I'm happy to report a perceived reduction in a Prednisone side effect that's been bothering me for a while now: the joint pain/stiffness in the knees and hips. I wrote last week that I finally noticed some physical symptoms of withdrawal (fevers mostly) when I made the drop from 50 down to 40 (after being held on 80 from mid-February to mid-May). I'll happily take a little bit of physical withdrawal in exchange for my knees back. I have started walking with more fluidity, speed, and confidence just in the last week or so, and the absence of pain/stiffness is liberating. Ahhhh. However... every other side effect is still here. Oh, yes. Stupid mistakes at work, eyeballs bursting out of my head, speech that makes no sense, sunburns after 30 seconds, etc. I guess I'm happy that the immediate physical ailments that I'm battling right now are drug effects rather than my disease. I mean, the effects of my disease are serious and the damage is great, but they are now part of a long-term rehabilitation project rather than an immediate disruption of my daily activities.
Again, I know that this disease can behave like a yo-yo at any given point in time. I write as if "feeling better" will be my state from here on out. Obviously, I hope that this is the case. But I know that the experiences of many are much more inconsistent. It's been 6 months for me since I started this journey to hell and back, and the disease could very well send me to hell and back many, many more times. I know that I am one of the fortunate ones for now.
No comments:
Post a Comment