In addition to a small dose of Predisone, my rheumatiodologist has also prescribed Plaquenil for my Lupus symptoms.  This drug is the leading medication prescribed for Lupus patients to stop the damaging effects of the autoimmune disease.  Again, I don’t know all the medical ins and outs, but I am sure the world wide web does if you want to know more.  This medication is meant to be taken twice a day.  However, it has many side effects such as drowsiness, nausea, upset stomach etc.  I tried it for two weeks at noon and night and realized that I cannot do it.  This medicine makes me so drowsy, loopy and nauseous.  Within an hour of taking it, I just feel out of it.  I tried taking it before food and after food.  I tried taking it with milk and I tried it for two weeks before admitting that the side effects are too strong.

I am fortunate that I am on summer vacation, so I can just lay down and sleep if it bothers me that much.  I also am fortunate because I am near a trash can or toilet if I really get sick, but I won’t have all that once school starts again so I need to make a plan for now.  Fortunately, my doctor called Friday and gave me the okay to take it only at night.  I can get as dizzy as I want while sleeping and right now I am still on Predisone for during the day.  We’ll try this for awhile and hopefully all will work out.  I want the effects of feeling good and flare free, but I also need to be able to function.

Again, other than the infertility, my symptoms are truly mild which is a blessing.  I feel much stronger effects from the Rayneuds than I do the Lupus.  I know I still have it from the random joint pain and occasional fevers, but overall I am very blessed.  My goal right now is to figure out the amount of medication needed to live an active lifestyle and avoid as much damage as possible.  Clearly things are happening due to the blood work, but thankfully, the damage is limited.

The good news: thankful for the research being done for Lupus to find medicines like these that can save a life.  Twenty five years ago they did not have this and Lupus would have been a terminal illness with a not so positive outlook.  As we continue to explore adoption, my number one priority is my health so this birth mom knows that I am taking care of myself and will be able to take care of this child.  I hate not being pregnant, but am so thankful that my body has not been suffering the effects of what a pregnancy can do to a body with this disease.  My prayer continues to be no pregnancy unless it can be healthy on me and the baby.  I have come to the place where I have accepted this is the best plan for me to be and stay healthy and live a long life.  There are those days where I wonder by some miracle will I get pregnant like all those stories you hear, but now I actually have more feelings of fear of that happening than hope.  I would hate to put my family at risk of me not being healthy for the long term because of a selfish desire to carry a child.  The bottom line is it is out of my control and I am trusting that His will be done.