January does not typically seem to be the month for happy news–instead, it usually suffers in gloomy silence as the ugly middle child squashed between buoyant December and perky February, and it and I have a long history of grey moods and general dreary demeanors together.
BUT! Today—today I have joyful news to share with you all (and no, it has nothing to do with the fact that we stayed up way too late last night playing games (worth it!) or that I just felt like I was “in the Teaching Zone” all day today (and on a Monday, no less!))–
TODAY WAS MY LAST DAY ON PREDNISONE!!
Can I get a “Hallelujah” from the crowd?
Before I entered the realm of autoimmune diseases, I was wildly oblivious to the idea of medications in general. Other than my prenatal vitamin, I had never had to take any sort of pill with any sort of regularity, so it probably goes without saying that I completely took it for granted that I never had to worry about side effects or deal with dosage changes or stress over missing a day.
And for anyone who’s ever been on Prednisone can tell you, it’s one BEAST of a medicine (as I already mentioned here).
So, after today—
– No more “moon face” syndrome (well, it won’t go away immediately, but I at least now have a fighting chance)
– No more stressing out over a weight battle that seems almost futile (again, see this post)
– No more random bouts of aggression and anger that just seem to flare up out of nowhere
– No more tossing and turning and sleepless nights even when my body is exhausted
I AM FREE.
(And the news gets even better—my doc told me that in about two and a half months, we start tapering down off my methotrexate, which will mean no more nausea-filled, sleepy Sundays where it’s all I can do to drag myself to church and drag myself home again, with no energy, motivation, or general feeling of wellbeing anywhere in sight. Big News, people!)
Just thought I’d like to blast this little post of rejoicing out into the bleak January air to remind myself in future years that sometimes, good things do come out of January.
