Hi CDWall,

Sorry to hear about the rough ride and current stress. I am wondering about a couple of things. As we approached my higher dose I remember the infusion nurse (who gives these all the time) saying that people acclimate to the dose increases. So part of it may be that what knocked you out before is no longer doing so. The answer to this is increasing the versed or benzodiazepine they are giving you to counteract the weirdness.

I wonder also if your heightened stress, increased adrenaline, sympathetic activity etc. is making you more resistant to being knocked out like before.

I would ask next time before you begin if they can plan to give more of the calming medication if it happens again so a plan is on board. We decreased the versed given during my last infusion with the understanding that if I got agitated they would add it back in. The end result was we stuck with the lower dose and my infusion was decidedly weirder but I felt less wiped all day.

I have no idea if your experience will affect the effectiveness. My main concern is if your stress level is affecting your pain and ability to cope with it.

How much are they giving you total over the four hours BTW? I get about 55mg total dose given in an hour. Just curious....

I hope things settle soon. Sending soft hugs,