Death bed symptoms and conditions

I'm 15 years old and i've been taking prednisone for a few months, and from what i've read i'm on a really high dose. i was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and another autoimmune disorder concerning my muscles at the same time. my doctor told me prednisone was my only choice; it was either that or i would lose the ability to walk. he told me there'd be side effects, but i had no idea it'd turn out like this or i would have fought harder for another course of action. i started out on 30mg twice a day, and since then was weaned down to 20mg twice a day and now i'm down to 30mg once a day. i've been looking up a bunch of information trying to figure out if there's a way to lessen the side effects or any hope at all that they will get better. apparently there isn't much. after reading a bunch of these stories i gotta say i'm not feeling great about this. i totally understand everything everyone is going through. i'm sure you can imagine what it's like being smack in the middle of high school with a huge puffy face, acne so bad on my face, chest, back, neck, and shoulders that wearing a bra could put me in tears, and mood swings so bad i've lost friends over it. everyone knows how brutal high school can be, where appearance and attitude are everything. and i try to tell my doctor about it and he literally looks at me like i'm a whiny teenager and says "you're just going to have to deal with it." and people like my mom and my closest friends don't get it either. nobody understands how beyond frustrating it is. i'll get into the worst moods and not have a reason for it, but i'll stay angry for hours or burst into tears over someone looking at me the wrong way. it'll get to the point where i have to isolate myself from other people because the abrubt mood changes get so bad. as bad as i hate to admit it, the pain from the arthritis is gone now and supposedly my muscles are doing better too. developing arthritis caused me to have to quit cheerleading, something i've loved doing for 6 years, because the pain got to the point where i couldn't get my arms above my head or bend my knees. however, i'd almost rather deal with the horrible joint pain than deal with the side effects of prednisone. if your doctor gives you and alternative method, take it. i've always been confident in the way i look and really outgoing and happy and now i sometimes catch myself thinking about suicide. that's shocking to me because i've got so much going for me, but this medicine makes me miserable. and when i complain about it, anyone i'm talking to just looks at me like i'm being a cry baby. my mom does too, she'll say things like "you just have to do this. i know it's not what you want but to be honest i'm sick of hearing you bitch about it."
i feel a little better knowing other people feel the same way - like nobody gets whats going on with them. the prednisone does give me days of really great euphoria and days when i feel like i could run a marathon, but waking up in the morning to the acne and huge face puts me to tears every day. i have to pee all the time, usually getting up at 2 or 3 am. i don't sleep well anymore and i do sweat all the time. which also sucks being a teenage girl. i'm always hungry, and when i eat i never feel full so i don't know when to stop. my neck and face have put on so much weight that when people see me in the halls or out and about they ask me what happened. mind you these are people i don't talk to, just ones i know from classes or whatever. and it's pretty bad when teenage boys i've never really talked to ask what happened to your face. kind of a blow to the ego, or whatever is left of it at this point.
i'd like to know if, as my dosage gets lowered, the side effects will diminish and when i'm off the prednisone completely if they will disappear altogether. any help there?
or if there is any way to help the acne or puffy face

my doctor just put me on something called methotrexate or something like that to help wean me off the prednisone, and does anyone know what those side effects will do? or if they'll affect the prednisone side effects?
i'm constantly obsessing over gaining weight and what my skin looks like and what i eat and how heavy my face feels and the occasional pressure in my eyes to the point where i just want to be put out of my misery.
and after reading other people's stories i really don't understand why this drug is still given out as freely as it is. but maybe all doctors are like mine, they just don't get it.
best of luck to anyone who's on prednisone, my heart goes out to you; i'm right there with you
sorry this became like a book it wasn't meant to be this long

I have taken cipro before with no obvious problems and am now starting on it again for 2 weeks (1pill a day). This drug is one of a few that people who are allergic to penicillin and sulfa drugs can take to kill bacteria that penicillin normally does. This is considered a 'last resort' drug for us also. I've had a sinus infection as a complication from a dental surgery that refuses to go away for long enough for my mouth to heal - since July 10 (it is now 19Dec). I was prescribed Avelox for the first time yesterday which led me to this website while trying to find pricing info. $168 for 12 pills? at a Walmart? absurd. So I had the doc switched to cipro. They want me to try this 'type' of drug since the others haven't been able to completely eliminate the infection. I will keep in mind everyone here's side effects but I definitely have plans to do a heavy duty DETOX the minute my mouth is healed and I am off the drugs whether I have problems or not. I concur with the constipation though, all antibiotics seem to give me that problem while taking them. Another good reason to do a detox.

I was prescribed Levaquin today for several styes in my eyes and ear infection.

I hope it works.

Can I swear on this site??!!! My gosh..I thought I was dying!!! I had been given this med for uti...never had one before, started taking it...then came the fun....fever, chills sweating,swollen everywhere,red rash,splitting headache,throwing up, literary feel like you will die!!!!! PLease always check on the side effects of these meds...it will save you from feeling like you are at your death bed!!!!!

Hello, I have had severe fibromyalgia, Crohn's disease, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome which put me in the bed for about four years. My pain was so severe, I was put on morphine. They were ready to put the morphine pump in when I just rebelled and put my foot down. I was tired of everyone ruling my life. I was like a zombie but was still in severe pain. When I pulled off the medication, it left me with neuropathy in my feet. I asked the doctor to put me on Neurontin for that. I had no idea how it was going to effect my fibromyalgia. The very first pill I took, I was scared to take it because I am so hyper sensitive. It eased my entire body down and it felt so good. For the first time in such a long time, I had the best nights rest. i had been sleep deprived for years. Since then, the doctor has eased my dose up and I am presently on 1200 mg a day. I am starting to excercise my muscles for the first time lifting cans of soup. I know that sounds funny but I have come from my death bed. I am concentrating so much better. I am working on a home study course and being able to get up very early and go to bed at a good time. I again stress that I sleep so well. The only thing I can see that has happened differently is that my vision has gotten worse. I don't know if it is from that. My pupils are not equal either as someone else has mentioned. I also have had some ringing in my ears but I am taking other medications too and can't say that it is just neurontin that is causing it. I have hope now where I didn't have before in my life. I can't say enough good about what Neurontin has done for me. You have to start out very low on it and gradually go up. Carole

On July 5, I started a 10 day regimine of 500 mg once a day. The first day was horrible, decreased cognative skills,insomnia, twitching in left hand, tingling and numbness is the foot and lower right leg. I never thought it was the levaquin. I thought it was my inhaler or decongestant. So I continued on with my "kill pills" for another seven days. After feeling like I was on my death bed, I came across these web sights and stopped taking it after my eighth day. I am now four days and I have new symptoms. My mouth feels like cotton with a metallic taste, I feel like I am choking on my foamy clear spit, my throat seems swollen and I have a hard time swallowing. My right rib cage feels like it is cracked. I'm scared and would wish this nightmare would end. I'm afraid to go running for fear of rupturing a tendon. Any ideas on natural detox method? I really don't want to support the pharmaceutical industry in my demise.

I posted here a little over a year ago because I had been prescibed Lebaquin for nausea and just feeling icky.. but they couldn't determine why. I didn't want to take more meds.. I wanted them to find out what was wrong with me.

My muscles.. especially my legs and the bottoms of my feet were so sore the few days I was on it that I could barely walk when I got out of bed in the morning.

That was over a year ago... and I still have the same muscle problem when I first get up. After I take a few steps and start moving I'm ok for the rest of the day.. but if I didn't have such a high tolerance for pain and KNOW that it would pass in a few stps I wouldn't even get out of bed in the morning.

I regret taking this medicine and not riding out the storms with whatever was ailing me to begining with.. and will have to be on my DEATH bed before I take any new drugs.