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I mentioned yesterday that I really dislike taking prednisone. This is very true, but as far as my breathing goes, this drug works miracles. It reduces the angry inflammation within hours, letting me regain some stability and normalcy. I’m already feeling much better. I just wish it didn’t affect the rest of my body so much.
It wreaks havoc on my stomach, making me feel nauseous and starving almost at the same time (if that’s possible). The hot flashes I get from it could rival any 50 year-old woman’s. The most disruptive side effect is probably the mood swings. It makes me feel slightly out of myself and manic at times. Other times I get really irritable. Gah! It drives me nuts. The list of possible long-term side effects is alarming in itself, but I try not to think about those seeing as I’m not on a maintenance dose.
So you see, you really have to weigh the costs and benefits when deciding whether or not to take it. Breathing well is much more important than having a comfortable tummy. Safety first! It’s just not something I or my doctors like to resort to. It does end up being a necessary evil for me several times a year though.
Pred countdown: 6 days (ugh)
I had another one of Those Scary Things (See Tuesday’s post) last night. Seeing as I have no desire to do the whole thing over tonight and the next night, it clicked that maybe I should be doing something different. I called my doctor’s office this morning but unfortunately he is away this week. I thought I could either start prednisone on my own, or pop into urgent care to get checked out. I regrettably opted for the latter.
The doc I saw pretty much just said “Yup, you should start prednisone” and that’s it. So then I felt sort of dumb for going in because I could have done that on my own. (As a little aside, the doc listened to my lungs THROUGH MY HOODIE. I’ve seen him lots of times and he always does this. Nobody else does this and I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t hear properly? Xavier? This is not the time for modesty people!)
So now I have 50 mg of pred for 7 days. I HATE PRED. Everybody does. Well, actually it’s more of a love/hate relationship, the details of which deserve a blog entry in themselves. Maybe tomorrow.
I’m thinking that soon I will be back to a normal study schedule and maybe I’ll be able to get to the gym next week??
My music lesson went incredibly well today. After finishing my piece, my teacher said I gave her shivers!! *SHIVERS*, that is like, the ultimate compliment!
It’s not like I practiced all that much this week, but the time I put in was quality time. Something clicked this week and my pieces are really coming together. Shivers, I say! Woooot woooot!
Now it’s back to genetics, except I can’t seem to get off this cloud!
Everything’s still good! The weather’s been crazy though, I can’t believe the snow!
I started out with psych this morning, it was quite interesting and fun as per usual. Then I had a very long break and was able to get lots of studying done. Music class was pretty good too. In biochem today, we had an “optional test”. As in, it only counts if it helps your final mark. I had been planning to study for it as if it were a mandatory test, but after Monday night and the aftermath that was Tuesday, I told myself not to worry about it and to just do what I could. As it turns out, I had studied enough and I think it went quite well. I feel pretty good now!
This evening I have been studying genetics. I may be a total bore, but I’m just thankful that I can study tonight so there! A pot of tea is making it quite pleasant.
Yesterday evening was a total write-off. I wasn’t able to concentrate whatsoever. Gah, lungs! I have lots to do, so this is slightly disturbing.
Anyway, I am feeling much better this morning. This is good! Of course, it’s only 6:30 am so maybe it’s a little premature. I have a very full day today and I was really hoping I wouldn’t have to skip out on any of it. Actually, I think I feel a happy dance coming on! : )
OK, well I may have written a semi-coherent post this morning, but I think I was also slightly delusional. I went back and read my blog posts from the last week, and I pretty much had every reason to expect that I was going to blow. I guess I sort of had my head stuck in the sand, the attack definitely didn’t come out of nowhere.
However, the fact that I went from almost fine to on the floor within minutes is still alarming. Yeesh. And I probably need a better plan of execution for when that does happen.
To prove that I really was out of it this morning, I will tell you this: when I was showering, I tried to shampoo my hair with facial cleanser. ‘Nuff said.
Sometimes asthma attacks are a long time in the making. They start with just a twinge in your chest and keep nagging at you until you pay attention. And if you don’t pay attention, it will get worse and worse in tiny little increments so that it’s hardly noticeable. Eventually, you are facing this huge asthma attack, and you wonder how you got there. But if you stop to think, you can trace it back to that little twinge.
Last night, for me, was not like that. Granted, I haven’t been feeling excellent lately, but still. I had had a super long but good day, and was finally home studying at my desk. Once I decided to stop studying and go to bed it occured to me that “oh, I guess I am pretty tight”. So I grabbed my puffer. 10 minutes later, I was in really, really bad shape. I couldn’t believe how quickly I deteriorated. Thankfully, I live with a relative who could help me or else I would have called 911 right then. My aunt helped get more ventolin into me using the spacer (have I mentioned how much I love my spacer? Who ever said they were for children only?). It took awhile for any of it to even reach my lungs, let alone open them up, but I got there. I did get there, and I’m thankful for that.
Those sudden asthma attacks that have no apparent cause and that just get a complete hold over you in no time flat are the scariest kind. I really do not appreciate them. Thank goodness I do not live alone.
This morning I’m tired and sore and foggy-brained, but hey, I managed to write a coherent blog post, so I must be doing OK. I have one lecture at 11:30 and I am hoping I will get there. And here’s to a better day and a better night tonight.
Happy Robbie Burns day!!
I had a much better night last night and feel pretty good this morning. Hurray for that : ) I’ll be going to a Burn’s day ‘do today and hopefully a party later on as well.
For the non Scottish-ly inclined, it is the 250th anniversary of the birthday of the famous Scottish Robert Burns. Jan. 25th is the day where we eat haggis, wear kilts, play bagpipes and the like. Except I don’t technically eat the haggis seeing as I don’t eat meat. But still, it’s a very good time all ’round!!
Hey all
Feels like I haven’t written in awhile, but it hasn’t been that long really. In the last couple of days I’ve been having bad nights and tired days and I’m just feeling a little run down. I’m fine, just having a hard time, especially at night.
I would like to be feeling better so I could party it up (it’s Robbie Burns weekend!) and make decent progress on the loads of work I have. Maybe I can come up with a more interesting post later on. Peace!
Newsflash! I love school. If my sister is reading, she will be rolling her eyes and lamenting my nerdiness, but it’s true. I feel like this is the semester where they are finally starting to teach us relevant and real stuff, instead of just having entire courses of theoretical rudiments. Right now, I feel like I wanna stay in school until I’m 35, and if there’s a way for me to practice medicine while obtaining multiple PhDs, I’d be in heaven.
Remember how I was complaining about the biochem professor, the one I said was just out to make us feel small? Well, I’m not exactly saying he wasn’t, but I did come to enjoy his lectures. And, as second years in the field of science, we are small. We only had him for 3 lectures before he had to pass the baton, but I found him quite funny and interesting by the end. But, have I told you about the new biochem professor?? I think we only have her for 4 more lectures, but I will say right now that I LOVE HER. She is fairly young and is a total powerhouse, her area of research kicks ass, and she is so exciting when she teaches. I can’t explain it properly, you’d have to see how she lectures.
As far as the lungs go, they’re not what they were last week. I’m definitely noticing a declining level of comfort here. I guess it’s a delayed reaction to being back in this city after Christmas break, and it’s to be expected. I think I have a lung check-up coming up though so that’s a good thing. Geez, I’m getting bored of talking about my breathing, did I actually start an asthma blog??? Actually no, it’s a good thing, because if I write it down, I notice subtle changes sooner, which equals me taking action sooner and avoiding major problems. In theory.
