It DOES get better

So, I was a little presumptuous in my last post about not being ready for the reduction. I did get used to it and by Friday I was able to go without an afternoon nap. Not that I'm avoiding taking a nap when I need it. I sleep when I need to but I don't feel that overwhelming desire to sleep right then and there, on the spot. I've been back to normal since yesterday. However, I will trust my initial instinct and reduce to 0mg on Jan 1, not on Dec 28. I think it will do me good to get used to this slowly. Once I go to 0 mg, there's no turning back.

I've been thinking of my gradual return to work schedule. Probably do 2 weeks of 2 days, 2 weeks of 3 days, 2 weeks of 4 days and then go back 5 days a week by Apr 12. I think that's reasonable. But only time will tell.

Harder than expected

I would have thought that going from 5 mg to 2.5 mg of Prednisone wouldn't be so hard but I've been proven wrong, yet again. The first day was fine, nothing out of the ordinary. Then, on Tue and Wed, I started feeling the effects. I've been lethargic and sleepy all day long and I had a nagging headache all day on Wed. I'm wondering if maybe I'm not ready to reduce the dose yet. I'm going to give it one more day and, if things don't improve, I'll go back to 5 mg. My Rheumy did say that it might appear as if I'm going through a flare for the first 3 days after the reduction. That would mean I should start feeling normal by Fri considering I'm not going to count Mon since, for some reason, the reduction doesn't affect me on the day I actually reduce. Strange. The only other time, I felt the reduction was when I went from 7.5 mg to 5 mg. I was totally expecting that, though, since your body naturally produces 7.5 mg of cortisone and by going down to 5 mg, you're forcing your body to start producing again. But, this reduction difficulty came out of the blue.

I was supposed to taper to 0 mg on Dec 28, but I might just postpone to Jan 1. I'm not going back to work till Mar 2 so I have time.

Returning to Normalcy

It's been a couple of weeks since I've posted here. It's been an interesting two weeks. First off, I reduced my Prednisone down to 2.5 mg today. I had my regular afternoon nap for 45 mins and was fine after that. Let's see how the next 2 weeks go. More importantly, I am curious to see how I am without the medication at all.

My mother-in-law and father-in-law left for India last week and the week leading up to it were pretty hectic. Not because I was involved in their packing or anything. More because I was taking over some of my mother-in-law's responsibilities. In a way, I think it's a good thing. It's not a whole lot but enough to have a few additional things on my daily to-do list. It's a good thing because they're going to be gone till March 8 and I plan on going back to work on a gradual return to work schedule on March 2. This is a good primer for me to get into the habit of doing a bit more but in the comfort of my own home.

I had a long chat with my VP last Friday. She had no idea about what was going on with me. About the seizure, about the driver's license, about the lupus, nothing - she had no clue. I was a so mad with Liz for not having told her but then I learned that Liz has been in and out of the hospital herself over the last 2 months. I must call her and see how she's doing as well.

On another note, I got approved for long term disability and got my first cheque for the period Nov 20-Dec 11. I should be getting cheques on Jan 11, Feb 11 and Mar 11 before I go back to work.

I have a few appointments lined up in the next month: Family doctor appointment on Dec 17. Rheumatologist appointment on Jan 8. Obstetrician appointment on Jan 27 (I never did end up seeing her for my post-op appointment after the miscarriage because I was in Dubai and then in the hospital). I will talk to her about when it would be safe to try for another baby.