otherwise known as "coming down off of prednisone"
I've been gradually reducing my predinsone over the past few weeks. I started on 20 mg a day, and it eventually resulted in causing sleepless nights, shaky hands, and hyperactivity. Wow, and I thought I was talkative before! It got pretty bad, so I called Dr. A and asked to start tapering off. I went down to 15mg, then down to 10 mg the next week. Then down to 5mg, and now I'm alternating 2.5mg one day with 5mg the next.
Although I was reticent to go on steroids to begin with, I have to admit they really helped. My rash on my face/neck/chest etc is almost gone, I'm just left with pink across my nose and cheeks (the classic malar rash). I don't have any pain in my joints and muscles and the fevers are gone, too.
Unfortunately, now that I'm weaning off the drug, my energy level has really dropped. I think I'm feeling mildly depressed as well. Total bummer. When I was on the prednisone I got SOOO much done. I was catching up on stuff that should have been done 6 months ago. Now I'm back to having to really push myself to get stuff done again. We'll have to see how things go, see if there are other ways to get some energy...eating well, lower stress, better sleep and some exercise may be good places to start! I'm off traveling for the next few days, hopefully will be able to relax a bit after that.
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