Many Many Drugs - Prednisone

Before my last doctor's visit a week ago, I sat down with all my medical records (a very thick file) and compiled a spreadsheet of all the medications I've been prescribed since this nightmarish ordeal began two years ago.  It took a while to organize all this information since dosages on some of the drugs had been changed several times.  When I was finished, there were still some holes in my timeline because I remembered that at times, my doctor had changed dosing over the phone and I hadn't written it down.  Anyone who has ME/CFS or Fibromyalgia knows that if something doesn't get written down, it's forever lost in the fog that took over where your brain used to be.

Two years ago, when I first visited a doctor about my strange set of life-altering symptoms, he ordered, what I didn't realize at the time, would be the first of many rounds of blood tests.  He guessed that I was having a response to some sort of inflammation.  He suggested I try aspirin to bring down the inflammation until the blood tests came back with some answers.  Everything came back normal including the Rheumatoid Factor except for the ANA titer which came back positive with a speckled pattern - 1:36 . 

When I went back a couple weeks later, my symptoms had gotten worse and more blood was drawn.  The doctor I saw this time (from the group) prescribed Prednisone at 60mg per day for five days then 10mg per day for fifteen days, then 5mg per day for ten days.  A few days after I started the Prednisone, I actually felt a lot better and was able to return to many of my previous activities including, walking up two miles of steeply inclined roads per day.  But, about a week into the lowered doses, my symptoms returned and I was experiencing a lot of pain and severe fatigue again.

My doctor prescribed another high-dose round of Prednisone which was effective but short-lived as before.  She explained that Prednisone was not a long-term option at this point due to the toxicity of the drug, so I went back to feeling sick and returned to the doctor once more.

Tune in next time for...drug number two!