It has taken a lot of effort to do anything today. I woke up early feeling good, and not even two hours later I HAD to take a nap…. for like 3 hours. Is it considered a nap if its for 3 hours, I wonder?
Anyways, its nearing the end of the day and I wanted to at least celebrate a little bit. Because you see, I have taken my last prednisone pill! I got sick almost two months ago, with steroid drip given constantly for at least 7 days at the hospital and since then I have been on the prednisone taper.
For those of you who are not familiar with this concept, Prednisone is a very addictive steroid given for the treatment of inflammation such as that caused by UC. Due to its addictive nature you must not stop the drug cold turkey but instead lower the dosage gradually over the course of several weeks. So for instance I was discharged from the hospital on 8 x 5mg prednisone a day. I continued at this dose for a week and a half and then I was told to decrease by one pill per week. So the following week I had 7 x 5mg per day; the following I was on 6 x 5mg per day… and so on. Today I took my last 1 x 5mg pill per day!
I endured almost every side effect one could have with prednisone (adult acne, achy joints, puffy face, thinning skin, flushing) and I must say, I took it like a champ. But today, I am happy there are no more. Dismissing the fact that I am not in remission, I am glad to be removing the prednisone side effects from my life (although I will miss how naive I was to my inflammation at the higher dosage).
As we continue the journey!…
Cramp My Style 