Steroid therapy is the use of steroid medications, also identified as corticosteroids, to treat numerous types of autoimmune disease, like myasthenia gravis, lupus, and several sclerosis, and other problems, such as asthma. Steroid drugs involve medicines like prednisone and cortisone. Corticosteroids can be prescribed to be taken orally or in other techniques, such as by inhalation.
According to Western medicine, steroid drugs are medically vital to treat many conditions and ailments. It is vital not only to comply with the suggestions of your health-related specialist with regards to steroid use, if you have decided steroid therapy is suitable for you, but also to discover other medical alternatives if you have second thoughts about steroid medications.
Is steroid therapy correct for you?
Steroid drugs have big effects on the metabolism of calcium and bone. Steroid therapy can result in serious bone loss, osteoporosis, and broken bones. High dosage of steroid drugs can lead to rapid bone loss, up to as a lot as 15 percent per year. If you are on steroids, you are extra than twice as likely to have a spine fracture as compared to a individual not taking steroids. Fracture danger increases as the day-to-day doses of steroid drugs increases. The main impact of steroid medication on bone is fractures (broken bones) that take place most normally in the spine and ribs. There are various prices of bone loss amongst people on corticosteroids. Bone loss happens most swiftly in the first six months immediately after starting oral steroid medicines. Following 12 months of chronic steroid use, there is a slower loss of bone. However, it must be mentioned that not all patients who take steroid drugs experience bone loss.
Other adverse side effects of steroid medications are elevation of blood pressure, weight get, decreased resistance to infection, indigestion, thinning of skin, and possible development of cataracts and glaucoma.
Let me relate my personal knowledge with steroid therapy.
I was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis quite a few years ago. Myasthenia gravis is a chronic autoimmune neuromuscular illness characterized by varying degrees of weakness of the skeletal (voluntary) muscles of the physique. The hallmark of the disease is muscle weakness, which increases through periods of activity and anxiety, but improves just after periods of rest and calm. Certain muscles, such as these that control eyes and eyelid movements, facial expression, talking, chewing and swallowing are normally involved in this disorder. In addition, the muscle tissues that control breathing, neck, and limb movements may perhaps also be affected.
Due to myasthenia gravis, I had created ocular symptoms, such as ptosis (drooping of eyelids) and diplopia (double vision), and weak neck and limb muscle tissues. Thankfully, I did not have weakness of the pharynx muscles, which could result in difficulty in chewing and swallowing, as effectively as slurred speech in numerous cases of myasthenia gravis.
I was prescribed steroid medications and had been on a steroid therapy for three years. In addition, I was also offered medicines to deal with bone loss and other side adverse effects related with the use of steroids.
In my case, there was some improvement, but not substantial sufficient to make me decide to continue the steroid therapy right after 3 years of remedy. I had to balance the risks of steroids and the symptoms of myasthenia gravis.
My rude awakening came when I realized that my immune program, which was the cause of the disease in the initially spot, is not only an integrated network of cells that would guard me in occasions of an infection, but also a technique with lots of regulatory mechanisms that, if uncontrolled, would develop into my enemy as an alternative of my pal. More importantly, these steroids might handle the symptoms of myasthenia gravis, but they may well also impair my immune program with lasting effects on my all round well being and wellness additional down the road.
Steroids for sale recognized that the human body has a natural mechanism for self-healing, if provided the suitable atmosphere. Accordingly, I took matters into my hands, and produced a drastic selection to quit my steroid therapy devoid of consulting my physician (Warning: I do not ask any one to do the similar.) I stopped the medication extremely gradually and gradually. Meanwhile, I did almost everything to enhance my immune method through a thorough detoxification plan, and a modify of diet plan. I did not achieve weight, my blood stress became standard and, most significant of all, my myasthenia gravis situations did not deteriorate. Up to this day, I nonetheless have some double vision, which I have discovered to cope with (I can nevertheless drive), but my other symptoms have disappeared. I have been off steroid therapy for much more than one particular decade currently.
Hippocrates, the father of medicine, after stated: “No man is a far better physician than himself, who knows his personal constitution.” No a single can determine for you what is best for your health. A physician can only give suggestions, but you are the a single who makes the decision on whether steroid therapy is right for you. Listen to your body.