It started a month ago when I finally went to the doctor because my guts are broken. Again. I've gone for four years and kind of forgot that I have a chronic auto-immune condition that can flare up anytime. Until it does-- and then boy do I remember!
Long story short, the doctor tells me I'm way overdue for another colonoscopy and schedules one for April 19th. Yikes!
You see, I can push myself through 100 mile bike rides, I can work just about anyone under the table, and I can accomplish just about anything I set my mind to. The one thing that I cannot do is make myself drink the gosh-awful stuff that cleans you out the night before the procedure. Just. Can't. Do. It.
I think that my guts know exactly what the purpose of the horrendous mixture is and as soon as it hits my stomach, my stomach clenches and chucks it all back up.
No more details. It sufficeth to say, I had a horrible night.
Anyway, I made it through the night and the procedure pretty well, but sure enough, I was in the middle of a huge flare up-- one that required a different course of treatment that I have never tried before-- steroids.
Steroids frighten me-- ever since my mom was on a course of them and actually developed a condition called "steroid psychosis." I worried it might be hereditary.
It wasn't. But over the course of the month of taking them, I have had some pretty interesting side effects.
- I am hungry. All of the time. I eat a meal and an hour later, I feel ravenous.
- As a consequence of the above, and also I am hoping some water retention, I have gained back most of the weight that I worked so hard to lose after Christmas. Pardon my French but DAMMIT!
- I have hot flashes. If this is an indication of what is to come when I am much, MUCH older, then I think you'd better shoot me now.
- I am unpredictable. Sometimes I feel manic euphoria and sometimes I feel rage.
- I can't sleep. Even with Ambien. That's when you know you're in trouble.
In other words, these steroids have turned me into a teen-age boy.
I will try to remember this when my boys get to be a little older and I want to kill them for eating too much, growing too fast, never wearing jackets and acting like cretins.
When I started experiencing the weirdness, I looked up Prednizone online to see what side effects were listed. All of my symptoms were in the common section. There was also one piece of advice that I think they ought to list on the bottle:
"You should let your family, friends, and co-workers know that you are taking steroids and that your behavior may be erratic."
Consider yourselves advised. :-)
