Look guys, I'm internet famous for vasculitis. Not exactly what I was planning on, but hey. Someone even asked me if they could put my video in a documentary about vasculitis. I said sure even though I think I look and sound like a complete goob in it.
Showing posts with label prednisone. Show all posts
Showing posts with label prednisone. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Vasculitis Awareness Month!
It's that month of the year again! Vasculitis Awareness Month, or May as normal people call it.
Look guys, I'm internet famous for vasculitis. Not exactly what I was planning on, but hey. Someone even asked me if they could put my video in a documentary about vasculitis. I said sure even though I think I look and sound like a complete goob in it.
Sorry if I didn't look like what you thought I did. When I made this video I didn't have plans on it being posted anywhere, but since the VF put it on youtube I figured, "What the hey- People are gonna see it now."
Look guys, I'm internet famous for vasculitis. Not exactly what I was planning on, but hey. Someone even asked me if they could put my video in a documentary about vasculitis. I said sure even though I think I look and sound like a complete goob in it.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Side Effects May Include the Following
I might be weird, but I've always been one of those people who read about the drugs they were given by the doctors. To me, it's just common sense. I want to know what I'm going to be doing to myself as I ingest these chemicals.
Reading about (and experiencing) drug side effects has really shown me the truth behind the saying, "Sometimes the cure is worse than the disease".
I already whined about the potential for weight gain that comes from taking Prednisone, but that's just one of the great things that particular drug can do. Osteoporosis seems to be common, it can also cause diabetes, high blood pressure and mood swings.
Anger, rampant horrible anger at small little things swiftly followed by jags of crying that are unconnected to anything going on anywhere. It's almost like someone is playing those sad puppy and kitten commercials with Sarah McLachlin songs on repeat in my head! Now I'm a wibbling mess and there's no real reason for it.
I guess the good news is, when the mood swing comes back around I can be all happy and perky and filled with sugary sweetness. That is, until something pisses me off again. Rage dinosaur activate!
Prednisone also likes to cause night sweats. Which, because I am on Prednisone, frustrate and anger me. I don't like waking up all sweaty, specially when I know that nothing particularly fun has gone on.
All of these emotional roller coasters really exasperate and tire me out. Of course, this same drug has caused me to be a little hyper sensitive to touch. Hugs hurt, kicking water hurts, seriously, it does, I really don't want a massage. On the other hand, I do want a massage because I hurt so much. It's a viscous cycle.
On the plus side, though, this drug helps keep my swelling down. I feel that it does this by taking the swelling from my important parts, such as my organs and moving it to my stomach and face. That's my excuse for looking like the Stay-Puft Girl, what's yours?
I guess I also have to give the Prednisone some props for keeping me going these past almost 7 months as I tried to come off it and found out that the methotrexate I was taking was not doing enough to suppress my immune system. Now I'm on a new chemo which also has a ton of side effects, but I, and you have probably lost focus for now.
I bet you're still all teary from the commercial up there. It's a sad commercial.
Reading about (and experiencing) drug side effects has really shown me the truth behind the saying, "Sometimes the cure is worse than the disease".
I already whined about the potential for weight gain that comes from taking Prednisone, but that's just one of the great things that particular drug can do. Osteoporosis seems to be common, it can also cause diabetes, high blood pressure and mood swings.
Anger, rampant horrible anger at small little things swiftly followed by jags of crying that are unconnected to anything going on anywhere. It's almost like someone is playing those sad puppy and kitten commercials with Sarah McLachlin songs on repeat in my head! Now I'm a wibbling mess and there's no real reason for it.
You watch that video and try not to tear up! And support your local SPCA or ASPCA
I guess the good news is, when the mood swing comes back around I can be all happy and perky and filled with sugary sweetness. That is, until something pisses me off again. Rage dinosaur activate!
Prednisone also likes to cause night sweats. Which, because I am on Prednisone, frustrate and anger me. I don't like waking up all sweaty, specially when I know that nothing particularly fun has gone on.
All of these emotional roller coasters really exasperate and tire me out. Of course, this same drug has caused me to be a little hyper sensitive to touch. Hugs hurt, kicking water hurts, seriously, it does, I really don't want a massage. On the other hand, I do want a massage because I hurt so much. It's a viscous cycle.
On the plus side, though, this drug helps keep my swelling down. I feel that it does this by taking the swelling from my important parts, such as my organs and moving it to my stomach and face. That's my excuse for looking like the Stay-Puft Girl, what's yours?
I guess I also have to give the Prednisone some props for keeping me going these past almost 7 months as I tried to come off it and found out that the methotrexate I was taking was not doing enough to suppress my immune system. Now I'm on a new chemo which also has a ton of side effects, but I, and you have probably lost focus for now.
I bet you're still all teary from the commercial up there. It's a sad commercial.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Alas, Poor Ice Cream, I Knew Ye Well
... a little too well, if you know what I mean.
Ice cream and I have a very special relationship. It is based on a mutual understanding that, when someone says they have ice cream, I am allowed to have some with the understanding that it is allowed to do horrible, nasty things to my body. This is why ice cream understands that I can't have too much of it, but ice cream feels good about itself because it is most likely the only reason my skeleton has not crumbled to dust by now.
Then my good friend Prednisone got added into the equation and threw ice cream and mine's relationship all out of its carefully balanced understanding.
One of the side effects for Prednisone is weight gain. I know it makes a person want to eat and you can get horrible urges to eat things. If it is edible, it will get eaten becomes the mentality and these urges can be hard to control.(For me it wasn't so much actual urges, I would get hungry, my stomach would growl, the whole nine yards so it wasn't really ice cream that caused my problems, but eating larger portions than what I am used to).
All in all, after six months on Prednisone I have gained some weight. Not as much as I could have gained, mind you but somewhere between the 15 and 20 pound marks, so basically all of the weight I lost prior to my diagnosis (which was probably due to the disease anyway, that's one symptom I would've liked to keep!) found their loving homes on my tummy and hips again. It's more than I would have liked, but if we were going by things that I liked or wanted I would have lost those 15 to 20 pounds.
I am also aware that I appear to have gained more than what I actually have as Prednisone has this other lovely, grand, so much fun really side effect of making you appear very bloated.
My face, she looks like a marshmellow! It's always pleasant to go to your GP and have them look at your charter, look at you and then say, "It looks like you've gained some weight, unfortunately it looks like it's all in your face."
My expression was not pleasant at that comment, I tell you.
I've hoped that as I've gone down on the Prednisone these past few months, finally dropping down to 5 mg, that I would get my face back. I can see shades of it sometimes, but for the most part it still gets puffy. I miss you face, come back to me!
Yes, specially during those first few months I spent many a while in front of the mirror pocking at my newly discovered chipmunk cheeks. It was depressing. Even now I have a hard time looking at pictures of myself pre-diagnosis because I miss that girl. That girl who was, albeit very sick, at least not that puffy looking!
Now that I am down on the Prednisone I am focusing again on losing weight (this is helped along by the nausea I get from chemo) most of what I gained happened during those first high dosage months, lately it's been stationary. I check.... some would say obsessively....... but don't most girls anyways?
Ice cream and I have a very special relationship. It is based on a mutual understanding that, when someone says they have ice cream, I am allowed to have some with the understanding that it is allowed to do horrible, nasty things to my body. This is why ice cream understands that I can't have too much of it, but ice cream feels good about itself because it is most likely the only reason my skeleton has not crumbled to dust by now.
Then my good friend Prednisone got added into the equation and threw ice cream and mine's relationship all out of its carefully balanced understanding.
One of the side effects for Prednisone is weight gain. I know it makes a person want to eat and you can get horrible urges to eat things. If it is edible, it will get eaten becomes the mentality and these urges can be hard to control.(For me it wasn't so much actual urges, I would get hungry, my stomach would growl, the whole nine yards so it wasn't really ice cream that caused my problems, but eating larger portions than what I am used to).
All in all, after six months on Prednisone I have gained some weight. Not as much as I could have gained, mind you but somewhere between the 15 and 20 pound marks, so basically all of the weight I lost prior to my diagnosis (which was probably due to the disease anyway, that's one symptom I would've liked to keep!) found their loving homes on my tummy and hips again. It's more than I would have liked, but if we were going by things that I liked or wanted I would have lost those 15 to 20 pounds.
I am also aware that I appear to have gained more than what I actually have as Prednisone has this other lovely, grand, so much fun really side effect of making you appear very bloated.
According to this graphic, my face wasn't so normal looking anyways....
My face, she looks like a marshmellow! It's always pleasant to go to your GP and have them look at your charter, look at you and then say, "It looks like you've gained some weight, unfortunately it looks like it's all in your face."
My expression was not pleasant at that comment, I tell you.
I've hoped that as I've gone down on the Prednisone these past few months, finally dropping down to 5 mg, that I would get my face back. I can see shades of it sometimes, but for the most part it still gets puffy. I miss you face, come back to me!
Yes, specially during those first few months I spent many a while in front of the mirror pocking at my newly discovered chipmunk cheeks. It was depressing. Even now I have a hard time looking at pictures of myself pre-diagnosis because I miss that girl. That girl who was, albeit very sick, at least not that puffy looking!
Now that I am down on the Prednisone I am focusing again on losing weight (this is helped along by the nausea I get from chemo) most of what I gained happened during those first high dosage months, lately it's been stationary. I check.... some would say obsessively....... but don't most girls anyways?
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