Connie's Corner

Reduce? No way!

On April 12th my doctor gave me instructions to decrease my prednisone...again. On alternate days I was to take 5mg then nothing then 5mg and so on and so forth. It did not work. By Saturday, the 16th, all my symptoms (PMR) were back with a fury and I had to revert to my normal 5 mg per day. By Monday, the 18th, my symptoms had barely improved and I had to call in to my doctor's office, asking what to do. I couldn't sleep for the excruciating pain in my neck and shoulders, could barely roll over in bed from painful hips, and after taking my pill in the morning, I realized no tiny cessation until around 1 P.M. Late on the 19th I got a call-back from the nurse instructing me to double my dose for one week. By the afternoon of the 21st I was feeling much better, and this morning I am almost back to feeling as good as I did before the no pill days.

I don't know how other people in pain can continue to function. I can barely think straight...whatever that means. I want to do nothing, try to sleep, care about nothing, and feel sorry for myself. I'm ashamed of that and want to tell no one about how I feel.

Even though I have gained fourteen pounds (hungry all the time) on prednisone since I started it in March of 2015, I am not looking forward to reducing my dose again. Even though prednisone can aggravate some of the things I already have and may contribute to other new problems, I will continue to take it as long as I have symptoms and the doctor allows. What else would a sane person do? I want to do things I enjoy. I want to feel normal.

until next time...c