The Infusion

On Monday, I had my first infusion of VYEPTI for my migraines. It was actually not too bad. My nurse put in the IV, and I sat there listening to an audiobook for thirty minutes while the medicine dripped into my vein. Following the advice I’d been given, I’d drunk plenty of water the day before and that morning, so he had no trouble finding a good vein to use.

The best part of the experience was my nurse. (The picture above is not him, though he was kind of cute.) He was about my age, maybe a little older, and he made my gaydar go off. So, I’m pretty sure he was gay, and he was a bit flirtatious. He talked me through the procedure and once he found a vein to use, he held a warm compress to my arm before he stuck the needle in me. Just before he inserted the needle, he told me to “Go to my happy place.” Then after a pause, he said, “You don’t have to tell me what it is,” and then sotto voce, he said, “But I’m dying to know.” I am not very quick witted with replies, or I would have said, “it would be very inappropriate for me to say.” I was thinking that my “happy place” was laying with a naked man’s arms wrapped around me. Basically, the picture below:

Hopefully, he’ll be my nurse when I go back for my second infusion, but I doubt I will be so lucky. He made the experience a pleasant one. The needle going in did hurt for a second, but then the pain was over. Once the medicine started entering my bloodstream, I could feel it for just a moment, then I could barely tell anything was happening. When he took out the IV, it didn’t even bleed, and there is no bruise, which I usually have with something like this. There is the faintest little dot where the IV was, and that’s it.

As for VYEPTI’s effectiveness, time will tell. I went to bed Monday night with a major migraine, but it was lessened by morning and was mostly gone by lunchtime. My nurse told me that this medicine had been a real game changer for some people. I received 100 mg/mL of the drug, and he said that at that dosage, it lessens the intensity of the migraines for most people. He said it seems to be most effective at 300 mg/mL, but insurances won’t authorize that much in the beginning. He said the second treatment will be another 100 mg/mL and if it’s not deemed effective enough, then they can usually convince insurance companies to pay for the 300 mg/mL for the third and subsequent treatments. The treatments will be every three months, and my next one is scheduled for October 24.

Rant of the day: I find it incredibly frustrating that doctors know 300 mg/mL works best, but insurance companies require me to continue to suffer for six months before they will allow the treatment that I need. I cannot fathom why the United States allows someone without a medical degree at an insurance company to determine what’s best for my health. Every treatment I have been prescribed by the Headache Clinic has been denied by my insurance, and my neurologist has had to file an appeal to get the treatment approved. The same thing happened with. YEPTI, but the insurance company is still requiring the lower dosage for six months before they will consider the higher, more effective dose. Rant over…for now.