Monday, October 22, 2007

Day +474 : Side effects of steroid appear again

I am fine today.

I have been taking 30mg (6 tablets) of steroid Prednisolon daily since Day +432 as a measure to combat the elevated liver enzyme levels possibly due to GVHD.

As documented on the Wikipedia, the side effects of Prednisolon includes:

  • weight gain
  • facial swelling
  • depression, mania, or other psychiatric symptoms
  • unusual fatigue or weakness
  • Mental confusion/indecisiveness
  • blurred vision
  • abdominal pain
  • peptic ulcer
  • infections
  • painful hips or shoulders
  • osteoporosis
  • acne breakouts
  • insomnia (sleeping disorder)
  • severe joint pain
  • cateracts

I am lucky to have facial swelling and acne breakouts only :-) However, I hope my liver enzyme levels would drop further tomorrow to give room for the doctor to start reducing my Prednisolon dosage. It can be life-threatening to stop the drug abruptly especially for those who has taken it over a long period of time. Therefore, it would take months for me to completely do away with the drug.

See you next post :-)

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