Goodbye and So Long Prednisone

Well today I start tapering down on my Prednisone medication for the last time hopefully. Which means there is a good possibility my ears are going to go nuts, fill with fluid and I'm going to have a lot of pressure in my head and I'll be dizzy and grumpy for the next week or longer. I'm trying to get off of it before my appointment with the Rheumatologist on Dec 28th.

Prednisone is a steroid that can really help resolve problems in some people if they can tolerate the side effects. Generally, the medication is taken in "rounds" of 7-14 days, where you begin with a dose of 40 milligrams for four days, and then 20 milligrams for 4 days, etc, etc, until you are down to zero. I have been on it daily since the beginning of June 2009.

Prednisone and I have a major love-hate relationship. When used on a temporary basis (like listed above) it can be a wonder drug. It is designed to remove all inflammation by shrinking the excess fluid from your body and joints. So if you have knee or back pain, it should shrink all of the pain, thus making you feel a lot better. It is used for a wide variety of other reasons but it was prescribed to me to relieve the pain, pressure, vertigo, and other symptoms associated with the fluid on my inner ears. It has helped with this tremendously. However, once I finish each 'round' of the medication the symptoms return within a matter of 2-3 days and I end up in bed (or the ER) with massive headaches, feeling like my ears are going to explode and with such severe vertigo I can't get to the bathroom without passing out. I have tried other medications, but this seems to be the only thing that keeps my symptoms at bay enough for me to function on a day to day basis. However, with the long term use of this I have experienced a bout of side effects that are borderline unbearable anymore. I may have touched on these problems in previous posts here and here. But brought to you by Wikipedia here is a list of side effects associated with long term use of Prednisone and other steroids.

increased blood sugar for diabetics

weight gain

facial swelling/moon pie face

depression, mania, psychosis or other psychiatric symptoms

unusual fatigue or weakness

mental confusion / indecisiveness

blurred vision

abdominal pain

painful hips or shoulders

Long term migraines

insomnia

severe joint pain

anxiety

stomach pain or bloating

severe swelling

stretch marks

nervousness

acne

rash

increased appetite

frequent urination

diarrhea

sensitive teeth

Check. Check. Check. And check. This may be a little too much information for some of you but I have suffered from each of those lovely side effects for the last 6 months. I can't take it anymore. The weight gain, the insomnia (in addition to my already existing issue), the severe facial swelling, the night sweats, I am always hot, and shaky. UGH. I mean honestly - this is a picture of me before my first round of Prednisone and then another taken the first of November. It makes me want to cry. It's awful and depressing. My face looks like a moon pie and I won't even mention what the rest of me looks like with 40 extra lbs in 6 months.

We still do not know what the source of the problem is. I have seen general physicians, ENT's, neurologists with no improvement. I have an appointment with a rheumatologist at the end of the month. So I am hoping he will have some answers or suggestions for me. After that the next step is to call the Shae Ear Clinic in Memphis, TN and see if they could offer me some hope, maybe a consultation over the phone or anything. Who knows. I just hope that the next week detoxing from this crap isn't going to be as awful as I am anticipating and I am apologizing in advance for any bitchyness coming from me. Wish me luck in my detox efforts!