Tomorrow I taper my dose to 30mg. YEA!! If all goes well I’ll be on my maintenance dose in a little over a week. I am now thinking I might survive this….
Last weekend was awful. The vertigo was not necessarily unexpected, but nonetheless a surprise. I had experienced vestibulitis (inner ear inflammation) about 10 years ago after a sinus infection, and this was an unpleasant reminder of how awful it is to have the spins and be nauseated – and I didn’t even have any fun getting that way! At least my prior experience taught me about how I need to use meclazine (small doses, sparingly, and not at night unless I want some really strange dreams). I have slowly regained my “head” throughout the week, although it will still spin with sudden moves. I don’t dare ride in a car, because motion sickness might set it off again (and we live several miles back a dirt road), even though I have been able to drive short distances without any problems. My profound weakness has also slowly abated (whew!). I don’t feel strong and I don’t feel well, but I don’t feel like I will collapse walking to the bathroom anymore.
My blood pressure has remained under control. I tweaked my BP meds a bit and that seems to have resolved that problem, at least for now. As I taper I will probably need to continue to fine tune my meds. My blood sugar has also been ok. Not “normal” according to pre-prednisone levels, but well below what my doctor told me were my target levels. However, I found out that eating brown rice and oatmeal within several hours of each other isn’t a good idea – too many carbs at once! I’m still learning this carb counting thing. Because I’m being careful, and eating healthier, I’m dropping some weight. That is a very good thing overall because I am packing at least 30 too many pounds (and enjoyed putting on every one of them). That could also be why my BP has been low.
As far as the expected edema, I have started to notice some swelling in my face, mostly right at the jaw line and then another patch parallel to my ears. So far it doesn’t fit the textbook “cushnoid” appearance, but I know I’m retaining fluids. The other clue to fluid retention is the change in my vision - not the dangerous changes that could be related to the temporal arteritis or glaucoma, but fluid retention affecting the corneas. I had lasik correction 11 years ago, and chose monovision (which I love!) so my left eye is my reading eye and my right eye is my distance eye. When I had it done I still had menstrual hormonal cycles (although no bleeding without my uterus). Once a month or so, for the first few years after my lasik I would notice that my distance vision would get better and my reading eye would get worse (in other words, the focus more distant than “normal”). As I entered menopause, that routine vision change stopped, completely stabilizing ~3 years ago when I was placed on a diuretic for BP. That vision change is what is happening now. So small print is not easy to read, and distance vision is great. I dug out some of my vast array of cheap, over-the-counter “readers” and have tried using them. I can read fine with them on, but my brain is used to seeing at a distance with my right eye and that isn’t easy wearing readers (even +1.0). So I’ll see how that all develops, and hope that my brain will be able to adjust to the changes, and/or that the vision changes will decrease with decreased doses.
That’s all for now.
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