Looking up

It's day 9 of the Prednisone taper, which means I'm down to two pills daily. I only have a few more doses. And it's a good thing. The old familiar side effects are creeping back. My feet, hands and mouth have that fuzzy, numb feeling that steroids always bring on for me. My voice is a little hoarse. My attempt to sleep without a sleeping pill last night? Not good. I finally gave in at 4:30 -- took a sleeping pill and turned on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I was finally asleep on the couch before he met the Hogwart's Express. But my GI system is fairly calm right now. No pain. No diarrhea. No obvious tummy swelling. That part's good.

Of course, that could also have something to do with my hesitancy to swallow anything more fibrous than a piece of white bread or banana. Mostly, I've been sticking to full liquids -- instant breakfast, butternut squash soup, frozen lemonade, frozen yogurt shakes -- and squishy stuff -- hard-boiled eggs, potato salad (sans celery and onions), rice, noodles and such. Yesterday I got really daring and ate a hamburger, which I chewed the heck out of. It tasted good, though, and it didn't give me grief later. It's so hard to tell whether I feel better because I'm not running bulky food through my system or because of the steroids. 

Probably both, of course. Before I started this course of Prednisone at the first of the month, nausea and pain were nearly constant. Right now, not so much. 

Of course, there could still be a stricture of sorts that I don't know about.  But for now, it's not bothering me. I fantasize that if I just never eat raw vegetables, whole grains, anything with a peeling or that requires a lot of chewing again, I'll be fine. I can live without those things, right? Maybe I have to. We'll see. 

For now, I'll just take it a little at a time. The Prednisone ends Monday morning. The next Cimzia dose is due Thursday. I am praying for continued direction and working on confidence to keep following doctor's orders to be the healthiest I can be.