I've got soul but I'm not a soldier...

Today is Christmas. But it hasn't "felt like Christmas". Cliché but true. I made candy, I did some shopping, I got my Starbucks in the red cup, and I even did 2 Holiday themed nail art pieces. I would post pics, but I have no pics. That will be explained later. I'm on week 5 of Cimzia. So far no negative side effects. The joint pain has been reduced drastically, and  stomach cramps are less frequent. However, I'm still experiencing some pain and intermittent nausea. The problem: I'm not sleeping. Here's the thing... I'm a sleeper. 10 hours a night and sometimes naps during the day. I can sleep like a pro. My body needs it to function. During the past two weeks I've been unable to sleep at night. I follow all the tips: No caffeine after 6 pm, only one caffeinated drink per day, no daytime naps, etc. I've even been getting up early when I can. When I wake up at 9 AM, I'm sometimes not going back to sleep until 5 AM. Sleep is sporadi...

So I thought I had finished my blogging for the day, but I was wrong. I need to take a moment to complain... Anyone who has a chronic illness might be able to relate to this. Or anyone who just finds that life is difficult sometimes... I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease in 2007. I displayed symptoms LONG before that, and as a child I would often sit in the bathroom floor with my head against the cold marble of the bathtub after every meal just waiting for the nausea to pass. Since my diagnosis and treatment life has been different. Sometimes it's easier, sometimes it's not. But I can never really forget that I'm living with a disease because most of my life is dictated by my symptoms. I've said this in other blog posts, but in case anyone new is reading: I have fistulizing Crohn's. I have had 2 fistulectomies to date. I am currently being treated with Cimzia. My primary symptoms (currently) are nausea, stomach cramps, joint pain, and fatigue. I am on disab...

I know that I said I would post more, but whatever, I'm a liar. I'll post when I feel like it. This may or may not be frequently. Since I started seeing Dr. Wolf I've gone through several medication changes. A few weeks ago I started prepping to participate in a drug study. The drug is Cimzia, and it's already FDA approved, but Dr. Wolf is doing research to optimize dosing of the drug. In order to qualify I had to go through a series of tests: Blood work, TB test, chest X-ray, C-Dif test, etc. Fortunately all of the tests results were what they were looking for, and I'm a prime candidate for the study. It seems the other medications have helped my symptoms, but I still have lingering issues with joint pain, stomach cramps, and nausea on a daily basis. The goal is to make these symptoms minimal. So, last Monday I had my first Cimzia injections. The nurse injected two 200 ml syringes into my stomach. I thought that it might hurt, but it was relatively painless. ...