Heidi

[Guest guest]

Heidi,

Thanks for the kind words. Believe it or not, lupus really doesn't give me that

much trouble as long as I am on plaquenil. The day I was told I have autoimmune

hepatitis (AIH), Jan 6, 03, I'd had an appt with my rheumy earlier in the day.

She said, " I am so thankful we have been able to keep your lupus under control

with just plaquenil and have been able to keep you off of steriods. " It was two

hours later that the GI told me the results of the liver biopsy and that I have

AIH. He said, " but don't worry too much because it typically responds well to

treatment and the treatment is prednisone and imuran - an immunosuppressant

medication. " I just burst out laughing and told him I think my rheumy jinxed

me! I've only had to be on short courses of a medrol dose packs maybe a couple

of times a year for lupus. I've also had around 1-4 cortisone injections for my

back or joints. Other than that, I was able to avoid steriods and never had to

be on them long term until the AIH diagnosis. Oh, well, could be worse! The

GI's nurse called yesterday and told me to drop it to 5 mg a day. Once I get

below 5 mg daily, my adrenal gland will start working again and the side effects

are typically non-existent.

I have been lucky as I've had less side effects than the majority so I'm sure

once my body adjusts to the lower dose, I'll be fine.

W