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Monday, April 26, 2010

Steroid Withdrawal

I've been reading about steroid withdrawal lately--scroll down through the side bar to see what I'm reading. Wow. Never heard of it. Makes me look back and go hmmmm.

Interesting stuff.

What I would like to know is...

-How long does it last?

-Is there anything I can do to make it less excruciating?

There is not a ton of info on it that I can find--one of the most cited sources is from the 1980s and claims there is a psychological component. As in I must like prednisone and don't want to give it up. Because....why exactly? Masochism??? I can't see what there to love about prednisone. It's an evil little drug that has hurt more than it has helped.

However, I notice whenever doctors don't know what's wrong, they blame the patient.

It's called displacement, people and it's not pretty. Especially when it is embedded in the canon of medical science.

Fortunately, more recent analysis believes there is a true physiological basis for steroid withdrawal. I guess I don't need to order a whip after all, but I sure would love to find some answers.

If there is anything I can do to help myself, I want to do it. I don't want to be in pain. I don't want to be tired. I don't want to be tapering prednisone for a year waiting for my stupid ass backwards adrenals to figure out which way is up.

2 comments:

  1. Having been on and off steroids (mostly on) for a period of 18 years, hell yes, withdrawal is a bitch. I could probably write a lot from the patient perspective. But I've been steroid free since 1998, and I aim to keep it that way. It CAN be done, Michelle, so keep it up!

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  2. Please hit me with any and all advice. I'm hurting over here.

    M

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