First Solo Infusion of Gammagard S/D!

The people at Accredo were great and sent me tubing to help slow down my infusion rate, so I expected things to be much better.

I made some rookie mistakes this time:

• Took my premeds 20 minutes after adding the saline to the powder. By the time I was ready to put the needles in I was pretty dopey from the Benadryl. It took 2 hours for the powder to dissolve completely, and another hour for me to get the needles in. Next time I need to take my premeds when I'm ready to start hooking up the needles.
• My nurses had suggested that I clamp off all needles but 1 to prime them, so I tried that this time. I primed 1 needle and put it in. Then I primed the next one, forgetting to clamp off the needle that was in me before pushing on the syringe. It hurt quite a bit to get the medication in at that rate, so I learned my lesson quickly. Probably wouldn't have done that if I hadn't been loopy from 50mg of Benadryl.

Throughout the infusion I had pinching and swelling at the infusion sites that I hadn't clamped off during priming, and had to turn the pump off twice for 15-minute breaks to allow the medication to absorb. It took me 3 hours from the time I started mixing the Gammagard S/D until I started the infusion, then the infusion itself took 5 hours due to using 60ml/hr tubing and taking breaks.

Because I'd taken 2 Benadryl 2.5 hours before starting the infusion, I took another 2 Benadryl 4 hours later and really struggled to stay awake long enough to swap out my syringes in the pump. After another couple of hours I had a slight fever (99 degrees, but my normal temp is 97-ish), headache, and was starting to feel achy in my lower back, so I took 2 more Tylenol.

After the infusion was over I felt a migraine trying to start at the base of my skull. I didn't want to take any more Tylenol, but I took 2 Aleve (not supposed to because of my stomach) and a Clonazepam to help relax my muscles.

Next Day...
This morning I woke up with a migraine threatening (not too bad though, I was still able to work). I took 2 Tylenol without it helping much, and took to Ibuprofen after a few hours when I wasn't getting much relief. I finally called my chiropractor and he was able to help a lot by massaging at the base of my skull and my shoulders and neck. I've been tired all day and worked on my laptop in bed because I didn't really feel energetic enough to sit at my desk all day. Nevertheless, I think this is the best drug for me of any that I've tried so far. My reactions to Carimmune and Hizentra were pretty bad, with the Hizentra being worlds better than the Carimmune. I really believe that my non-existent IgA is a huge factor in how they affected me.