Steroid Aftermath

It's time for an update on me for a change. As you may recall, I was on a 10 day course of steroids (prednisone) for the pinched nerve in my neck. That regimen ended in mid-March. The good news is that the pain in my neck (literally, haha) is gone and it feels great. The bad news, or what I didn't realize about taking steroids, is that they shoot your immune system to pieces. I started getting a cold on Feb 28th and March 1st while I was in Phoenix for a work trip. I thought it was going away, but then I started the steroids a couple of days later. And then it just got worse and worse. Just when I thought I was getting over the cold, it would come back in another part of my upper body. First the right side, then the left side. Sore throat, earache, runny nose. The worst of it peaked about two weeks or so after I stopped the steroids when I ended up with not only the cold I'd had, but also a bad cough, ear infection and the flu. I was down for the count for 5 days. Not good. I was put on amoxicillin for the ear infection and a cough syrup with codeine to help me sleep at night. Amongst all of this, I had several client marketing meetings and flew to Virginia for a few days for work. Needless to say, March was a crazy month. I feel like I was literally sick the entire month. It has even dragged into April a bit, but I feel tons better than I did. The cough has lingered, and my right ear seemed almost permanently clogged until just a couple of days ago. I've been drinking OJ and taking extra vitamins to supplement my lowered immune system, and I feel like it's been working. My chest still hurts when I cough, especially in the evenings when the cough seems to persist. I have joked that at least my ab muscles are getting stronger from all this coughing! Luckily, the illness didn't spread to anyone else in the family. That was a blessing. In any event, I was definitely glad to see the month of March over and happy to start feeling better not only in my neck, but my whole body. I will most definitely think twice if I am faced with the decision to need steroids again. A decreased immune system was not on my radar screen, but it will be in the future!