The New Hell Called Steroids!

Prednisolone is a monster even though it is a gift-from-heaven where inflammation is concerned. When I was on steroids 8 years ago, the side effects were A.W.F.U.L. That word is actually an understatement. It is the devil in its truest form.

My mouth began to develope a metallic taste. It felt as though my saliva glands were producing some foreign liquid. My sense of smell heightened 100%. Every single smell became so glaringly strong. I had nightmares the first night itself. My skin 'glowed' with the 'steroids glow'. Every single bite from mosquitoes and the bug-bites-from-November's-holiday vanished. The 'steroidal-migraine' arrived with a loud bang. Bowel movements became goat-manure-pebble-like. And 'bloated-like-a-balloon' was how I looked. My mood became PMS+menopause = deranged woman. I felt like the dragons that Daenerys Targaryen owned in Game of Thrones: always breathing out fire. I felt I was the three dragons combined. The heat that I felt on the insides was terrible. Hubby and son said they could feel the heat emanating out by just sitting next to me. 

BUT.......

On the third day, I started to have short pockets of relief from the pain. As the days went by, the pockets of relief got longer. 

Many times in life, shit happens. And SHIT happened. 

Hubby had to go for an emergency surgery as he had a very badly infected abscess to the point he could not move. And the abscess was at the inner thigh. 

The next day after the surgery.

My plan to rest and take it easy during this period of steroids just vanished into thin air. I had to take over everything as hubby was immobilised and was in so much pain after the surgery. He couldn't sit. Couldn't walk. And I had to bring him to the hospital during the first few days to change his dressing. After that I had to take over cleaning and bandaging his wound! It was his turn to look like a ghost as a result of the pain. Everything fell on my shoulders. It was a VERY trying time. But it was a good thing it happened when the pain was slowly diminishing and not when I was paralysed with pain. 

Exhaustion is an understatement to describe how I was feeling. The steroids caused my emotions to go haywire. I always tell myself that at the end of any dark tunnel, there will an opening and that there will be light. It is only a matter of time. I always play that mantra over and over in my head when tough times come. That's how I encourage myself to hang on and to move on. 

Once the two weeks of steroids were over, I went back to see the new gastro for a follow-up appointment. 

He of course was pleased that the pain was gone. He wrote down every single detail of how I felt during the treatment and when the pain started to subside and when it was completely gone. He said I was his first patient in his entire life as a doctor that he treated in this manner. 

We then talked more about my IBS and GERD problems. He very strongly believed that the IBS that I had was mimicking GERD. He believed that I was consuming certain FODMAP foods which were fermenting in my gut thus causing a built-up of gas which forced the acid in my stomach to go up to my esophagus. My duodenum wasn't the culprit anymore. Since it was the case, PPIs would not work at all! What have I been ingesting all these years for then??!!! Why did Rock Star give me so much PPIs when GERD was no longer the case?

He wanted to try another method at the same time. He changed Nexium to Controlloc and put me on it for two weeks. And then I was to see him again and report to him about the developments of my gut. 

Two weeks had passed and yet I was still having reflux issues. He then put me on Dupastalin for two weeks to stop the IBS. I was to see him again in two weeks.

(...to be continued)

The beginning of this journey: 1000 Kilometres and Candida

The second part of this journey: Candida & Dr. Yadav

The third part of this journey: Pain & Rock Star No More (Part One)

The fourth part of this journey: Pain & Rock Star No More (Part Two)