Drug Profile: Prednisone

(Disclaimer: Am not a doctor, etc etc don't make choices off my nut-fucky opinions, etc. etc.)

I've been toying with the idea of throwing out some interesting tidbits on the lupus treatments out there, basically in the order that I went on them. Be aware, it's been 50+ years since a new drug was approved for lupus. (Though apparently CellCept is doing well in stage III trials? Been there, done that. CellCept, I mean.)

So I'm starting with prednisone, or solu-medrol (Solly!) when in IV form. You might've actually run into Solly before if you've had a bad case of poison ivy, or if you have asthma. It's a corticose steroid, and deals in reducing inflamation. And also your immune system. It's basically the #1 on the scene when you have a sudden, acute flare in lupus. Why? It's a quick-fix (you know, treat the symptoms so you can function like a person long enough to try and treat the underlying problem) and it's pretty safe! And by safe, I mean:

1. It puffs up your face, which is particularly hard on the self-esteem at this age, and so, as a special gift to Melanie, I give you Me at Age Twelve (I'm the one with the sphere face. Obvs.):

2. It kills and ramps up your appetite all at the same time. I would be constantly starving but once I found food it looked gross.

3. It tastes like Misery. At least when I was on it (has this changed?) the pills were all un-coated and there was just no way to avoid the taste except if I took it with orange juice instead of water

4. Oh, the restlessness! I would come home from treatments and just kick my legs on my bed all night long to try and get extra energy out. Also, fatigue. Huh??

5. Bone density goes down, so that if you, for example, break your toe in sixth grade, it can't heal itself and you end up with avascular necrosis that they don't realize till you're 18 and then you have to get surgery.

6. Risk of tiny micro-fractures in the hip and back so that your back hurts forever but when you try and do an MRI to find what the hell's wrong, you get distracted by the lemon-sized cyst on your ovary. I mean, what?

But what I'm sayin' is, if you're on it for a reasonable amount of time (read: not 6 years), the effects are short-term (#'s 5 and 6 being the long term risks, and you're really...really not supposed to be on it as long as I was). So that's what we're talkin' about as a starting point. Next time I'm feeling druggy: Plaquenil. The devil.