Steroids and me...

This past week has been very stressful with Uni work and since my last appointment at the hospital I've been feeling less than alright. I thought that seeing as my steroid dose has been increased I would write a little post on how I'm getting on with them and how they affect me. I've mentioned them before but I am currently on Prednisolone, taking 4 tablets in the morning with my breakfast (they taste horrible). Prednisolone is a steroid that reduces inflammation which is why it is useful for patients with Crohns. Although it is a good drug it also has lots of lovely side effects, some of these I have been struggling with this week!

The most obvious one that bothers me everyday is my lovely round moon face. Steroids can change where you store water and clearly mine has chosen the face. Its not something that I cry myself to sleep over but it's frustrating and hasn't gone down since I started them. At first I thought I had got away with no one noticing but they have and that's something that is frustrating as well as it looks like I've just gained a stupid amount of weight!

Since going back up to a slightly higher dose I have noticed the mood swings again. The last time the dose went up I got a massive amount of motivation and energy. I signed up for a 10k, applied for jobs and got ahead with all my work so I half expected the same kind of motivation this time round. Oh was I wrong! I'm tired after the smallest things and almost on the verge of tears all the time which isn't like me at all. That is the worst part for me, knowing that I'm not really sad and I have no reason to be but I have no control over it.

Overall I love steroids for how much they help me and how they have prevented me from going on to other medication that would be much more difficult to take. The side effects aren't very nice but they are a small price to pay for feeling better! 

Big bag of drugs

It has been awhile since I spoke about what medicine I am actually on and as it has changed I thought I would do a quick update about what I take now. Every day I take 11 tablets which I keep in a bright striped make up bag so I always see it and don't forget (I have only ever been close to forgetting once!) I take these every morning after my breakfast. My other tablets used to have to be taken an hour before so I'm glad I changed over! These are what I take and what they do...

Omeprazole: The red and white capsule, this is for acid reflux

Adcal: The big white ones: these are for calcium and vitamin D

B vitamins: Slightly yellow tablets: this is something I choose to take to help stop tiredness

Azathioprine: 2 cream tablets: an immunosuppressant to stop my body attacking itself

Prednisolone: 4 white tablets: a steroid used to reduce inflammation

Rigevidon: 1 white tablet: this is my contraceptive pill!

Azathioprine and Prednisolone

This week I had my first post-hospital check up with my Doctor. I first saw the nurse who took my weight (I've finally managed to put on some!) and my height (I've grown 1/4 inch, i'm now a massive 5"2 1/4! I then saw a specialist Crohns nurse who my doctor had asked me to see. She was the most helpful person I have spoke to so far and gave me so much information. The blood test from a couple of days before showed I still had high inflammation and low protein. I have come off the steroids I was on as my symptoms had got worse and she suggested the dosage wasn't high enough so I have been put on another 6 week course which decreases my one tablet each week, this is called Prednisolone. I have also been put on Azathioprine which is an immunosuppressant to stop the cells in my immune system attacking my body and causing inflammation. These can take up to 6 weeks to start making a difference so as the steroids decrease these should kick in and start to work. 2/3 people are fine on this but the other third can suffer from side effects such as flu symptoms and joint pain which I need to be aware of. It also says a 'very common' side effect is anorexia which I cant understand! I will need to have blood tests weekly to check my liver function  and anaemia which start this Friday. I also had several questions to ask which she answered fully such as Can I give blood? Nope, I need it! Can I take paracetamol and codeine? Yes, anything but ibuprofen is fine. Can I drink alcohol? Yes, in moderation. My original doctor came in to visit during the appointment and said some words that have really helped. He said its up to me now I really need to own it and if I want to be better they will do everything they can to help like giving me the medication I need but its up to me to take it and look after myself and focus on getting better. It has made me realise that this needs to be priority now and everything else like University and other things can wait. He said that if the medicine starts to work I should be able to go back but if they don't then I wont be able to go on the Cologne trip so fingers crossed!