Upgraded my resistance band level today during physical therapy, and now my body feels like it's dying. Ahhh. I'm so sore.

Last Friday was my 17th injection. I've been avoiding cashmere; my body isn't reactive anymore, so that may be some correlation. This past weekend I actually felt very good, like my left elbow doesn't feel as flaring. I hope that means my medication is finally kicking in and my body likes it.

I think the flare-ups I was having was from this cashmere jacket I was wearing since I tried wearing it earlier, and I may have triggered an itch, so I took it off right away. I don't know if I want to tempt it again since omg, I was itching for a couple of days before... Sigh...

I think yesterday was my 15th injection. I wrote it down in my journal, but I'm not there to check right now. I also had a really long day going to a botanical garden with Tom today and did not drink that much water, which I think caused physically red flare-ups on my arm.

Apparently I have four more physical therapy sessions left. That means I have gone for at least eight times. That's wild. I'll have to see how I feel and if I feel okay, then I will be discharged. Wowwww.

So I may be allergic to oat milk...

So glad that I had my phone reminder to tell myself to do my 14th injection today. And oh herro period. You literally came like 30 days after. I'm surprised that you came on time.

Definitely caught a cold. I'm sure it was the same one that came towards me just to tell me one thing on Friday. Ugh. I got approval from my rheumatologist today that I can take either Tylenol or Aleve, so that's a relief. I hope I get better soon.

Physical therapy kicked my ass today. The PT did some intense massage/adjustment on my left elbow by pressing and bending my elbow at a certain angle before I did the rest of my workout. I have a feeling I'm going to wake up so sore tomorrow.

Did I not talk about my 12th injection? Well, today was my 13th!

Chronic illness be like... staying put where you at because it's not really stressful, therefore, not causing much inflammation to your body...

Good news: my latest blood show my inflammation went down. Not so good news: I still have inflammation in my left elbow, but it's a lot less than before. In other news: I was prescribed with hydroxychloroquine to hopefully reduce my inflammation further. It's another part of the journey.

Lately: - I'm surprised that my rheumatologist office is open on Christmas Eve since they actually called me back when I called in yesterday for a prior authorization approval. That's pretty cool. - I hope the prior authorization goes through, but I'm sure it'll go slowly with the holidays...

It's 1am now. Sleep for real. 😭😭

I did take a nap when I got home from work. When Tom got home, he helped me with my 10th injection. I bled a little bit, but nothing too crazy. I feel okay despite having period again and just worried about that?? I should go sleep now since it's 12:30am. I'm kind of having fun doom scrolling...

50 minutes left. I want to go home and sleep. I know I said this already, but... that's how much I want to do that...

Sooooo... I think I went to walk outside for at least 15 minutes. That was relatively nice since I got some "fresh" air. It was fun to poke some cow0rkers about what they are going to wear to the holiday party tomorrow (and man, hearing some drama as usual).

Oh yeah, I'm getting my 10th injection today as well. Ahhhh.

My period started again after two weeks, which is what I'm concerned about actually. I'm going to my OBGYN for a pap smear on Thursday, so I can also ask about this. It's also the end of the week, which means my fatigue is in an all time high. It's only 2:40 ish, and I want to go home and sleep.

Sigh. I'm feeling kind of scared of sharing too much about my health feelings, even to doctors, even though they're supposed to be there to help you. But I have to keep on believing that if you don't share, then they won't be able to help. It's so hard to. (This is not just about RA.)

Flare...? Is it because of this cookie I just ate? 😭😡

I just realized I never talked about how physical therapy went, and now I'm at work, so I don't have time to go in detail. Oops. I also just scheduled like five more sessions since the lady was kind enough to accommodate my schedule after work. 🥺

I'm glad that I decided to take 30m off work early to get some forms done before my first appointment. It got dark fast.

Just received a text with a survey from my physical therapist, asking about my pain and capability levels, which I thought was super interesting since after I did that, I received multiple graphs. I'm expecting this will be a tracker to see how I'm doing.

I'm so glad I made myself wash my hair tonight since I feel so much better now. I was feeling so lazy earlier and everything. My right knee was also flaring sooo much earlier, like it felt like it was going to give out if I didn't stop and just be gentle with it. Omg.

9th injection happened! Last single digit...

My period started again yesterday. I wonder if it started early because I was working from home and just felt so lazy/comfortable just rotting in bed half the time. Now to finish my 9-5 today to feel completely relaxed for the weekend. I feel so sluggish and tired right now.

Last Friday was my eighth injection. I didn't write about it then since it went okay. This is to recap for memories sake.

Oh, hi period, nice to meet you again! It's kind of crazy that it's literally the day after I felt super tired and I didn't feel like cooking dinner. It's also kind of crazy that I think it's two month after I stopped eating my birth control pills, so I think my body is working on time again.

Just scheduled an appointment with my rheumatologist for next Monday it to check on my rash just in case. I've been trying hydrocortisone eczema cream on it, and it may have seemed to help a bit. If I didn't have to do training this week, I probably would've been checked sooner like Wednesday. 🥲

I had Tom help me take a photo this morning. I put on some hydrocortisone for now, so I hope it works. 🙏

Seventh injection today! Tom did a great job once again. What has been bothering me is my left elbow started to have these red spots forming after I showered last night. Almost rash-like. Thankfully they're not itchy. It's annoying, though. It faded a little, but it's still kind of visible today.

I think it's pretty crazy how it's still less than 3 months since I started my RA injections. It feels a little longer than that, and I want to feel more improvements, but then I am reminded that it's only less than 3 months when biologics are known to take 3 to 6 months to make you feel better.

I just got my stitches out from my wisdom tooth extraction. I don't feel as bad as the day of anymore, which is good. I just remember it feeling it pretty stressful to deal with it all.

Just had my right wisdom tooth pulled out because it was decaying too much to leave it alone. Now I'm going to be on antibiotics for a week and hopefully I don't let it infect. I'm definitely not looking forward to the next coming days when I try to recover.

Started eating my prenatal vitamins with omega 3. I've already started eating my calcium/vitamin D and turmeric supplements last week. Let's see how my body feels about with all these supplements.

Sixth injection today. Tom surprised me without counting down, but he still got the medication in me. Yay. I'm so glad it's finally the weekend, though. The end of the week fatigue is catching up to me big time.

My OBGYN appointment also went okay. Nothing wrong with my pelvic area. She suggested that I take some prenatal vitamins with omega 3 and turmeric if I want to have kids and just be better about my joint health. I'll go back in two months for my routine checkup.

Rheumatologist appointment went okay. My rheumatologist thinks that my body is still trying to get used to the biologics, so she said to continue on with the medication. She wants me to go into physical therapy two months after yesterday to see if they can help me with my left elbow extension.

Fllllaaaaarrrreeee. Probably stressed from thinking about my first follow-up appointment with my rheumatologist tomorrow since I started my injection.

I did a little research on what Sunright's house milk contains. It has condensed milk, milk powder and water. That would probably explain why I feel weird drinking it. I don't think I ever did well drinking milk powder stuff. I knew my body wasn't digesting it well. Time to dump out my drink...!!!

I wonder if this mango milk tea from Sunright was the thing that was giving me crazy flares. Just a little sip, and I feel a little not good. I'm not lactose intolerant, but I wonder what their "house milk" is. 🤔

Tom and I are feeling the very low energy and soreness from our covid and flu vaccines today. Ahhh.

Tom and I got our flu and covid vaccines today!

I swear having a chronic illness makes me wonder if it's okay to drink this boba I got because I wonder it'll give me a flareup. ...Even when this boba is supposedly adjusted at 25% sugar already.

Hrmmm, I did most (if not all) the calls I needed to follow up on my health things yesterday, and now I feel on top of things. It feels nice, but man, I remember that I was dragging myself yesterday to do all of that. I'm glad I did them.

Okay, getting flu and covid shots on Friday. The month of October is going to be so many health appointments. 🔥

I'm so tired. Today's my third day of my current period cycle. Considering my last period ended around 8/26 and my current period stated around 9/27, I'm kind of surprised that it's basically a month in between. O_o We'll see how long this period will be, though...

Oh, I also scheduled a follow-up appointment with my OBGYN. Good news is I can do it on the phone rather than driving all the way back just to talk.

I'm currently waiting for a call back from my rheumatologist about when I could technically get my flu and covid shots. I did get the clear about getting my tooth extracted, though, so yay.