"Oh my gosh! How am I supposed to function like this?!?" If you have ever been placed on a steroid you have probably had this same exact thought! In this post I am going to be talking specifically about everyone's all time favorite corticosteroid, PREDNISONE! I am totally kidding.
If you have never been on Prednisone let me share with you some of the fun that you are missing out on. My personal favorite was the insane insomnia! I would literally sit up & not be able to sleep no matter how tired. I actually have the local late night TV schedule memorized & I know what channels to turn to when the infomercials start coming on. Seriously, I live my life on the edge!!!
Some of you might be asking, "What is Prednisone? And why are you on such a terrible drug?" Well Prednisone is a corticosteroid that acts as an anti-inflammatory. Most times doctors prescribe this to Crohnies (definition: someone who has Crohn's Disease) to get the inflammation in the intestines under control. It really is a miracle drug but after a while the side effects begin to take effect & that is when the fun starts.
Side effects of Prednisone include: confusion, excitement, restlessness, headaches, nausea, vomiting, thinning of the skin, acne, insomnia, weight gain, mood swings, & high blood sugar which causes increased thirst, an increased need to go to the bathroom, & the feeling of being sleepy or confused. That's a whole lot & if you are a lucky one, like myself, you experience almost all of those, YIPPIE! It's kind of whatever you make of it though. The way I see it is that you have two options when you are diagnosed with Crohn's disease. 1. You can let yourself fall into a dark whole & become depressed, or 2. You can see it as just another road block in your way & knock it down with humor! There will be days when you can't get out of bed & you get a little down. That's where the humor comes in handy!
HERE is a link to a youtube video of comedian Ben Morrison. Ben was diagnosed with Crohn's while he was still in high school & this is a clip from his bit called Pain in the Butt which is about living with Crohn's Disease. This particular clip is about his experience with Prednisone! It's super funny, & I guarantee you will laugh!!
So like he said Prednisone causes a puffy face. There is actually a tern for this, it's called moon face! Lovely name right?! I can vouch for anyone who has ever experienced this that it is in fact far from lovely! Another lovely thing that tags along with the moon face is the weight gain. Prednisone causes an increase in appetite which plays into the weight gain, but it also causes you to retain water. The good news is there is a way to avoid that water weight! By drinking like crazy amounts of water you will flush your system & avoid the water weight. As far as weight gain due to eating, that's probably a good thing for a Crohnie. By the time you are diagnosed with CD people have typically lost so much weight that they are extremely underweight, so the weight gain can get you back up to a healthy weight!
Sara Ringer is the author for the blog Inflamed-&-Untamed. On her Youtube channel she publishes videos on life with Crohn's Disease. This particular video is about "How to Look Skinny on Steroids" of course the entire video is a joke & she emphasizes that point at the end of her video.
So like I mentioned earlier there are more side effects than just the weight gain. Another lovely side effect of Prednisone is insomnia! I personally hate this one the most I think! When it's 3 o'clock in the morning & you can't sleep because you are totally on a steroid high & running around like an energizer bunny. And of course when you don't sleep at night you are absolutely exhausted during the day! To curb this bad habit I talked to by doctor about taking something like Tylenol PM. That worked for a while but it was taking, what seemed like, forever for it to make me drowsy. I talked to my doctor again & he told me that it was okay for me to take ZQuil. Make sure though that if you are on Prednisone & in need of sleep that you talk to your doctor first before taking anything. There can be adverse reactions between medications.The last side effect that I really struggled with was the nausea that goes along with it. Making sure that you eat before you take it can sometimes make that nausea a bit easier to deal with & not quite as intense. I typically try to eat a little something, like some fruit, then take it & eat a little bit more.
I hope that you were able to take something useful away from this post, if not well then I hope you got a laugh from it! Thank you for taking the time to read my posts! :)
~Kaylee <3