This is my first post on my very first blog. I have to admit that I am a bit of a band wagon jumper. I only decided to start a blog after watching Julie and Julia. I was truly inspired. I spent the next two weeks searching my mind for something to blog about. I thought about blogging my way through a cookbook, but that would just be copying. Then, my boyfriend suggested that I start a Jane Austen blog where I write a Jane Austen inspired story everyday. Finally, I thought about writing about living with vasculitis and being on prednisone. I hope to incorporate all of my blogging possibilities within this one blog. I will give low sodium, low fat recipes. I will talk about the side effects that I am currently experiencing, and I may even throw in a Jane Austen style narrative about my daily adventure. You never know what I am going to throw out there.
Today has been a bad day. For some reason I am having terrible joint pain. It started in my knees about three weeks ago, and is now spreading into my other joints. This morning I woke up to my big toes, ankles, wrists, and knuckles aching like crazy. The doctors have not come up with an explanation at this point. Being the crazy paranoid person that I am I spent the day trying to come up with explanations for the pain. I Googled until my fingertips were raw. I thought maybe I had eaten too many shellfish. Maybe I have Gout? With me nothing is too unusual. Then I thought that maybe I had eaten too many Tums! I eat about a roll a day to counteract the indigestion caused by the prednisone. My hypochondriac mind combined with new found knowledge from google led me to possibly believe, for about half an hour, that I was suffering from hypercalcemia, from too many Tums. I ditched this theory after about an hour. I am sure my doctors are smart enough to follow my calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and potassium levels. I really need to learn to stay away web md, the mayo clinic, and wrongdiagnosis.com. One of the first things my doctors told me when I was diagnosed at 14 was not to read anything on the Internet. It will probably end up freaking you out. I am now hoping that this new symptom is just a side effect from the prednisone in combination with the protein buildup in my urine. The doctors also think it could be caused by a vitamin D deficiency. This was not a surprise, as I live a bit like a vampire. Whatever the cause, I just want the pain to go away. I am tired of feeling like a 90 year old woman.
That's enough complaining for me tonight. Tomorrow, I will share a bit about prednisone and food, food, food, foood, my one, solitary daily mission, food!
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This blog is for all of you out there living with some unkillable monster inside of you. It does not have to be Vasculitis. This blog with cover my daily struggles and triumphs with Vasculitis, as well as advice on diet, exercise, and medicine.
Welcome, To All Of My Moon Faced Friends!
My name is Valarie, and I was diagnosed with anca vasculitis at the age of 14. I am now 24. Upon diagnosis I was treated with 9 doses of cytoxan and prednisone, not to mention a large pill case full of other colorful goodies. After a long hard road I went into remission for a little over 5 years. Unfortunately, I am currently suffering from a flare up or relapse, as the doctors like to call it. I hate the word relapse. It reminds me of the word failure. I was given 2 doses of rituximab, and once again, prednisone. I absolutely hate prednisone. This blog will hopefully capture my daily struggles and triumphs on the medicine, as well as give some advice on dealing with the side effects. I hope that my story will be relatable. I hope my advice will be helpful; and I hope to bring you a bit of laughter, because laughter truly is the best medicine!!!
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