Pred taper starts....finally

I have now been on Prednisone for 3 months and 13 days. I know that is not terribly long, but long enough for me. At times the dosage was as high as 60 mg/day....most of the time it was 35-40 mg/day. During and after my surgery they jacked me up on high doses of IV steroid, then put me back on Pred...30 mg/day, before sending me home.

So...in the morning I get to start my real taper. Down to 20 mg/day for a week....then drop by 5 mg a week at a time until I am finally done with this awful drug. I've had a few side effects cropping up all along, but they have gotten more numerous and worse since my surgery. Also, Pred never did a single thing to help my UC....it was my first time on it and I was refractory from the beginning.

I will continue to deal with the random extra hair growth, failing eye sight, funky heart beat/rhythm, thin/dry skin, randomly stiff/frozen fingers and toes...and wait to see what other fun side effects the taper brings. I apologize in advance if I seem a little crazy in the coming weeks....blame the drugs, man!!

Oh...and my recovery continues to go very well. I can NOT remember the last time I have felt so good. I would take recovery from major surgery and this ileostomy over UC any day!! Hope everyone is well....this ramble is now over :)

Led Zeppelin said it well:

Ramble On

Wonderful to hear your recovery is going well. Hope coming off the pred is as easy.

Pred side effect update:

Tonight I used Nair for the first time in my life to remove the slight mustache I have grown thanks to the pred. I noticed it a few weeks ago, but was too sick and tired to care. Now it is gone and my lip feels TOO smooth...it's weird. There is extra hair in all sorts of places on me....might have to invest in an electric razor for my tummy...removing adhesive HURTS with the extra hair.

Also...I think the pred hunger is kicking in. I'm sure a lot of my desire to eat is because this is the first time in over 3 months I have wanted to eat and actually enjoy food, and can eat most anything I want. Problem....I AM eating most anything I want....any time I want...and I think pred is to blame for part of it. I need to get this under control a bit. Maybe writing down everything I eat, and the times that I eat will make me stop and realize...WHOA!! You are eating too much woman!! At least have a healthier snack or find some self control!!

Obviously insomnia is an issue....as I am only tired during the day and want to do anything but sleep at night. Instead I lay here...typing away....talking too much (is that a side effect too)??

My eye sight just keeps getting worse...and there's lots of other stuff, but for now I think I've gone on long enough. Suppose I will try that sleep thing, since I do actually have things I'd like to get accomplished tomorrow.

I'm hungry!!!