Straight Talk - Prednisone

Today, I could feel my face!! For the first time in a while, I woke up able to feel my face again. Not in the sense that you put your hand to your face, and it feels smooth, or bumpy, or cold, or smiley. Feel my face in the sense that it did not feel numb-ish from the inside. I could smile and feel my cheeks and the muscles that help make that happen. It didn't feel like a Dentist loaded me up with that lovely 'stuff' that dulls the hurt. I could feel my face! Now, as I type, its late in the day, and the sensation has diminished. Baby steps!

We continue to slowly decrease the Prednisone and with that, I suppose the side effects will slowly go away too. All I've heard people say is that the side effects from this medication (long term use), is 'just horrible'. Then I ask, 'what does that mean' and often do not get a clear answer. So, I'm here to share.

Your joints start to hurt. I brace myself at times, when sitting. No, you re not getting old and falling apart..well..not exactly. You're not expediting the aging process, but your body *is* expediting the joint degradation. Gotta keep exercising!

My appetite is great..and so is my waistline. NO, that's not a cry for help or a woe is me. Its more like a 'Whoooah' for me!

My vision gets blurry. Aside from any allergens that may be blowing through the area, the vision field gets blurry at times and you have to stop and blink, blink, blink or I even try the eye drops. Sometimes it helps, but most of the time, ya just deal with the change.

Your skin gets a bit aggravated too. What does that mean? I mean, there are little bumps all over that you would liken to dry skin or maybe hives or shingles...it looks that way. I have a lovely break out on my face, and it acts nothing like the silly 'zits' we all grew up with. They're just annoying and ugly.

Ok, that's my quick tutorial on the side effects of Prednisone. Those that I have experienced! Don't get me wrong, these are necessary hurdles and very minimal, when compared to the alternatives patients are often faced with.

Today marks 10-weeks with out pheresis, 11-weeks since the last infusion, let's call it 12-weeks since the symptoms were present, and this morning I could feel my face!

Its 8.5 for Team Higgins

It would seem that I need to begin using the voice memo recorder on my phone, as I have these 'brilliant' ideas during the week, that I intend to share with you, fully trusting myself that I will not forget the topic this time , and when time is allotted to sit down and chat with you, well, I've forgotten of course.

This has been a good week. It is now 8.5 weeks since the last pheresis treatment, and 9.5 weeks since the last infusion, and I'll be bold and say 10.5 weeks since the last symptoms were noticeable. Good numbers! We continue to decrease the Prednisone and look forward to that wrapping up in a couple of months. So all in all, I'm doing great!

Comparing where we have been, and where we are now, I am a *very* happy camper. It feels like we've reach a plateau. What a climb, and what do we do now? I promise it wont be sit still and wait. No more waiting to see what MG or MS will serve up next. Our MG support group is taking part in the MDA's annual fundraising celebration in 2 weeks (Muscle Walk), Lee is training to ride in the MS 150 coming up in April (150 miles, Houston to Austin, 2-days!), and just after this, we'll travel to Las Vegas to take part in the annual Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America conference. We keep busy!

We rest too, and we give thanks for the blessings we've received through all of this poo. The list o blessings is long, and ever growing. For example, I'm blessed to have just watched that big ole sun rise again, and that 8.5 is more than just my shoe size!