The Diabetic Cyborg Life 01/24: Surprise Side Effect of Ocrevus

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On the day after my second infusion of this disease modifying drug, I feel the need to address this issue. The most common side effect listed in the literature from the drug’s manufacture is diarrhea. Then way down the list as a possible side effect is “mental changes.”

So, I was ready for the diarrhea as I battle that regularly from disorders and effects of other medications, I take every day. The “mental changes” is a very ambiguous way of describing the cliff my mental health fell off from. Once in teens and early twenties, mostly my teens, I suffered from fits of bursts of anger for little to no reason.

By my early-twenties, I believe that issue was a thing of the past. I have not given that issue a second thought for over a decade, until the weeks after my first Ocrevus infusion. I reacted to a very not unsetting event with the worst burst of anger I’ve had since my teens.

I scared myself and others with that burst of nonsensical anger.

I literally felt like the Ocrevus infusion pushed me off a cliff of mental health that I was over for years.

Knowing is often the first step to addressing it, and since I once conquered this issue, I feel I again got in the head lock and snapped its neck in a way it can never comeback.