i had the same thing happen to me when i frist went on pred. it been two year now and i am only on 5mg. i was told it would never go away but all the red strech mark are gone and my skin is adjusting with my weight. so there is hope. one thing i have learnd in the two and half years i have had WG that no one knows any thing even the docs because ever one with WG is dif
YES! For example, my doc doesn't even keep the live virus in office. Only the 'dead' one I guess! I was told early on with WG that I could not, should not induce a 'live' virus into my system as the drugs were stifling my AI system, so I wouldn't be able to fight off the strength of the live virus. I don't recall asking the difference, making the assumption dead is better than live in this case...hmmmmmm...falls off chair thinking about it...
Knowing how to think empowers you far beyond those who only know what to think. -NdT
Thanks, Don..... I guess I knew enough to ask, since having read on here that live viruses were not good for shots for us. And the doc must have meant that the ones they use in his office are NOT live viruses. But he neglected to make sure I knew that if I got one somewhere else, it shouldn't be the live kind. What I didn't know for sure was that apparently, as you imply, flu shots come in both live and dead versions. (They were out of the vaccine that day, so he couldn't cajole me into getting one on the spot.)
Anne, dx'ed April 2011
I think the live virus ones are used when people inhale the substance to gain protection against the flu. Some people really dislike needles but there may be other reasons the live one is used.
All this talk about needles.
It's funny, because just last year I was getting my rabies shot. I first started getting it back in '06 when I was trying to get my DVM. Needless to say, that didn't work out so well for me. I still (well, not much as of late) volunteer at an animal shelter so I figured I might as well keep it up.
Anyway the first time I got my rabies (its 3 needles) I never noticed a thing. Mind you - I was like 17.
Last year when I had to get them re-done, man they knocked me on my butt. Each one got harder. You get one, then a week later you get another, then two weeks later you get the last one. I spent almost a whole week in bed after the last one. I thought it was because I was getting older... But I was still only 22. Wonder if this was a sign of what was to come?
I think many of us go thru this, I still do. After seeing so many docs, getting so many opinions, answering so many questions...it's only natural to start 'discovering' earlier suggestions of WG coming on. After numerous medical history discussions, between docs, wife, and myself, we all have pretty much come to the conclusion that I was at least showing some symptoms of WG around 2 years before last year's debacle! LOL!
Knowing how to think empowers you far beyond those who only know what to think. -NdT
Yeah, I was having some weird tinnitus, dizziness, and a strange full feeling in my ears about 10 years before the big bilateral ear infection that began my semi-official Wegs journey, and even THAT was 2.5 years before dx.
Just now, it occurred to me, I also had trigeminal neuralgia, a recurring, stabbing pain around my left eye, way back in the 1980's... it got bad enough that I needed dx and treatment, and was prescribed amitryptiline, which worked, though it made me a bit wonky. This went on for about 10 years and eventually went away. It was probably what they said, and not related to future Wegs, but you never know....
Anne, dx'ed April 2011
I took my mother who is 85 to the dr. the other day (we have the same pcp ) and he told her she should get the flu shot and I asked him if it was a live virus and he said yes. She doesn't want to get it since she never goes anywhere,and I'm afraid to. I had to go to the er yesterday with a bowel obstruction..that was fun !! The dr. there gave me a ct scan..he said being on pred makes your skin thin and it also makes your insides (organs and things ) thin out too so he wanted to make sure there were no perforations..luckly not...but it was not fun. Today I feel horrible,I swear I am getting an ulcer..having an upper gi scheduled.When I go to the CC in Jan I'm gonna see about getting weened of this horrible pred. I felt so much better when I didn't know I had wg and put on all this crap.
Life isn't about how you survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain !
As Al pointed out to me, and so many are aware of now, the 'cure' can be worse than the disease. Well, we don't have cures, but we do have drugs that can cause worse reactions than the disease for some people. Frankly, I prefer the drugs...the disease is taking me where I don't wanna be right now!!!! Hang in there Debra C.
Knowing how to think empowers you far beyond those who only know what to think. -NdT
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