- Reason #1: I’m off the prednisone and pain-killers, since the tendinitis agonies have now subsided greatly. I’m just stuck wearing The Boot to immobilize my left foot for a few weeks while everything presumably repairs itself. Good news, right? Except now I dread the return of the pain. Ask my wife about all the screaming and cussing that was going on last week.
- Reason #2: Now my immune system is out of wack. With this round of drugs, I was immunosuppressed while teaching mobs of young men and women, and now I’ve developed a nasty hacking cough and sore throat. This is not good in a time of COVID-19. I should probably get tested soon.
- Reason #3: Yesterday was meeting hell, and I’ve got the Zoomies now. On top of my classes, we had our annual tenure and promotion review meeting last night…for almost 3 hours. Three hours of pedantry and petty nit-picking. And that was after student seminar rehearsals. If my throat weren’t so sore I’d have been screaming.
- Reason #4: We only got halfway through the list of promotion cases! We have to meet again tonight.
Now take this word of advice from me please PZ, get tested today, get a pulse oximeter and if it shows <92%, go to hospital. Get a CXR too, if you can. And stay away from vulnerable people while you await your test result. All the best. The reason I say get tested today is, with your medical history you should be given antibody treatment as a matter of urgency if it is Covid.
Ugh prednisone , I know that stuff works but the side effects. You eat, get a moon face and get angry at the stupidest things.
I get angry at stupid things without the assistance of prednisone already.
I’m hoping to get tested immediately after class this afternoon.
Good on you, do that and ask me if you have any questions.
This might be a stupid question ,but can’t you tell them you are ill ?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That’s a good one. You’re not an American, are you?
I have now been tested, must wait 24-28 hours for the results. Meanwhile, I’m off prednisone, and I feel awful. You can’t go into prednisone withdrawal after only a week at 40mg/day, can you?
Oh, shit. That’s bad.
(Thinks of Merican phrases to express sympathy)
“-Thoughts and pra…Oops!”
Da fuck? You have a death wish? Please take care of yourself PZ. The world needs you.
Hey PZ,
To emphasize what rorschach has said, if you do test positive, please do speak to your doctor about Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Monoclonal Antibodies. They do appear to be very effective in treated Covid-19 when taken early. Unfortunately, many doctors are unaware of the treatments’ efficacy and you may have to seek them out on your own. The treatments are paid for by the federal government. Hope you’re better soon.
Here’s a CNN article:
https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/25/health/covid-antibody-treatment-doctors/index.html
Here’s some stuff from the NIH:
https://www.covid19treatmentguidelines.nih.gov/therapies/anti-sars-cov-2-antibody-products/anti-sars-cov-2-monoclonal-antibodies/
“You can’t go into prednisone withdrawal after only a week at 40mg/day, can you?”
Principally, Pred should not be discontinued from one day to another, but instead slowly weaned, so I don’t think it’s withdrawal as such, but down regulation of some hypothalamic axis bla bla having some effect. In terms of the immune system, Pred induced changes take I’d say 2-4 weeks to reverse. Do you not have lateral flow tests there? We can buy them at the grocery store here, and the result takes 15 minutes.(Yes, yes, false positives, but if symptomatic it gives you an idea)
Yes, prednisone withdrawal shouldn’t happen unless you have been taking it long-term, at the very least about three weeks, and even that soon would be unlikely. Your symptoms are certainly classic for Covid-19, so please do treat it seriously. I know it is selfish, but damn it PZ, if you won’t seek out the best treatment for your beloved wife, children, and grandchildren, then do it for me. I don’t have any other atheist bloggers I can stand! I’ve been reading here for so many years I don’t know how to find a new blogger to follow!
My COVID test results are back: I don’t have it! Yay!
It’s just a nasty scratchy throat.
Good news.
@7 Feck Doc ,calm down you will do yourself a mischief laughing like that .
Not an American ,born and raised in Shropshire ,home county of some bloke
you might have heard of called Charles Darwin .As I have mentioned before .
Are you saying you don’t have sick leave over there ?
Even in England there is paid sick leave ,not the full amount ,not like some European counties ,where you get 100% ,don’t know how long for .