 It's Tuesday, and a regular afternoon ritual on Tuesdays is to refill the pillbox for the upcoming week. Wednesday marks the start of a new pill week. The reason it's Wednesday is simply because it was a Wednesday in December that I started my new life as a pill and corticosteoroid junkie. When the body feels filled with burning cement, there is no alternative to wait until Monday to match the text on the pill box..
Tomorrow actually marks a little milestone. I'm tapering down to the maintenance dosage for Prednisolone. Taper complete! I'm finally at the maintenance dosage and it feels like a small victory. 5mg/d felt forever away when I was chewing 40mg a day and tried to google what are high and low doses of Prednisolone. Prednisolone is actually a chemical version of a so-called glucorticoid hormone that the body produces itself, cortisol. Cortisol is a hormone that the body needs to cope with stress and strain, and has an anti-inflammatory and immune-suppressing effect. This is the effect you are looking for when you are treated with Prednisolone. When you take Prednisolone for a long time, the body eventually stops producing cortisol. That's why you need to taper down the dose, to get this production started back up again. Cutting down too swiftly after high doses and prolonged use can actually be dangerous and lead to serious side effects. My personal experience with side effects associated with tapering is that I have felt unwell and squeamish a few days after the taper. With a new dose on Wednesday, I usually notice on Thursday around lunchtime. Then after a day or two, it's back to normal. Due to all the side effects, I hope I'll get well enough to discontinue the prednisolone completely. But for now I'm psyched about the last taper!! Sources; https://www.legeforeningen.no/foreningsledd/fagmed/Norsk-revmatologisk-forening/pasientinformasjon/medikamenter/prednisolon-tbl/ https://sml.snl.no/glukokortikoider https://nhi.no/sykdommer/muskelskjelett/legemiddel/kortison-avslutning-av-behandling/
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 Since the prednisolone dose was doubled, I have googled side effects like crazy. Moon face and weight gain seem to appear most frequently. Or cushing syndrome as it is also called. In addition, beard growth, mood swings, depression and diabetes are mentioned. As a single woman in my late 30s, I have to admit that I don't want to be transformed into a slightly fat, bearded, "guinea pig" with osteoporosis, mood swings, depression and diabetes.
Vanity, I know, and as the doctor pointed out: "Your focus should be on getting better." And she told me that my looks will probably change a little bit. When I was also told to be careful with sugar to avoid diabetes and try to avoid putting on too much weight, it does not sound very promising. So, can I do something to try to avoid these side effects I asked google. And as you ask, you shall receivce: 1. Reduce salt / sodium intake: corticostereiods messes with the water and the salt balance and makes the body hold onto more water and salt. This is part of the weight gain and can also cause higher blood pressure. Therefore I will make as much as possible from scratch and cut out as many processed products as possible. Soups for example, are light and tasty food that can be made from scratch replacing salt with spices, garlic, chilli, ginger, etc. 2. Limit sugar intake. This was the rheumatologist very clear on. Corticosteroids increase blood sugar levels and in worst case, one can develop diabetes. For a sweeth tooth like myself, this is very bad news! But I guess eating less sweets won't kill me.. 3. Getting enough calcium and potassium To prevent loss of bone, you should ensure that you get enough calcium. I have already received a prescription for this. I read somewhere you need to be a little carefull with potassium if you have a kidney disease, but I have not been told to eat a kidney-friendly diet so for now I think this is probably a good idea. Banana for breakfast anyone? 4. Know how much you have eaten - are you really hungry? Corticosteoroids increase the feeling of hunger and you eat more than you need. If I know that I have eaten more than enough during the day, I will try to go to bed hungry when the evening hunger sets in. 5. Eat food with volume Simply fill the hole in the stomach with lean food that has volume and gives a feeling of satiety. Salad for example. 6. Avoid stress and get enough sleep Cortcosteoroids are stress hormones that puts the body in "fight or flight" mode and these hormones also causes your body to store more fat. Lack of sleep creates more stress. 7. Exercising at the right intensity it's a bit related to the tip above. Hard workouts stresses the body, a bod already in stress mode from the corticosteoroids. Focus on long low impact sessions instead. Someone wrote this in a female forum and it just sounded very smart. |
AuthorA blog about beeing newly diagnosed with lupus. Dreaming of becoming a mum once the disease is under control. I am translating the blog to English so the posts will appear on this page as I go. Archives
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