Introducing..... Trista

So thankful to Jenn for letting my vent on her blog! I was whining on FB the other day due to side effects of medication and she offered a guest appearance on her blog ( oooohhh doesn't that sound glamorous, guest appearance!)! Soooo my name is Trista and I am a 26 year old who has been dealing with Nephrotic Syndrome for 12 years now, I have been diagnosed with Minimal Change Disease, similar to FSGS, difference is my kidneys are not (yet?) that damaged. I may still outgrow this disease. The only thing I have been outgrowing thus far is my clothes! Anyway I have been treated with prednisone, cyclosporine, lasix, and ACE inhibitors. My biggest battle is with the... SIDE EFFECTS!!!! My most recent gripe is with a new disease I have come to acquire, Gout. It can be caused by lasix and cyclosporine, as well as weight gain (which is caused by prednisone and the disease itself). I had been having intense pain in my feet, especially my right foot and then it got really bad in my right foot, I could barely walk. I was waking up at night from the pain, blood tests showed my uric acid levels were super high and I was put on colchisine, which has yucky side effects, I can not keep anything in or down while I am on this med. The pain went away, but I had no other options because the other drug used to treat gout is non other than prednisone. So I am doing better the pain subsided, and I am no longer taking the colchisine. All these damn "wonder drugs" and the side effects suck suck suck suck suck! I do believe I am a strong and positive person but I get so frustrated with the side effects of all the drugs, it really drives me bonknanas. Last September I was hospitalized because another drug I was taking, a statin used to treat high cholesterol ( caused by the Nephrotic Syndrome). caused me to have rhabdomyolysis . My muscle fibers were being broken down by the medication, it happens in about 5% of the people who take it. My muscles were being broken down and I was in pain and could not even chew or stand up without assistance, I almost had to be put on dialysis. Thankfully I recovered pretty fast, but there went my muscle tone, boo, two thumbs waaaay down! See the freaking side effects are just as bad if not worse than the disease itself! I love Jenn for her honesty and the opportunity to express my feelings, the feelings of a crazy prednisone popper! So thank you darling. One more thing I would just like to say if prednisone was in human form I believe it would be a her, a crazy, bitter, vindictive, her who was very intelligent but hateful and I would love nothing more than to punch her in the throat!