For months I've felt depleted. No energy, lots of pain. You know the routine. But adding Enbrel has changed something. I'm still suffering through "Dam Sundays" (day after methotrexate) which have me exhausted and usually come with a nasty migraine headache no matter how much liquid I consume. And I'm desperate to get off prednisone which has dramatically curtailed my ability to consume sugar or caffeine after 10:00am without developing mania.
I've been fearing the start of the spring semester as I teach a twice-weekly career development class to college sophomores. At 8:00am. I didn't know if I was up to the task and my winter break was quite anxiety-laden as I rested and tried to imagine getting up at 6:00am and being "on" by 7:30am. I hadn't seen much life before 8:00am in months. But yesterday I got to work at 7:35am and pulled a straight 12 hour day in the office getting my syllabus ready. I'll admit to being exhausted after my long day and my back was in spasm when I crawled into bed with a tramadol at 9:45pm, but this morning I was in the classroom at 7:30am and got through my class just fine. I think I might even have made some sense.
I don't intend to abuse this new found energy. I'm immensely grateful it kicked in when I needed it most. There's a nap in my future this afternoon.