The Unbelievably Ridiculous Truth That is My Life in General Mental Anesthesia

I have yet to see a horror film as horror-filled as reality.

Trying to write and be more regular (as ironic as that is) giving my current circumstance. I wanted to post some information regarding my situation.

My current gastroenterologist stopped my Prednisone without a taper, refusing to write more.

It’s grossly negligent and a life threatening decision.

I hate Prednisone! Unfortunately my body is resistant to every medication used to treat my condition (ulcerative colitis) and the Prednisone was the only thing keeping me alive. (Of course it was also killing me - ie: side effects).

Yes, it was a shitty situation, but the bottom line was, I needed to be on it until I could find a replacement for it (which I have a plan for). But he stopped it without warning. Here’s why that’s dangerous:

“Prednisone is a drug that suppresses your immune system and reduces inflammation. It’s used to treat many conditions, such as psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and ulcerative colitis. Although prednisone withdrawal usually happens after long-term treatment, it can happen after short-term treatment as well. Stopping the drug or reducing your use too quickly may lead to withdrawal.”

Prednisone withdrawal is different from how we typically imagine withdrawal. That is, prednisone withdrawal doesn’t cause you to crave prednisone. It’s not an addictive medication. Still, it does affect your body physically and it can disrupt several of your body’s functions. Prednisone use cannot be stopped abruptly; tapering the drug gives the adrenal glands time to return to their normal patterns of secretion.

The symptoms of prednisone withdrawal can include:
- heart attack / stroke (Particularly after long-term use)
- severe fatigue
- weakness
- body aches
- severe joint pain
- confusion
- drowsiness
- abdominal pain
- headaches
- muscle pain
- dizziness / fainting
- lightheadedness
- nausea
- vomiting
- diarrhea

Depending on how long you’ve been taking prednisone, your withdrawal symptoms may last from a few weeks to up to 12 months. This time will likely be much shorter if you follow your doctor’s instructions for slowly tapering your dosage of prednisone when you stop taking it.

It’s been 5 days from taking 40mg of Prednisone every day for 16 months (and as much as 250mg/day during hospital stays) to zero. No taper at all. That means two things:

1. Prednisone withdrawal
2. Rapid worsening of ulcerative colitis.

How do I feel you ask?

Like I’ve been run over by a Mack truck! I’m so severely fatigued that I literally can’t get out of bed for hours after I wake up. I’m having intermittent chest pains. Yesterday, every step I took felt like my ankles were going to snap in half! My calf muscles were so rigid and in pain that I couldn’t move without whimpering. My shins felt like they were hollowed out and fragile. My hands and fingers hurt so bad I couldn’t even hold my cell phone. I’m having extreme dizzy spells, the colitis pains that I normally have everyday are definitely worse and I’m in a constant brain fog.

Last night I got so violently ill that I passed out in the bathroom. I can’t even explain the feeling. It was beyond dizziness and lightheartedness with severe confusion as I was crying out in pain. I remember my head rolling around and my upper back / neck hurting / straining to keep it up before I fell over.

Every time the Dr’s attempted a taper, I ended up hospitalized. Now without a taper, things are so much worse (and the deterioration of my health is happening at a rapid pace). And guess what? Once I’m in the hospital again… all they’re gonna do is put me right back on Prednisone!

Between the headache, my fingers hurting, the fatigue… it’s taken over 5 hours to write this entry.

On Sunday, my family wants to do Thanksgiving because they were in Boston visiting family and I couldn’t go, but I always do the cooking, not to mention… I don’t think I can hold any food down.

I will say this… despite it all, I have reason to give thanks.

I want to thank everyone that’s been reading me over the past year (and new readers as well).

I want to especially thank all of you whom have read / shared my gofundme page, https://www.gofundme.com/jayeeryk - asked their friends & family to share it as well those who have donated. The campaign is far from its goal, but I am only about $300 away from being able to make my first appointment with the specialist who can save my life! And that’s a big deal!

So “Thank you”.

Seriously… thank you very much! :)

There are complications now of course what with the sharp decline in my health and the likelihood of being hospitalized in the near future pushing off my ability to travel, but the end game is still the same.

I’ll do my very best to keep you posted, plus I really want to do dephmo, but i can’t hold my camera :( ugh… i’m already behind… :/

Last updated December 02, 2017