Septra

[carriej22]

I'm hoping my taper goes well. Down to 35 now.

Still having some breathing issues... However the issue seems to be in my throat rather than lungs.. It's like it's swollen. I had it checked and they couldn't see anything. Maybe it's just my fat face SMOTHERING me LOL!

I have the whole "fog" thing too.. It sucks. Sometimes I wonder if I'm going brain dead. I can spend an entire day in a complete daze... Sometimes eating helps, but of course I'm trying to avoid stuffing my face since I'm beginning to look like I have cushings disease. I hope the weight starts to tick off when I get off this pred some.. Because I am very uncomfortable. I did not gain that much weight, it's just all located in my face and belly. It's very hard like a pregnant belly; and I get a little upset when I see people looking at it and wondering in their head if I'm expecting!

[KathyB]

I'm hoping my taper goes well. Down to 35 now.

Still having some breathing issues... However the issue seems to be in my throat rather than lungs.. It's like it's swollen. I had it checked and they couldn't see anything. Maybe it's just my fat face SMOTHERING me LOL!

I have the whole "fog" thing too.. It sucks. Sometimes I wonder if I'm going brain dead. I can spend an entire day in a complete daze... Sometimes eating helps, but of course I'm trying to avoid stuffing my face since I'm beginning to look like I have cushings disease. I hope the weight starts to tick off when I get off this pred some.. Because I am very uncomfortable. I did not gain that much weight, it's just all located in my face and belly. It's very hard like a pregnant belly; and I get a little upset when I see people looking at it and wondering in their head if I'm expecting!

35 and reducing -- that's GREAT! The thickness that prednisone gives us takes on a life of its own! LOL! I'm 56, so I've already been watching the neck definition dwindle (it kinda of morphs into your chin!). The hump back was prominent, too. The more your pred goes down, the more normal things will look! Amen to that!

My breathing issues feel like I have something stuck in my throat (sometimes) and a tightness just below my neck/top of my chest (all the time). Feels like pressure or squeezing. My rheumy finally understood what I was telling him and is ordering a CT scan of my upper airways. I had a bronchoscopy back in early November when I had pneumonia and it was normal. So we'll see what the scan will bring to light.

KB

[carriej22]

Yeah I've got the hump too.. It's terrible, and my face is quite the fishbowl. But the belly is what is making me uncomfortable. Plus my skin is so thin and stretched that it's all irritated. It's not easy watching your body change and not really being able to do anything about it - but as long as it goes away... I know I will be stuck with the terrifying stretch marks for life (they go both ways, vertical and horizontal) but as long as the weight drops I don't care.. I don't need to wear a bikini lol

[annekat]

The stretch marks may go away or become much less prominent. I had them on my breasts for years when I was younger, and while I guess I can tell where they were, they are barely noticeable any more.

[drz]

Everyone is different but for me the buffalo hump was first thing to fade away when I reduced the pred meds. Then the moon face got better and people commented i didn't look so puffy in the face, but the big belly is still around. That is why I call it PREGNANTZONE meds. i compared myself to women 8 months pregnant and I tied them for having protruding belly.

[annekat]

Trouble is, in middle age, a lot of us are getting the big belly anyway, and maybe even a bit of a buffalo hump, so it is hard to tell which is the pred and which is the aging! However, the moon face is sort of a dead giveaway. At your age, Carrie, I think it will all go away!

[malin]

Yeah I've got the hump too.. It's terrible, and my face is quite the fishbowl. But the belly is what is making me uncomfortable. Plus my skin is so thin and stretched that it's all irritated. It's not easy watching your body change and not really being able to do anything about it - but as long as it goes away... I know I will be stuck with the terrifying stretch marks for life (they go both ways, vertical and horizontal) but as long as the weight drops I don't care.. I don't need to wear a bikini lol

For the stretch marks, I don't know if you have it, or something similar where you are but here in the UK I use Palmers cocoa butter, they have a "normal" cream and then one thats specifically for stretch marks (I haven't tried that one), but the normal one has help me a lot with mine. If you use it regulary it could help fade the marks, it did with mine + it smells lovely and gives you lovely smooth skin, so its win-win