Hippi.... how have you been feeling?

I feel so horrible.  I haven't asked how you've been lately, and you've been so kind to me.  I apologize.

Hey Orion, thanks for asking. I had actually been doing pretty well the last three weeks. I switched rheumatologists and found a really good one who was willing to go the next step with me for meds to treat lupus. He put me on a low dose of prednisone 3 weeks ago and decreased the dose a little each week to see the lowest dose I can do okay on. He also said to keep track of symptoms beause the ones that get better are related to lupus and the ones that don't get better would be related to CFS since prednisone doesn't do much for CFS. Well, I did really well the first 2 1/2 weeks - my pain level went down and my energy level went up and I felt like I was actually among the living again instead of the walking dead. But I'm not doing well on this next lowest dose - all the pain and fatigue are back, so I'm going to call the rheumy on Monday and see if I can bump my dosage back up again. Some of the side effects of the prednisone are no fun but for right now it's worth it to have some quality of life.

I saw on your other thread that you are going to try accupuncture soon. I have read some good articles about it helping both pain and fatigue. It will be good to hear what it is like from someone who has actually experienced it. It's something I've been curious about but I've been nervous to try it. Be sure to let us know what your experience is like.

Thanks again for asking about me.

---

Wow, I hope raising that dose back up will do you some good. I know what's it's like to want to live among the living, I feel your pain

My acupuncture was today, and I have to say, you don't feel the needles at all. Unless you have someone back ofcourse. I had 4 in each leg, 1 in each had, and 2 in my head. Couldn't feel them, no pain, no bruising. My next appt is on Wednesday. He thinks this is stress, and he has seen case like me before. He also put me on natural supp's for free to see how I react to them. I like this doctor because he's 1 on 1 with the paitents, and he's there on Saturdays too.

Look into it in your area, it's worth a shot

I hope you continue to feel better

Did raising the dosage help at all?

Yes, upping the dosage helped a lot. I still have pain and fatigue, but it's much more manageable. I get to stay on this dose through September and then I have to try to taper back down a bit. I wish prednisone wasn't so bad for for your bones - I'd love to stay on it for the rest of my life. Like I said I think it's helping a lot with the lupus stuff, I don't think it helps much with CFS.

How's the accupuncture going? Have you had anymore appointments?

---

Yeah, I'm on prednisone for poison ivy right now, and it seems to helping my neck pain greatly. We'll see, could have been a could couple of days though


I'm happy to see that increasement helped. It's great being able to live, even if it's just for the moment. It's all we really have right now, sad....but true.

The Acupuncture is going good. I haven't seen any results yet, but I'm told it takes time. I have appts every week, my third one is this Saturday. I look forward to them because it's very relaxing, and sometimes I can take a little nap