Anyways, I finally have a plan of action from my doctor. The plan? Steroids. Not the big-giant-muscle building kind, but the kind that suppresses my immune system (which assumes my immune system is the culprit). I've been on steroids before--prednisone to be exact, and the results were not pretty. Literally, they were not pretty---my face tripled in size. Didn't know that was possible, did ya? Well--a common side effect of prednisone is "moon face" and "buffalo hump," obviously taking its rage out on someone's face....and back. Awful. Just awful.
When my leg jumped ship on me last year, they blasted me with steroids (or so I thought). I assumed I was on a super-high dose....and I assumed I was on it forever (because it felt like forever). It worked though; the swelling in my leg went down. But the rest of me still hurt. I remember going back to my Rheumatologist a few weeks after I got out of the hospital because it hurt to carry my purse on my shoulders. I was on steroids then. So, I'm slightly skeptical they will do anything to alleviate my pain now.
But my doctor told me if they were going to blast me with steroids, they wanted to start at 120mg. Excuse me? 120 mg!??! They might as well knock me over with a semi-truck! Luckily, we aren't going to do that. I don't think I could handle that. They left it up to me though---did I want to take the steroids, and potentially get better within a week, and have a moon face at my wedding (oh.my.god.)? Did I want to wait? Did I want to give it a try, and see if it didn't work, and then stop? It was my decision. So I filled the prescription. It's sitting next to me now. It has been for two days. I cannot bring myself to take it. Me = fail.
After I met with my internist, I had a repeat Pulmonary Function Test (PFT). If you've ever had to do this, you'll know how awful these are. You'd think breathing would be a walk in the park--ya know, considering you basically do involuntarily...constantly. But, it's what they ask to you to do that is so hard. Telling you to breathe out when you have no air left in your lungs? Harder than it sounds. But I digress.
When I finished the PFT, the tech tried to draw blood from my artery in my wrist. Two times sticking my resulted in nothing---aside from making me sick to my stomach, that is. So, she went for the crook of my arm, got the blood, and ran the labs. When she returned, one of the first things out of her mouth was "Are you sure you're not still smoking?" Well, hmmm...I wish, but no. I told her such, although I am not sure she believed me. She then informed me my Carboxyhemoglobin level was high---much higher than it should be for someone who isn't smoking; it measured in at 4.2--normal being 0. Hmmm....considering carboxyhemoglobin = carbon monoxide in my blood, why in the hell is it high? I asked her to check back to the prior PFT I had done in December---I was interested to know what my CO levels were then (mainly because I was a smoker at that time)....and, it was 3.4. Wait....so it went up despite my smoking going away? She told me to check my house car for carbon monoxide---and I've done both. Nothing. What the hell?
Well, at least I know why I am so tired now....my body is poisoning itself with carbon Monoxide! AWESOME!
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