Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Managing Prednisolone Withdrawal Symptoms

It has been a long while since I last accessed my blog.  Have been extremely busy with work after my long medical leave.  My nerve pain on my left finger has healed but not completely healed. It's not painful now but I can feel that it's not normal as before.  Shingles has indeed left a bitter after taste for me. 

I have learnt my lesson.  It's important not to let your guard down especially when you are reducing the dosage of prednisolone.  Your immune becomes weaker.  Either your lupus flares up, got disease like Shingles or you suffer prednisolone withdrawal symptoms like fatigue.  When my doc reduced my prednisolone to 6mg in Feb, I got Shingles.  Then in May when dosage was down to 5mg, I experienced fatigue and my blood count showed low white cells and low haemoglobin.  Doc then up the dosage to 7.5mg.  It is really a hurdle to lower prednisolone let alone wane it off.  So besides taking my western medication and my vitamins dutifully now, I am also seeing a Chinese physician who has experience with lupus patients. I am taking Chinese herbs regularly to supplement and "wake up" my adrenal gland since it has been on "sleep mode" for quite some time.  The adrenal gland is responsible for the manufacturing of the "hormone" - corticosteroids.  But when you start to take prednisolone and in doses more than the body level - (i.e. anything more than 5mg is considered as "treatment' dosage since the usual body level is between 5-7mg) , this gland reduces the output and eventually shuts down the production since it senses that there are more than enough corticosteroids in the body.  And this is the reason that people will experience prednisolone withdrawal symptoms like fatigue if the dosage is suddenly or drastically reduced.  I am hoping this works for me, though it's kind of troublesome as I must make sure there is at least a 2 hours gap in taking western and chinese medications.   I am now on 6mg prednisolone for 2 months (and yes I think the doc is reducing it extremely slowly given my last 2 episodes) and also take my chinese medication (is in powder form and you mix it with warm water and drink it) twice a day.  So far, my blood test is alright and I just have to keep my finger crossed that this combination of western and chinese treatment will eventually help me wane off prednisolone uneventfully.

8 comments:

  1. Hi! I chanced upon your blog while doing a google search on sle and increased hair loss. I'm also from SG, diagnosed with SLE 5 years ago, have been taking pred since then... my sle mostly affects my platelets count.. it went to as low as 2! anyway, read that you're now seeing a Chinese doc experienced in SLE, can intro? cos i'm really tired of the increasing and decresing dosages of pred...

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  2. Hi Jasrence,

    You can check out his website. http://txjtcm.com/
    Sugg you talk to him to see whether you are comfortable with him first. I first saw him when I had shingles and then I proceeded to take chinese medicine to help wane off pred. It would be a long haul process, so don't expect this is a quick fix measure. All the best!

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  3. Mang thai có nên ăn thịt chó hay không
    Bà bầu nên ăn gì? bà bầu có nên ăn thịt chó? Là các vấn đề mà các mẹ hay quan tâm nhất để đảm bảo sức khỏe thai nhi. Việc bổ sung dinh dưỡng cho thai nhi luôn là vấn đề quan trọng nhiều mẹ thích ăn các món trong thời kì thai nghén nhưng khổ nỗi luôn lo âu ảnh hưởng đên thai nhi. Cùng chúng tôi tìm hiểu giải đáp thắc mắc ba bau co nen an thit cho nhé:
    Đơn giản thịt chó có chứa nhiều dinh dưỡng đặc biệt là chất đạm cho nên việc bổ sung dinh dưỡng là cần thiết nhưng thịt chó rất nóng nên sẽ không tốt cho thai nhi và bà bầu. Thứ 2 theo phong tục người Á Đông thì chó là vật nuôi thân thiết nhất với con người thì việc ăn thịt chó là trong những việc hay kiêng kị nhất.
    >>> Tìm hiểu thêm bà bầu có nên ăn trứng vịt lộn
    Chúng tôi khẳn định rằng bà bầu ăn thịt chó không hề ảnh hưởng gì chó sức khỏe nhưng cần hạn chế sử ăn quá nhiều và không nên ăn các món đi kèm với nó là mắm tôm, rau sống những thực phẩm này không hề tốt cho thai nhi. Các mẹ cần nên bổ sung đầy đủ các chất dinh dưỡng và cần bằng chế độ ăn uống cho phù hợp với tình trạng sức khỏe của mình và thai nhi trong từng giai đoạn.
    Hy vọng các mẹ có cái nhìn đúng là bà bầu có nên ăn thịt chó hay không hay các mẹ có nên ăn những gì trong suốt thời kì mang thai.
    Chúc các mẹ nhiều sức khỏe!

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  5. Glory to God in heaven. It's good to testify the goodness of God In one's life. Confese your sins and problem to one another so that you can be free forever. I'm a living witness. My name his Harris Dorothy. I was diagnosed of this deathly and shameful disease,Herpes for 4years. Till when I decided to give my life to God believing that he's a merciful God that can heal me. After service that faithful Sunday morning I decided to confess my problem to my father in Lord, Pst John of the RCCG Alaska. He gave me a brief story about his life how,necessary it is to believe in God. He told me how he suffered from Herpes for 7 years,but God makes a way for him through an African Herbalist,Dr. Dominic Elabe who he saw comments of people across online testifying how he's has been curing lots of people with his herbs. And in faith he contacted the Dr. Elabe And he Prepared his medicine and sent to him through the DHL to his home address I was very excited . I requested for the Herbs Doctor contacts . He gave me assurance that all I need to do its to pray for God to forgive my sins and sent his healing power upon my life. I did has he said and quickly contacted Dr. Elabe after a short conversation,I had to prove to me and I believed him after going through his pictures with patients and of live webcam conversation with all the documents recommending him to cure all sickness . I explained all my problems to him and all my Pst told me about its capability and talents in Herbs cure.....He gave me full assurance that I shall receive my cure if I can limit myself from what I eat and follow its medication rules because herbal and medical prescription don't go together. I requested for the immediate cure for my medicine. He papered the herbs and sent it the same way. Not upto 3weeks after taking his medicine,I began to experience lots of changes in me. To the glory of God, my HSV result,tested negative as he said....Am urging you all suffering from this diseases or of any kind,and might have any love one's with any deathly virus. God never forsake its children who believe and have faith in him...do not be afraid Dr. Elabe ...is real and ready to cure you from all diseases,sickness or infection not matter the sickness type or distance. Do your best to contact this great And powerful herbalist and watch Dr.Elebe ...he has the cure with his herbs,and it's medicine are very active with no sight effect and active immune booster. Watch him and Contact Dr.............@
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  7. I'm so excited to share my testimonies about the Good Work of  Dr.Anuge who got me cured from herpes simplex virus (HSV1&2) with his herbs, I never thought that I would live on earth before the year runs out. I have been suffering from herpes, I had spent a lot of money going from one Hospital to another looking for a way to get rid of this disease, the hospital has been my home everyday residence. Constant checks up have been my hobby not until this fateful day, I was searching through the internet, I saw a testimony on how @Dr_anuge7 helped someone in curing his herpes disease using his healing Herbs, quickly I copied his email just to give him a test I spoke to him, he told me that he is going to provide the herbal cure to me, which he did, after I received his herbs and I took it as instructed. I was cured permanently from herpes. My herpes disease was gone. so I decided to share my testimony, that nothing is impossible with God, God used a man to heal me. No matter what you are passing through, no matter how deadly the sickness is and no matter what the situation is God that did mine is still going to do yours, people suffering from herpes, brain tumor, kidney disease, pcos, AIDS, ALS,copd, asthma, arthritis,herpes, Cancer,Hpv, any kind of disease, you can reach him now via Gmail address: dranuge@gmail.com or whatsapp  +2348164866838

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