Female Facial Hair, Prednisone Please Stop It

Update From Michelle…

I am a mother of three little children (4yo, 2yo, 1yo).

I was diagnosed with UC in Nov 2005 after the birth of my daughter.

I had 2 flares until June of 2010. On June 21st I started prednisone, was admitted to the hospital on June 30th and not discharged until July 19th. When I got home, it was still awful. I lost 40 lbs in that timeframe…I could barely walk up the stairs…much less carry one of my children. I was eating broth and jello. I got shingles, an awful eye infection and I’ve had Thrush for about 2 months.

I had a flex sig and upper GI done since then….my pathology report from the Upper Gi said that I might have Celiac’s Disease! (Going in for a blood test to confirm next week) Really people??? Can you pile any more on me? I am still on prednisone (the devil, but only 20mg yippie!), asacol and I’ve had 3 Remicade treatments.

I shake all day (I think from the Prednisone), I’m growing facial hair that I don’t want (obviously being female!!! Any suggestions on how to get rid of it?), and I think my hair is falling out. Ok, so that is all I got….that has been my summer. I did start the SCD Diet on August 3rd and it has been helping a lot (maybe bc of the Celiacs? lack of wheat/gluten?) I have formed stool and no blood! (don’t want to jinx it) It is one of the hardest things to do, I will say. Has anyone who’s been on the Diet actually eat normal again? I do like the healthy, make your own way, but sometimes I want to have just a bite of something….does that happen? I know I will be on SCD Diet for a while, but I was just wondering… Anyway, thanks for listening. It is hard sometimes when you feel like the world is coming down on you….its hard to keep a positive attitude, but you have to move on and keep going!

(Hi Michelle, thanks for writing in and sharing the update for you.  I don’t have any suggestions as for the facial hair, but I suspect it will go away once the prednisone is over.  I have heard that complaint/side effect from a few other women.  Does anyone have a clue about this?  If so, please write a comment below.

With regards to the diet and actually eating normal again…? That’s another great question. I myself feel pretty confident breaking some rules of the diet VERY VERY SLIGHTLY, like a tiny bit of milk in my morning coffee each day, a little little bit that is, not a half cup or anything close, and I surely don’t ever order a latte drink etc… I am hoping that maybe some others who follow the SCD Diet will comment on breaking rules, and if that has allowed them to maintain remission.

I’m just one year on the diet, so for me, no, I don’t “eat normal”.  And by that I mean, I am not eating breads, toasts, cakes, coke, pepsi, beer, etc…  But, and I know this is going to sound really really strange….I don’t feel like I eat like a freak or anything.  It has taken me a while, but people don’t look at me strange when I order an omlette at a restaurant in the morning and tell them to hold the toast and potato and substitute it all for some fruit.  But that’s what I do, and it all seems to work out.

Best of luck to you Michelle, I hope you continue to stick it out with the diet. One thing that I am most happy about is I have not paid a single penny in medical costs this entire YEAR!!! Which is saving me thousands compared to the last two years previously. I hope that is the same result for others who follow the SCD Diet, or who have found other alternative treatments that don’t cost much.

-Adam )

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