Seriously... enough with the hospital...

I hate steroids. I have been on 80 mg./day of prednisone for 4 1/2 months, and the side effects are killing me. This last Friday, I had an IV infusion of solumedrol (prednisone), which pushed my blood sugar up near 700. I spend all weekend dizzy, disoriented, and confused. Sunday night, I finally gave in and went to the ER for some insulin. It turns out I have steroid-induced hypoglycemia. So now, I have the joy of giving myself insulin shots and checking my blood sugar 4 times a day. My nephrologist finally started tapering my prednisone... 70 mg. a day for 2 weeks, then 60 mg., etc. It seems my creatinine levels are down to 3.0, which is great news because it signals the beginning of remission. My hope is that I can stop the insulin once the steroid is reduced enough. Giving myself shots is a pain, and it hurts. I'm looking forward to getting back to feeling like my old self soon. The good news is that I may not need to do the Rituxan infusion therapy yet. If I can get (and stay) in remission with cytoxan and prednisone, then that's one trick we can "leave up our sleeve" in case I need it later (for possible relapse). I see my nephrologist again next week, so I'm hoping that my kidney numbers hold and that remission continues. In fact, I would love to see them drop even further, so I'm regaining some kidney function. In the meantime, I'll keep taking my meds and monitoring my blood sugar. Hopefully, I can stay out of the hospital long enough to finish out this awful school year!!!

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