I’ve started on oral prednisone to accompany the steroid injections they have done and will be doing in my left ear in the hope of recovering some hearing. I’ve always said, if something will help me feel better without killing me or destroying my brain function, I’m going to try it. I’ve had prednisone before, and it does help with pain on a very minimal scale. The side effects, however, far outweigh the benefits, so for fibro, I’ve eliminated that as a possibility for treatment. However, I have to try it for my suddenly non-functional ear.

I waited a day so that I could start it in the morning rather than the afternoon, and I wanted to see how the injected steroid would work, if at all. I noticed an improvement by the end of the day yesterday. It’s not vast, and part of it could be me getting used to my next audio-reality, but I think it’s better. I’m hopeful enough that this morning I started the prednisone. Within an hour, I was jittery and I was covered in a cold sweat – 5 hours later, only sweating more. Even as I eat lunch, I feel like I need more food to stop the jitters. This is on a half dose with the option of cutting the half dose in half yet again. The doctor thoughtfully prescribed 10 mg pills so I can play around a little with the dosage. Essentially, just getting a bit in me to help boost whatever the injected steroid does could help my hearing. I’m going to stick with it for the next ten days, even if I reduce the dose immediately, just in the hopes of it contributing to restoration of even some hearing.

This is the same decision making process I’ve had to use for pain medication and anything else that’s been suggested for fibro. I’m on absolutely nothing right now, simply because the risks have outweighed the benefits. Choosing nothing means coping with pain that could be eased, if I trade off concentration, thinking, or controlling all my muscles. It means being a bit more tired throughout the day because relentless pain causes fatigue, at least for me. It means being accidentally cranky on bad days. But it’s my choice. The pain is not my choice. Hearing loss is not my choice. My choice is how I cope with the problems that come up. Today that means choosing discomfort, but only for 10 days. If I choose pain meds, it would be for a lot longer than 10 days. I’m in control of my own destiny. Seizing that control viciously and hanging on tenaciously is the best remedy.