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maystoneI've been worried about Dar because she's just been working herself to the bone. Today because of the weather - the wind, the rapid drop in barometric pressure - her shunt started to act up, too. She took a nap this afternoon, and I thought I'd go out and feed the alpacas and Jester their dinners and put them in their barns for the night, and that way she could get some more rest.
It really shouldn't have been that big a deal, but I didn't know that one of the side effects of prednisone is that it plays havoc with a person's blood sugar levels. Mine are wonky to begin with due to the gastric bypass surgery I had, and then this stuff kicked in. I fed Jester first, and cleaned out his little barn a bit. He spent most of the day in there out of the wind, so it had to be cleaned out, eh. That started to tire me out, and I also started feeling hungry.
Off to the alpacas. By the time I finished filling their dishes, I was toast. It just really hit. Extreme fatigue, weakness, chills, overheated, shallow breathing. It didn't help that I was seriously overdressed, because the temps had risen a little and the winds had dropped off since I went out that morning.
I trudged back to the house, whereupon I actually tried to wrestle the snow fencing into submission before heading inside, because that's how bizarre my brain can get these days. Fortunately I quickly had a "I'm being crazy" realization and gave it up. I was sweating so profusely that my clothing was soaked. (That's also a prednisone side effect. Joy!) Made it inside and up the verdammte stairs (I hate stairs these days), then just about crawled down the hallway to my bedroom. Managed to put on some dry clothes and then grabbed the ventilin and gave my lungs a couple shots of that.
Dar woke up shortly after, immediately saw what was going on and got me back on the right track. I thought it was an asthma attack and the effects of overdoing it, but she explained about the prednisone and it all started to make more sense. And seem less scary. Some yogurt helped to get my blood sugar back on track, and I've been steadily improving all night. I felt like such an idiot for getting myself into trouble like that. And I hated worrying Dar when what I wanted to do was try to help her. It's a life lesson, eh. Now I know that I need to always carry some type of food with me and to take those first "uh-oh" twinges seriously. Absolutely none of the literature I'd read about prednisone mentioned these side effects for non-diabetics. Big oversight on their part, I'm thinking.
I've also started adding weight and inches thanks to the new meds, which have also been making me very hungry. I'd been trying to ignore the hunger, thinking that it was just the meds, especially again because I had that gastric bypass surgery, and I really don't get hungry anymore. Not eating added to the blood sugar problems, of course, which I understand now but didn't then. Dar says it's just chemistry, really. I say I flunked chemistry. Really. Oops :) And it's still coming back to bite me in the ass.
All right, enough with the pissy PSA. I really wish I could take a shower, but as Dar pointed out I'm still shaky and haven't I had enough adventure for one day? Heh. A wash-up and bed then. And hopefully a tomorrow that's a lot less full of stupid moves by me. A girl can dream :)
It really shouldn't have been that big a deal, but I didn't know that one of the side effects of prednisone is that it plays havoc with a person's blood sugar levels. Mine are wonky to begin with due to the gastric bypass surgery I had, and then this stuff kicked in. I fed Jester first, and cleaned out his little barn a bit. He spent most of the day in there out of the wind, so it had to be cleaned out, eh. That started to tire me out, and I also started feeling hungry.
Off to the alpacas. By the time I finished filling their dishes, I was toast. It just really hit. Extreme fatigue, weakness, chills, overheated, shallow breathing. It didn't help that I was seriously overdressed, because the temps had risen a little and the winds had dropped off since I went out that morning.
I trudged back to the house, whereupon I actually tried to wrestle the snow fencing into submission before heading inside, because that's how bizarre my brain can get these days. Fortunately I quickly had a "I'm being crazy" realization and gave it up. I was sweating so profusely that my clothing was soaked. (That's also a prednisone side effect. Joy!) Made it inside and up the verdammte stairs (I hate stairs these days), then just about crawled down the hallway to my bedroom. Managed to put on some dry clothes and then grabbed the ventilin and gave my lungs a couple shots of that.
Dar woke up shortly after, immediately saw what was going on and got me back on the right track. I thought it was an asthma attack and the effects of overdoing it, but she explained about the prednisone and it all started to make more sense. And seem less scary. Some yogurt helped to get my blood sugar back on track, and I've been steadily improving all night. I felt like such an idiot for getting myself into trouble like that. And I hated worrying Dar when what I wanted to do was try to help her. It's a life lesson, eh. Now I know that I need to always carry some type of food with me and to take those first "uh-oh" twinges seriously. Absolutely none of the literature I'd read about prednisone mentioned these side effects for non-diabetics. Big oversight on their part, I'm thinking.
I've also started adding weight and inches thanks to the new meds, which have also been making me very hungry. I'd been trying to ignore the hunger, thinking that it was just the meds, especially again because I had that gastric bypass surgery, and I really don't get hungry anymore. Not eating added to the blood sugar problems, of course, which I understand now but didn't then. Dar says it's just chemistry, really. I say I flunked chemistry. Really. Oops :) And it's still coming back to bite me in the ass.
All right, enough with the pissy PSA. I really wish I could take a shower, but as Dar pointed out I'm still shaky and haven't I had enough adventure for one day? Heh. A wash-up and bed then. And hopefully a tomorrow that's a lot less full of stupid moves by me. A girl can dream :)
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no subject
2008-01-10 12:42 (UTC)Also, you should have a good quality granola bar (possibly with a bit of chocolate, my beauty) in yer pocket.
*pets*
You could come and take a chemistry class with Julia at the MOS...
no subject
2008-01-10 19:31 (UTC)Excellent idea about the granola bars! I went to the store earlier and bought some that are lower sugar, higher protein. I've got two in my purse, and I'll slip a couple in my farm jacket pockets, too. Food isn't love - you are.
I actually do think about retaking chemistry, just to see if I can get it now. Except now isn't the best time, since simple arithmetic is giving me a headache some days :)
I bet Julia rocks the class. She's got that scientific bent as well as her off-the-charts linguistic skills. Girl's a genius, she is.
no subject
2008-01-10 15:36 (UTC)*hates prednisone so*
I gained a lot of weight and inches on prednisone, but I found that the extreme hunger and the accompanying weight gain settled down quite a bit after a couple months.
no subject
2008-01-10 19:32 (UTC)no subject
2008-01-10 23:55 (UTC)