I can count symptoms and conditions

I was on 1000mg per day 500 in the morning and 500 at night. I had one or two episodes of flushing and if it was not for this site I would have gone to the Emergency Room because the burning of my skin was so severe that I was in a panic. I found this site and it calmed me a bit. After the flushing comes the itching. For me it is on the inside of the legs starting on the ankles and then the toes and then it moves slowly up the legs and sometimes hits the thighs. Sometimes it hits the underside of my upper arm. This was mild and tolerable and went away in a couple of days.

Now I have been moved to 2000mg per day and the flushing is under control, but the itching has gone out of control. I cannot deal with the itching. I sit in business meetings and want to scream. I find myself at my desk with my shoes and socks off rubbing my feet and ankles because it is intolerable. I have broken the skin many times and bleed from the scratching. I am intelligent enough to know not to scratch, but sometimes it just gets the better of me.

I have no idea what triggers this because I can count on it lasting three to four days and then it goes away again.

I had my mirena inserted back in May 2007. The insertion was the most painful experience of my life. The Dr. could not get in on the first 3 tries! She said, "well, one more try," and got it in. I almost passed out from the pain. I can count on one hand since then the days that I haven't bled or spotted. I get mystery "shooting pains" in my abdomen a few times a week, sex hurts because of cysts on my ovaries, I have acne on my entire face, scalp, hairline, chest and back. I used to get a couple of zits (maybe) before my period, before Mirena. Now I have full blown acne that leaves scars, and I am never without zits. And to top it off, now I am getting cysts on other parts of my body, too. I don't even want to get started in on my lack of sex drive, or being always tired. I tried to let the staff know that I wanted the copper IUD instead, but they told me it was too late to change my mind. Getting Mirena was a huge mistake, and I can't even afford to have it removed, so I am stuck with it until I get insurance again. My advice, DON'T get Mirena!!!

I was first given prednisone in 1964 for a severe case of pneumonia complicated by asthma. They withdrew me too fast, and I ended up in a coma! My husband, a psychologist, thought I was "crazy". I was not sleeping, overdosing myself on Vitamin C, and on the day I was admited, he had forced me to go back to teaching school. I felt like I was underwater, and on the way home, I took a right turn, hit the mailbox on the LEFT side of the road, staggered to the nearest apartment to call home, but although I KNEW my number, I was so clumsy I couldn't dial it.

That night, my husband put me in the Mental Hospital where during the night, I had a severe attack of asthma and was rushed to the hospital. They had to do cut downs to find my veins and thankfully, they got my history and put me back on the steroids, where after three days, I emerged from my coma. Of course, everyone told me anything that I complained about was "all in my head". And I have had it all. Huge weight gain, from 125 to over 250 now. (I'm now 67.) Wide mood swings, insomnonia, moon face, ruptured disk, and rage. Over the years, I've been roller coasted on and off the drug more times than I can count. I am on Inhaled steroids, now, which I'd reduced to one whiff 3 times a week, (my doctor threw me out!), which keeps most of the wheezing at bay. The stuff makes me manic in large doses. I must diet constantly just to stay where I am! I will go on binges where I eat any thing that doesn't eat me first.

Two years ago, I took Yamoa powder (Yamoa.com) for a month and got off the drugs for a year. Then symptoms came back and when I took another dose, it didn't help. But it might help someone out there.

My teaching career was ruined, my husband ran off with my best friend and eventually took my kids. All my life I've had to fly "under the radar" because of my health, because I would die if I did not have medical care, such as it is under Medicaid. At least I survived. I write now. It isn't the life I'd planned, but I've managed. I've been homeless (SCARY!) and I've found friends among lifes other rejects. My kids hate me, having been exposed to my depression and rage, and I can understand, but it still hurts. The thing that helps me most is exercise. I live in Honolulu and snorkle and swim in the ocean, now. For years, I rode a bicycle as my only transportation. You can be fat AND fit!

Find doctors who will understand. And don't give up. I've let myself out of hospitals several times, and even taken off the prednisone that was being poured in my veins and poured in down the drain! Because I've learned that once the asthma breaks, my dosage needs to be dropped radically. I am extremely sensitive to steroid psychosis.

But. after 40 years, I'm still alive, and controlled.