs me $35.  The regular price (without insurance, I guess) is $3660 for the same amount.  Yikes.  Also, the Humira is cheaper than Asacol was (at $55 a month).

For some reason, Kaiser switched from the Humira pens to the syringes.  It's not much different, but it's a little more difficult.  The pens are one and done.  The syringes have a few steps.  And they make me shakier.  I'm not great with needles.

Calm before the storm?

Nothing much to report on the Crohns front right now.  Just a couple quickies:

• 2.5 more weeks of Prednisone and I'm done!  Yay, yay, yay!  I've (thankfully) stopped eating everything in sight.  There are only 2 remaining side effects: bloat and hair.  I'm retaining water like no one's business.  My fingers got so fat I stopped wearing my rings.  My face is still a little puffy.  And the 8lbs I worked so hard to lose are back.  Some of that is water, some is fat, from me stuffing my face.
• As of last week, my ALT was almost back to normal.  The range high is 36, and I was at 42.  I did another blood draw today, so hopefully it'll go down more.
• And, the best news of all, I got my Adderall back!  So now I'm not tired all the time.  Yay!

Quick update

I've been taken off most of my meds.

My ALT levels (which should max out at 36) are at 278.  Something in my liver isn't happy.

I'm down to Humira, Celexa and Prednisone.  No more Asacol, 6MP, Adderall or Pepcid.

I'm concerned that a major flare up is just down the road.  But I'm more concerned about dying from a non-functioning liver.

I just had a blood draw on Wednesday.  I have to go back and do another one tomorrow at 6.15am.  Then we go from there.

Prednisone, Part 2.

I've been on the terrible drug for about a week now.  And, it actually hasn't been too bad.

My mood has been a little extreme, but nothing compared to last time.  It may be due to the fact that I'm on Celexa already, and it's keeping me more level.

The hunger hasn't been bad at all.  I'm a little more hungry, but not starving all the time.

Definitely having water retention.  And some hair growth, but nothing I can't deal with for another 7 weeks.  But my tummy is only getting slightly better.