So, that initial high of appetite and motivation was great, but now the side effects of the steroids are beginning to kick in and make me wanna get off of them ASAP. The first one that I noticed was the sleep interruptions. It tends to speed up your blood pressure, and I find that makes it very difficult to wind myself down to go to sleep.
Another recent problem from them is cramping. Without warning either of my hands will suddenly contort to the shape of an old arthritic woman's gnarly hands. It doesn't last too long (like 30 second intervals) but I'd say it's happening, on average, of twice a day. Grrr.
However, the most worrisome potential side effect of the steroid that I'm on, and the true motivation for the purchase of the treadmill, is that they can cut off blood flow to the artery that feeds the ball/socket joint of the hip. If that happens, the bone won't get any blood/oxygen and can die, resulting in the need for a hip replacement. WOAH, Nelly! This, my doctor tells me after I explain to him that last week I woke up one day with excrutiating pain in both knees. He said that the best thing to do was to keep the area active, so the next day, I phoned my brother-in-law (a physical therapist's assistant) for hip exercises and went out with Ralph to pick up the machine that now dominates our second bedroom. Fingers crossed that this stuff does the trick and keeps my hip "in the flow."
Aside from those things, I'm also wanting to get off this bugger fast because it's the second immuno-suppressant that I'm on--keeping me one further step from returning to a normal lifestyle.
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