Illness 1: Nene 0
IVIG did not go so great. We were trying a new protocol to try to prevent me having bad reactions to the ivig infusion, but despite being hopped up on 150 mg of Prednisone, three different types pf antihistamines, asthma medicine, and tylenol, about an hour into the treatment I started getting short of breath and wiped out and icky feeling.
When you do ivig, you ramp up slowly. Start the drip at 30 ml/hour, do that fifteen minutes, then up to 60 for fifteen minutes, then 90, 120, and stop at 150 til you complete the infusion. Well within ten minutes of increasing it to 120 I started feeling poorly. They stopped the infusion and called my doctor, who came over to the unit and talked with me and some other doctors. Ultimately decided to do the rest of the treatment at 90, which means it took seven hours.
Now the problem is that I was okay for the rest of the treatment, until I got up to leave. At which point I found myself very short of breath and with the unpleasant pain in my chest and back and arms, and a slight headache. Which is how I feel now.
I've come home, taken my last dose of prednisone, making that 200 mg for the day which is INSANE. Taken more antihistamines, tylenol and breathing treatments, too. And I feel crummy.
Bother.
I'm emailing Dr. Yu about it as soon as I post this. Then I'm going to bed.
When you do ivig, you ramp up slowly. Start the drip at 30 ml/hour, do that fifteen minutes, then up to 60 for fifteen minutes, then 90, 120, and stop at 150 til you complete the infusion. Well within ten minutes of increasing it to 120 I started feeling poorly. They stopped the infusion and called my doctor, who came over to the unit and talked with me and some other doctors. Ultimately decided to do the rest of the treatment at 90, which means it took seven hours.
Now the problem is that I was okay for the rest of the treatment, until I got up to leave. At which point I found myself very short of breath and with the unpleasant pain in my chest and back and arms, and a slight headache. Which is how I feel now.
I've come home, taken my last dose of prednisone, making that 200 mg for the day which is INSANE. Taken more antihistamines, tylenol and breathing treatments, too. And I feel crummy.
Bother.
I'm emailing Dr. Yu about it as soon as I post this. Then I'm going to bed.