good news

[Guest guest]

I got my lab results from Monday and they were great. One of my liver enzymes

was slightly elevated (AST was 36 and it should be below 30), but everything

else was normal. My GI doc told me that he would start tapering my prednisone

down further if my labs were good. He was not in the office on Tuesday but I

should be hearing from him today. I am so anxious to begin the process of

getting off of the prednisone. My face is beginning to show signs of the

typical moon or roundness that goes along with long term prednisone use. My

weight was up 10 lbs, although for some reason Tuesday morning it was down 5 lbs

from what it had been on Monday. The sudden drop just convinces me all the more

that my weight being up is most likely just from the prednisone. I know I

shouldn't really complain because I've really been lucky to have as few side

effects as I've had from the prednisone. However, I will be glad to be rid of

it. Of course, it will be several months before I can get off of it completely

but it will feel so wonderful to be moving the dose down! I asked my doctor

about the Imuran and whether he would take me off of it sometime down the road

if my liver enzymes stayed normal once I was totally off of prednisone. He told

me that I will have to stay on the Imuran for life even if my liver enzymes are

never elevated again. I am on a low dose, just 50 mg a day. He said he'd

really like for me to be on 100 mg a day but he dropped it to 50 in mid August

when I had my last attack of acute pancreatitis that landed me in the hospital.

I suspect that if I can go a few months without a bad pancreatitis attack, he

may raise the Imuran.

By the way, for those of you who don't know, I am on prednisone and imuran

because I have autoimmune hepatitis (AIH). Imuran is an immunosuppressant and

comes with its own side effects but all in all it is safer than long term

prednisone.

Anyway, just wanted to share my good news.

W

[Guest guest]

I got my lab results from Monday and they were great. One of my liver enzymes

was slightly elevated (AST was 36 and it should be below 30), but everything

else was normal. My GI doc told me that he would start tapering my prednisone

down further if my labs were good. He was not in the office on Tuesday but I

should be hearing from him today. I am so anxious to begin the process of

getting off of the prednisone. My face is beginning to show signs of the

typical moon or roundness that goes along with long term prednisone use. My

weight was up 10 lbs, although for some reason Tuesday morning it was down 5 lbs

from what it had been on Monday. The sudden drop just convinces me all the more

that my weight being up is most likely just from the prednisone. I know I

shouldn't really complain because I've really been lucky to have as few side

effects as I've had from the prednisone. However, I will be glad to be rid of

it. Of course, it will be several months before I can get off of it completely

but it will feel so wonderful to be moving the dose down! I asked my doctor

about the Imuran and whether he would take me off of it sometime down the road

if my liver enzymes stayed normal once I was totally off of prednisone. He told

me that I will have to stay on the Imuran for life even if my liver enzymes are

never elevated again. I am on a low dose, just 50 mg a day. He said he'd

really like for me to be on 100 mg a day but he dropped it to 50 in mid August

when I had my last attack of acute pancreatitis that landed me in the hospital.

I suspect that if I can go a few months without a bad pancreatitis attack, he

may raise the Imuran.

By the way, for those of you who don't know, I am on prednisone and imuran

because I have autoimmune hepatitis (AIH). Imuran is an immunosuppressant and

comes with its own side effects but all in all it is safer than long term

prednisone.

Anyway, just wanted to share my good news.

W