Getting Somewhere

My treatment began a few days ago.  After my Bronchoscopy I was prescribed a course of steroids, accompanied by a stomach tablet to try and mitigate some of the effects.  As I had expected, I was prescribed Prednisolone starting at 30mg which is close to the maximum safe dose of 40mg, after which I will be stepping down to 20mg then 15mg over the first 4 weeks, where it will remain until review.  The stomach tablet is Lansoprazole at 15mg, which is where it will stay until Prednisolone ends. 

I've never taken steroids before, the experience has been unusual to say the least.  I don't understand much about the type of medication and what it does, all I know is that it is a corticosteroid and works by weakening the immune system since Sarcoidosis is an autoimmune disease which causes the body to attack itself and the best way to combat that is to weaken the body's response.  I have been advised if I were to take the steroids alone I would likely develop a stomach ulcer hence the need for Lansoprazole.

In terms of side affects, I did have quite bad diarrhoea and stomach cramps for the first two days which are side affects of Lansoprazole, this subsided however.  As for recovery from the Bronchoscopy, I was coughing up quite a bit of blood on the day of the Bronchoscopy and the day after, that then turned to a yellowish brown mucus on the third day and has now turned to small amounts of clear liquid much like saliva but with the odd trace of mucus.

The most pressing side affect at the moment however is my sleep pattern, which is well and truly fucked.  The Prednisolone advice says that it can interfere with sleep and it is best to take it in the morning time with food, which I have been doing.  Despite this, in the last 48 hours I have slept about 3 hours - 2 last night and 1 the night before.  The tablets themselves are awkward, they come in doses of 1mg and 5mg nothing else, and since I need 30mg a day initially that means taking 6 tablets at once in the morning with food.  I don't normally eat breakfast, I have to be awake for a while before I can eat something without feeling sick, I have always been like that, so that puts a spanner in the works for a start, but the fact I have to take those 6 tablets, and the Lansoprazole at the same time, makes the whole thing awkward, and the cherry on top of the cake is that Prednisolone tastes like shit.  It's like the taste of ear wax if you've ever had the misfortune of tasting that.

At least I can be sure they are actually doing something if I am having side affects, they're not just passing straight through me.  In terms of practicality and day to day life, I have to avoid anyone that is sick, avoid anything that may cause infection, be careful about what I eat, and I have to carry a card in my wallet that says I am currently being treated with steroids in the event of any injury etc that a doctor must know to continue the dosage as stopping abruptly can cause serious health problems apparently.