Steinbox

I have completed my nine-day trial of steroids. You won’t believe what I’ve been eating!

Let’s review…once my ANA test came back positive, indicating that I most likely do have an autoimmune condition, my doctor recommended we do a short trial of a low dose of steroids. This would determine whether or not my GI problems are caused by inflammation (and therefore the autoimmune disease).

Well, my acne cleared right up, as did other rashes and sores of many kinds. That was nice. At first I was afraid to try new foods…the result is usually disastrous. I started slowly, with a few bites of something, then waited a day. When nothing happened, I tried something else…it didn’t take too long to realize I could eat pretty much anything I wanted to! Here’s what I tried:

Zucchini, chocolate, butter, deli turkey, ground beef with taco seasoning, chili from Wendy’s, few bites of a bacon cheeseburger, tomato sauce, pancakes (with butter and syrup), fried egg rolls, chinese food, meatball sub, peanut butter, parmesan noodles, mayo, cheddar cheese, macaroni & cheese (from a box), chocolate chip cookies (preceded by plenty of raw cookie dough), doughnut holes, apple pie, popcorn, and strawberries.

It was unbelievable. We should have come up with a list of foods to try ahead of time…I got to day 6, realized I could eat whatever I wanted to, and then couldn’t think of what I wanted, or what would make sense to try, such as certain food groups. I’m now on my third day OFF the steroids, and symptoms have returned to the point that I am already back to my previous diet. The acne is also back, just that quickly. I’ve also had some nasty side-effects to the drugs.

In any case, I think we’ve proven two things without a doubt: the problem is not my gall bladder (I consumed a LOT of fat grams!), and the GI issues are caused by inflammation. I go to Dr. Plansky Friday, August 3rd, to give him this report and determine the next step.

Part-way through the trial, I got an email from a friend with a warning that when her husband did this test, he cleaned the whole garage in one day. I thought, well, that would explain my impromptu yard sale last weekend! At least we made some money! I also cleaned out the garage, attic, and basement (all in one day), and did all kinds of other stuff. Ben, trying to describe this, said, “It’s like Jess on steroids!” Forgetting, of course, that I WAS on steroids! Now we know where that phrase comes from. I also only needed 5 hours of sleep a night and could not sit still to read my usual book a day.

So I had one good week! It was fun to eat, but the side effects the last few days would definitely make me think twice before taking these again. And to think, after all the money we’ve spent, it only cost $3.55 for a nine-day supply.  For those wondering, you can’t stay on steroids long-term. It’s a bad idea. This was only a test! Hopefully the result will be a conclusive diagnosis and course of treatment. Stay tuned!

PS  We have received a bill from the Cleveland Clinic for our March visit…although we thought it was covered in full, it looks like the insurance company is only paying 75%, leaving us with about $1,200.  I called my case manager and he said it was a mistake, that it should have been billed in-network instead of out-of-network, and that he’d take care of it.  A few days later he left a message saying he’d passed the case to his supervisor and that she found one potential problem with it.  Friday he called and said he couldn’t do anything more and that I should call Member Services and start over.  What is the use of having a case manager if they can’t take care of stuff like this?  Anyhow, I’ll call on Monday to re-start the appeal process.  If you’re so inclined, please pray with us that this bill will be covered, as they originally gave approval for both the consult and the test…