Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Ramp Up the Prednisone

After a couple of emails and a few phone calls from different departments, Dr. K. arranged a CT Scan for this morning followed by a full run of pulmonary function tests tomorrow before my appointment to see her. She also told me to wear supplemental oxygen at 2 liters and to kick up my nighttime oxygen to 4 liters. It helped! I rarely coughed and slept well last night.

She also told me to begin a run of 40 mgs of prednisone. Yikes! I tend to go manic and cannot sit still or sleep. Every bit of the house will be spotless, all my projects will be completed, all the sheets will be ironed and I even asked our neighbor Leslie if she needed anything ironed! We had a good laugh. The increase will begin within the hour.

I thought I would also mention a rather strange thing that happened while taking tamiflu. I was warned that there could be some mental issues and it was not until I finished the 10-day run that I realized I had an issue!! About the final three days of the drug, I was worried about everything: Michael driving home from work, William being out of the country just to name a few. I now understand anxiety. I was fully anxious but did not recognize it. I guess you don't know your anxious until it is gone. And thank goodness it is gone!

So, now I have to deal with the manic-ness of prednisone. Tough on Michael. He teases me that his jeans will be ironed, I will suddenly have over-developed muscles and a deeper voice. He calls me Bruce when I am on this much prednisone. Nothing else to do but try to see the humor in it all.

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