Getting There… More Progress

I had another meeting with my doctor who was very pleased with the progress I have been making. I haven’t had any swelling in my joints and have been making good progress. I am feeling a bit of pain just before I take my Prednisone and Plaquenil but it is very minor and goes away quickly. My doctor has increased my Methotrexate to help off set this, but has told me to take the Prednisone for two more weeks at 20 mg and then lower it to 15 mg. I started at .5 ml of the Methotrexate, then went to .6 as I continued to reduce the Prednisone, and now will be at .8 ml. With being at .8 ml the doctor has had me start taking Folic Acid, which is one of the B vitamins. The Folic Acid helps offset some of the side effects of Methotrexate. (See earlier post for links on Methotrexate)

I can’t tell you how happy this makes me that I am lowing the Prednisone. I am very excited to see progress here! The biggest thing I am finding is a tremendous amount of relief from the Prednisone side effects! I am way more patient and actually find that I want to be around my kids again. =) I have lots less aggravation, I am sleeping well at night and am feeling myself again. When I was on higher does of Prednisone I didn’t feel like myself. It’s hard to explain, but I was someone else. A very… uh… blunt someone else. Also my thinking has calmed down, and I don’t feel like my mind is always racing. All in all I am really enjoying the reduction in side effects. The Prednisone is effective in getting rid of the pain and treating the sickness, but the side effects are something to deal with!

I finally setup a meeting with another pulmonologist. I have notice a few times while I have been lowering my Prednisone that I have had a hard time breathing. I haven’t had another chest X-Ray and am very interest in seeing the results compared to the previous ones. It isn’t until later this month so I’ll have to wait and see.

All in all I really feel like I am moving forward. I am still cautiously optimistic! =)