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Crohn's and Cimzia Study

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. There weren't even any bruises later which is RARE for me. I made it through the first injections without any negative reaction and I have another appointment two weeks from the first one (so, next week).

I can't really tell if the Cimzia is helping yet or not. It will probably take a few more weeks before I notice a difference, if I notice anything.

The only interesting thing worth noting about the injections: The next day I had two raised white spots, one at the site of each injection, roughly the circumference of a baseball. Apparently the medication is sort of thick and takes a while to disperse under the skin, but for the next few days it looked like I'd been attacked by suction cups.

I haven't had any negative side effects from the new meds and I'm hoping to notice more improvement after the next few rounds of injections. I'll try to let you know how it goes!



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