15mg Prednisone And Falling

My daily Prednisone dosage is down to 15mg. While there are still some distinct signs the polymyositis remains behind (finger joints are sometimes stiff, steps are occasionally tough, it's difficult to crouch down in tight spaces when running cabling, replacing workstations in cubes, etc.), I'm feeling cured for the most part.

I even got the road, mountain and single-speed bikes out several times last week. This week didn't fare so well, as I've literally been working 8am to 10pm most every week day. But such is the price of success as a small business owner/operator. I'm not complaining; I'm just happy to be here.

Of course, I need to exercise more. 40mg/day of Prednisone from May through July resulted in my gaining 29 pounds. I'd like to lose at least 10 of that. With this heat you'd think that'd be easy, but J. Gumbo's calls!

Five Weeks Of Methotrexate = Victory?

Just five weeks of methotrexate appears to have confused the polymyositis quite thoroughly. Take that you little bastard. This wicked little disease, which proved so adept at reacting quickly to prednisone, may be meeting its match. It's still too early to tell, but one thing's certain: my immune system is slowing its self-centered attacks. In fact, they may be in remission, I'm not sure.

After a two- to three-month flair of ugly proportions, I received word today that my CPK rate (typically measuring between 100-200 in most humans) has dropped to 95. By comparison, my CK rate was 1200 in late April, 1800 the first week of May, and 1162 after four or five weeks of prednisone-only treatment in late June.

Now the cleanup begins. I'm hopelessly out of shape, having gained 28 pounds (due to the high prednisone dosages I've been taking daily) over the last 10 weeks. But, as I hope to begin tapering the prednisone beginning tomorrow, I can begin elevating an exercise campaign.

Toward that front, I actually got the road bike out for the first time in a long time this past weekend. While the five or six miles I road (including a few on the single-speed Trek I converted ages ago) are nothing to write home about, it beats sitting on the couch with a 101 fever like I was doing Memorial Day weekend (thanks to the poly flair).