Benlysta Injection #3

            On Monday I received my third Benlysta injection. This is the last of the “every two weeks” shots; from here on out it will be once a month. Once again they gave me both Tylenol and (ugh) Benadryl with the injection, to prevent a reaction against the drug. Which meant, of course, I spent the three hours more than slightly out of it. Needless to say, I imbibed some serious caffeine before driving home afterwards (and slept for hours after I got home).

            It seems to be a “two steps forward, one step back” scene for me right now. I’m still not in as much pain as I was before starting Benlysta, but I am flaring right now. My chest pain is pretty bad, and my blood counts have crashed (yet again). This just means that what they told me was true: it may take up to three months for Benlysta to really work. Boo.

            They say that Benlysta sometimes makes patients more prone to depression. I suspect that is because we all want so desperately to feel better now, and that’s just not possible. So the only thing to do is sigh, remember that I do still feel much better than I did before starting the drug, and keep on going.