Weight loss, prednisone, diet, eating, choosing, and living with the ultimate consequences provide a messy framework in which I have to live. This machine controls everything, as many of you know, and we KNOW it controls us because of all the hype with body-image, health, well-being, and the next, best and greatest health craze, fad, or obsession. You know it's true. I know it's true. All of us fall victim.
The good news is that we can choose how we go about reaching for better health. MY choice is to abstain from meat, and dairy... go vegetarian or vegan. As it turns out, the autoimmune hepatitis and medication necessary to bring and keep it in remission poses their own health concerns, one of them being low calcium, osteoporosis (to name just one). I can't skip the dairy, because supplements DO NOT WORK in this case. I eat dairy, I take supplements for calcium and vitamin D... and yet my calcium is testing below normal. Now, this could possibly (hopefully) change as I'm weaned off the prednisone. But only time will tell. In the meantime, knowing calcium actually helps a person LOSE weight, I know that I'm still fighting an uphill battle. Prednisone puts on weight NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO, lowers calcium in most cases, causes extreme water retention, lack of sleep/insomnia (which is vital to weight loss)... and so so much more.
At least I'm down another 10mg/day, so that's good news. The Azathioprine is up to 150mg, which is supposed to help with symptoms from prednisone tapering, so there's that. It's just a damn ugly process, is what it is, and the effects from using high dose/long term prednisone could last up to 2 years. These realities become part of my journey to better health.
...Then there's the myositis situation. WHAT am I to do with that? Nothing, for now. It's attempting to kick my ass just the same, though.
Ugh.
...I really wish T would finish putting the exercise bike together. *sigh*
How the hell am I going to survive all this?.....
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