Feeling Better

Do you know that old saying that without good health, you’ve got nothing?   I finally see that it’s true.

 

One of the medications that I take for my hypocomplementemic urticarial vasculitis takes three-to-six months for it to work so in the meantime, I’ve been taking Prednisone.  Prednisone, if you don’t know, is a steroid and a powerful drug – it works to keep my weird reactions to a minimum by suppressing my immune system but, the side effects are tough. I’ve had nausea, loss of appetite, insomnia and huge increases in my blood sugar levels.  I had to increase my basal dose of insulin by 30 – 35 percent to keep my blood sugars under control. The more insulin I take, the greater the chances of weight gain. The higher blood sugars also cause nausea so with nausea already being a side effect of the Prednisone and nausea from the elevated blood sugars; I haven’t had much of an appetite for the last few months. For someone who loves good food, this has been very challenging. I’ve had little or no interest to dine out or to cook. Fortunately, I got the okay to start cutting back on the Prednisone a month ago and hope to be off of it completely by late February.  I’m sleeping better, my blood sugars are back under control, I’m cutting back on the amount of insulin I’m taking, I’m getting my appetite back and instead of gaining weight, I’ve lost a little weight which I’m happy to see.  I still get hit with waves of exhaustion so I try to keep my activities, responsibilities and interests in check, but sometimes, I just have to cancel everything, crawl into bed and rest – not an easy thing for me because I always have a long list of things I want to do (not necessarily things I have to do). Recent blood tests/CT scan/eye exam/chest x-ray all show that my kidneys, liver, lungs and eyes all seem to working properly with no complications. However, my white blood cell count is still low as are two out of the nine complement levels in my immune system. The complement system is a group of proteins in the blood system that works as part of the immune system. 

Type 1 diabetes and Hashimoto’s disease have their challenges but once I got diagnosed and started to treat them, I didn’t feel sick.  The addition of hypocomplementemic urticarial vasculitis into my health repertoire has definitely made me feel more vulnerable.  A big reason for this is that HUV is rare so there isn’t much known about it.  I did some investigating to see if there have been any research projects and there have been but almost all the research results found were inconclusive.  With a suppressed immune system, I have to focus on staying healthy.  I’m eating better – more fruits and vegetables and whole grains – less animal proteins.  A good night sleep is a priority every night.  I try to keep stress at bay.  Regular exercise is crucial but I admit I haven’t been exercising regularly – the insomnia was brutal and I never had any energy or desire to exercise so this is something that I definitely need to work on. 

None of this is rocket science.  Even with so little information about HUV, the best way to treat it is to stay as healthy as I can -  much of this is in my own hands. I'm finally starting to feel better.