Great thread, imo.
I have never been prescribed prednizone. Thank God, I've rarely had breathing difficulties of any kind except a brief time when my nose got stuffed up for almost a year and it was not my lungs as I could breathe through my mouth fine, but I am not naturally a mouth breather especially at night so it was rough. But I'm fine now, unless I get a cold.
But my oldest sister was a preemie and my parents both smoked in the home as did relatives. She experienced many many bouts of difficult breathing until in her 20's the doctor told her husband he had to move her to a warmer, direr climate or he wouldn't guarantee she'd live another year. He moved her to Arizona but she still got sick. In her 40's, with people bringing their trees and plants from the east she developed asthma, as well as fibromyalgia. she coughed and coughed all day and night. She got so sick and ended up in the hospital and she expected to die she was so weak and in so much pain. The prednizone got her breathing again. She would have to take it for a week or so every time she got really bad. She complained of weight gain and being so hungry while on it. But she was heavy to begin with. Fortunately she didn't have to be on it continuously. The doctor only would prescribe it until her lungs were clear which usually took about a week. She still takes it now and then when she gets really bad, she turns 75 this year. She takes massive amounts of ibuprofin for the fibromyalgia and has blood tests to test her liver which have always tested normal, which surprises me. She tried a few times to whittle down the amount but the pain comes roaring back when she tries.
She has problems with her back periodically which could be from muscles losing tension, but her age also. I don't know. The times they gave her the pred. she was barely able to breathe so it's difficult to argue then and for her it has been a godsend. It's like Shawn said, some medicines are good for some, horrible for others. I definitely would have a long talk with the doctor before taking it IF I were in a position to do so. If I were gasping for breath and they had tried other options to no avail, I would probably take the prednizone. I have another friend, around my age 63, who has asthma and allergies and also is put on it periodically. She says it does not cause hunger and greatly enhances her breathing. But again, she only takes one prescription dose which doesn't last more than a few weeks, I think, maybe longer.
We take a risk with everything. I remember when many people died taking aspirin that had been tampered with in the manufacturing process. More stringent procedures were implemented, which, naturally raised the price of products. People die from produce that has been contaminated. We risk our lives when we drive to the corner store, or when we go swimming. Anything. I agree we should, when possible, question possible side affects of every drug we are told to take and weigh the pros and cons.
I'm fortunate at 63 not to be on any daily meds. I do have a recurring condition that I take meds for when it flares up and my blood pressure isn't always as low as it should be, but until it is consistently higher than 125 I am stubbornly refusing to go on medication, lol. The bottom number is normally below 70.
I never smoked and I could wish cigarettes and all types of products would dissappear off the planet. I think it's one of the worst offenders against our health as it affects anyone who's been around it, even if they don't directly smoke. I'm surprised I don't and didn't have problems with the amount of blue haze that consistently invaded our house and car when I was younger.
Our diets are also bad. I know AI don't eat enough green vegetable. I will try at times, but I can't seem to make it mandatory. I don't enjoy preparing meals, even salads. I need to change that. I have almost eradicated potato chips and the like from my diet but I still indulge in french fried mroe than I should. I have started doing some aerobic exercise again. It takes work to get into the habit but you feel sooo much better when you can walk a least a mile or so and not feel tired and I do a video that takes about an hour, with warm up, cool down and stretching. My joints don't like the jumping but I can do good wit the low/no impact routines. Also heredity plays a part and God, I velieve, has assigned us a number of days.
I do pray for Card, that God gives her grace and restores her to health.
