Running on empty

I've never felt so drained in all my life.  That may sound like hyperbole but I honestly believe it is true.  Little under 2 weeks ago I started my course of Prednisolone corticosteroids.  They started at 30mg and since then I have slept on average 2 to 3 hours per night.  The dosage stepped down to 20mg after a week and will stay there for 2 weeks.  For one glorious night after the change I slept for 4 hours and thought for a moment my sleep pattern might actually improve, then the next night I slept for an hour.

Sleep was always the one thing you could count on, that no matter how bad everything else got, at the end of the day you would climb into bed and fall asleep and forget everything, and when you wake up, bed would be so enticing in its embrace you'd easily drift off again and sleep longer if you needed.  I miss that.  Right now I am awake until I can't move, then I fall asleep, and when I wake up it's like I never slept at all.  There is no element of rest anymore.  I feel constantly drained.

The sensation of being constantly exhausted whilst simultaneously having insomnia is incredibly alien.  I've tried to be more active, what little I can, but that's difficult as my breathing problems still persist and the slightest physical activity leaves me breathless so I've tried to fill my time with mental activity that would hopefully expend some of the "spare?" energy I have built up.  I add a question there because I am not entirely sure how I am managing not to collapse.

I am eating though, and my appetite is in overdrive.  I haven't gained any weight though which is a relief as many people I have seen talking about Prednisolone online seem to complain of that as their main side affect.  I honestly don't know if I would swap.  Would I take a few extra stone to be able to have a somewhat normal sleep pattern?  I don't know, my sleep pattern wasn't exactly completely normal as it was before this all started, and I know if I gain weight I'll regret that in the long run.

As for the actual food, I haven't had takeout since before the course of steroids began; I wasn't explicitly told I couldn't but I think combining fast food, questionable hygiene ratings of restaurants and a weakened immune system would be asking for trouble.