so today's video is all about discussing
what life was like whilst I was living
on steroids and give you guys a good
idea what to expect if you are to go on
them those of you who have been on them
you can probably tell that I'm not on
them at the moment and I haven't been on
them for a good year at least I'm just
gonna recap what I can remember life was
like when I was on them to kick off with
why was I put on them well steroids are
considered one of the best
anti-inflammatory drugs out there and
considering I have inflammatory bowel
disease like I'm sure many of you
watching this do as well when it starts
flaring up steroids are considered one
of the best treatments to bring it all
under control
you'll probably find when you go into
hospital if it does get to that point
where you do get that bad that they'll
end up giving you PR and IV steroids to
bring that flare under control so why am
i making a video specifically based on
this drug well because I kind of want to
start a discussion point on it because
it is so two-sided I feel it's so
two-faced there are so many positives to
it but on the other hand there are so
many negatives and I've seen so many of
you guys talk about it being
the devil's work and so-and-so like you
know things like that and I'm not gonna
say I particularly agree with you
because it has helped me out on a lot of
occasions but whilst watching
this video if you guys have got your own
thoughts on it make sure to pop them
down in the comments and we'll have a
little discussion and see what we think
so be honest I had impressions but I'd
end up looking something like this
whereas in reality this is what I looked
like
so why is it it ends up making me and many
of you out there who've been on them
look a bit like this well I'm sure a lot
of you guys probably have better
explanations about it or than me because
I don't understand why it makes things
happen to your face like that
but it seems to happen to all of us out there we've got a term for it 'moonface'
one thing I have noticed about it
is it really does make you put on weight
you know you're piling on weight
usually what is it I take to make that
happen to me
well to be honest it's only little tiny
tablets that you're given when you you
know typically it's when you're
discharged from hospital and you take
about well I was started on 40 milligrams
a day which is eight of these little
five milligram tablets and I'll take
them first thing in the morning just
after eating breakfast and what I find
is within an hour or an hour
half after eating a decent sized
breakfast I'm already hungry again I
don't know what it is they do - I think
they probably just make the digestive
system almost work in overdrive and I was
finding on a day-to-day basis I'd be
eating at least five meals a day with
snacks in between and you just can't not
do that it just makes you so hungry
constantly I don't know about your
guys personal experience with the drug
as well but in terms of the actual
little tablets they give you I found it
one of the hardest tablets to take I'm
not really sure why I mean there's these
little kind of white dissolvable ones a
little bit like a little kind of
paracetamol tablet I just find the size
of them sometimes makes them so hard to
swallow and if you don't kind of get it
right and they start disintegrating
in your mouth and leave your
horrible aftertaste and yeah I take them
first thing in the morning because I
find they just give you such a buzz of
energy I think that's probably why you
become so much more active you feel
like you're doing so much more every
single day and that's probably half the
reason why you feel so hungry as well
so with taking them first thing in the
morning you would think by the time you
get to last thing at night you'd be
tired well in my personal experience
you'd be wrong
because I was just up almost the whole
night on most occasions I've been on
them especially the higher dose when the
dose starts dying down I found I was
able to get a little bit more sleep but
I found what's interesting with steroids
as well is usually they start you at 40
milligrams like I said before but as the as
the dose gradually reduces I found when
it gets to about 20 milligrams 15
milligrams something like that then the
symptoms start to come back of the
flare which has to sometimes be
brought under control via another method
It's normally used as a short-term
treatment and the reason for this is
because I've been told that being on
steroids for a long period of time
damages your bones really badly it kind
of makes them over time fall apart and
obviously none of us want that
so hence a lot of these infusion drugs
that are meant to be a safer option long-term so up to this point in
the video most of you are probably
watching thinking what are the positives
about steroids well like I said
weight gain some of you might need it
some of you might have been underweight
for so long and you'll find that that
weight piles on almost straightaway within
the first couple of weeks I've found
over an eight-week course of steroids
I've put on a good couple of stone at
least also I've found it does bring the flare
under control
it really does on every single
occasion I've had it it has brought it
back to normal almost I mean when I went into
hospital
I found the IV and PR steroids
worked so much more effectively whereas
sometimes the tablets that they give you
know like this prednisolone they don't
quite do the job but if it's kind of
like a low-key flare but you need something
to sort it out I find that they do work
on most occasions am I glad that I'm
not on them anymore yeah I mean
definitely it's it's nice to not have to
take them first thing in the morning
it's nice to not have to need them I'm
not saying I'm not bad at the moment
because my problems are more post
surgical problems rather than actually
having flares yeah it just wasn't the
nicest experience to have to take them
every single morning and kind of eat so
much during the day put on so much
weight and not be able to sleep at night
and mentally it feels like it does
something to you as well it feels like
your mind is in overdrive all the time
you're thinking about so many things at
the same time that was a quick little
summary of well for us with IBD the drug
that we typically use it's called
prednisolone let me know if you agree
with what I've said guys if you get these same
symptoms thank you as always for
watching take care guys
and I will see you very shortly again in
the next video.
