Friday, May 1, 2009

What's wrong with me lately

Well, I had some kind of flu bug that probably started affecting me on April 18. I don't have flu symptoms any more. Due to being immunosuppressed from lupus treatments, and in particular now being B-cell suppressed from receiving rituxan in a medical study, I am catching infections very easily. I did get a secondary bacterial infection in my lungs, cleared by a Z-pack (antibiotic.)

What's left is a cough and some trouble talking, breathing with any exertion, fatigue. At first I really couldn't talk at all but now that is better. This unfortunately is a typical problem for me, and goes back to April/October of childhood years when the allergies came around. I did see a pulmonologist, was diagnosed with acute bronchitis (no, you can't catch it from me -- but wit the H1N1 stuff happening now I can clear a room fast when I cough!) and seem to be getting better with several medications. Unfortunately one of them is good old prednisone. I had been losing weight at last, but who knows what it will do to my metabolism again. Hopefully I can get back to a low dose soon. I'm already swelling, ugh. And, yes, I do feel the tendency to depression, moodiness, and particularly oversensitivity to criticism. I keep reminding myself it's the med. And, I'm avoiding criticism. I'm ok if I stay quiet and peaceful, which is also what I need to get better.

2 comments:

  1. I'm glad the medicines are doing their job. Keep getting better! {{{Beep}}}

    ReplyDelete

About Me

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I've travelled the distance from an Ivy League college to decades of enforced poverty--because I've needed to qualify for government health care in the U.S., since being diagnosed with lupus at the age of 23. I have a personal blog at http://beepbeep.livejournal.com that I've had so long I'm probably stuck with :) My other blogs are here on blogger...