And so begins the drugs.........

I've been very skeptical over the years of the different types of medications that have come out on to the market and I always just have to think back to when I was a kid.

There was no ADHD diagnosis, you were just an unrulely child that needed a good swat! And for the most part ( in my own worthless option!!) it seemed to have worked fine for my family and close friends growing up.

So when I was first told about this disease, pulmonary sarcoidosis (linky for more info) I wasn't sure what it was. I needed facts, and didn't to jump right in to these 'experimental' drugs.

I had been invited to the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland for a case study on predinsone and to learn more about me as an individual and see if they could add any more pieces to the puzzle of this pretty much unknown and rare disease.

The problems started after my visit to the NIH. The doctor's case findings (and this was a 9th floor of a research facility) that were just not sure I was 100% pulmonary sarcoidosis. I had a lot of the signs, the mass was still there, but that was all that they could really piece together so far. I was asked if I wanted to start the prednisone treatments or just ride it out. I chose the latter.

I then began to see several doctors in Erie, Pennsylvania who had went with the sarc. but also were skeptical that at some point in my life I didn't have some type of lymphoma. Possibly had it and it went in to remission. There were just no difinitive signs of what it was. I had just a few options in which I could go with, 1.) start treatment with the prednisone, 2.) have it removed (no thanks, open-heart surgery procedure! I'll pass!!) or 3.) just let it be! I being the doomis I am at times, went with Option #3!

The last doctor I was seeing at the Chest Diseases of Northwest Pennsylvania (Click to learn about them) had chalked it up to being very symptomatic with pulmonary sarcoidosis. He was also up for me starting on prednisone, but again, I was not interested. But even after the visit to the NIH I was still satisfied that it was just the sarcoidosis.

I ended up back in Ohio and began to see a pulmonary specialist in Summa in Akron. Again, I'm pretty much consistent with sarcoidosis, but he seems to think that I've developed an infection in my lung lining, consistent with pluresy. I was having bad chest pains again, and this is what he pretty much attributed it to. So he prescribed Celebrex. Yes, that's the same stuff that they are treating (and being sued for now!!) for arthritis and stuff like that.

I became skeptical of my doctor, and just pretty much started skipping appointments. I had switched a job and fell in to the category of 'pre-existing conditions' so I couldn't be treated anymore for it. I had to come up with the 'pneumonia' or 'bronchitis' excuse to get x-rays for it.

I had become such an analysist of the diagrams I was able to look at the chest x-rays myself and see any changes. So, since probably around last year I hadn't seen any signifiant changes in the size, until this week.

So here we are now, 5 years later, and I finally broke down to give it a shot. I have to admit, the pains that I had been having in my chest had subsided and I was just stiff and sore, which was 100% better than how I was feeling thru the week. So maybe there is something to this prednisone. All I know is that the pain is gone!! Phew!!

This may get boring at times, but as I'm learning, the slightest details always help. Feel free to add any comments that you may wish to! Looking forward to keeping track of this!