Steroid therapy is the use of steroid medicines, also known as corticosteroids, to treat a lot of varieties of autoimmune disease, including myasthenia gravis, lupus, and various sclerosis, and other issues, such as asthma. Steroid medications consist of medications 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 medicines are medically vital to treat several conditions and diseases. It is critical not only to adhere to the recommendations of your health-related skilled concerning steroid use, if you have decided steroid therapy is proper for you, but also to discover other medical solutions if you have second thoughts about steroid drugs.

Is steroid therapy suitable for you?

Steroid medicines have significant 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 result in speedy bone loss, up to as significantly as 15 percent per year. If you are on steroids, you are much more than twice as probably to have a spine fracture as compared to a particular person not taking steroids. Fracture danger increases as the day-to-day doses of steroid medicines increases. The key effect of steroid medication on bone is fractures (broken bones) that take place most generally in the spine and ribs. There are diverse rates of bone loss among individuals on corticosteroids. Bone loss happens most quickly in the very first six months immediately after starting oral steroid medications. Immediately after 12 months of chronic steroid use, there is a slower loss of bone. However, it should be described that not all sufferers who take steroid medicines experience bone loss.

Other adverse side effects of steroid medicines are elevation of blood stress, weight achieve, decreased resistance to infection, indigestion, thinning of skin, and potential development of cataracts and glaucoma.

Let me relate my own expertise with steroid therapy.

I was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis various years ago. Myasthenia gravis is a chronic autoimmune neuromuscular disease characterized by varying degrees of weakness of the skeletal (voluntary) muscles of the physique. The hallmark of the disease is muscle weakness, which increases for the duration of periods of activity and anxiety, but improves immediately after periods of rest and calm. Particular muscle tissues, such as those that control eyes and eyelid movements, facial expression, talking, chewing and swallowing are frequently involved in this disorder. In addition, the muscle tissues that handle breathing, neck, and limb movements could also be affected.

Due to myasthenia gravis, I had developed ocular symptoms, such as ptosis (drooping of eyelids) and diplopia (double vision), and weak neck and limb muscle tissues. Luckily, Stanozolol did not have weakness of the pharynx muscles, which could trigger difficulty in chewing and swallowing, as properly as slurred speech in lots of instances of myasthenia gravis.

I was prescribed steroid medicines and had been on a steroid therapy for three years. In addition, I was also provided medications 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 important adequate to make me determine to continue the steroid therapy just after three years of remedy. I had to balance the dangers of steroids and the symptoms of myasthenia gravis.

My rude awakening came when I realized that my immune method, which was the bring about of the illness in the 1st place, is not only an integrated network of cells that would protect me in occasions of an infection, but also a system with a lot of regulatory mechanisms that, if uncontrolled, would come to be my enemy as an alternative of my friend. A lot more importantly, these steroids may perhaps manage the symptoms of myasthenia gravis, but they could also impair my immune technique with lasting effects on my all round well being and wellness further down the road.

I recognized that the human physique has a all-natural mechanism for self-healing, if given the acceptable atmosphere. Accordingly, I took matters into my hands, and created a drastic decision to quit my steroid therapy without having consulting my physician (Warning: I do not ask everyone to do the exact same.) I stopped the medication very slowly and progressively. Meanwhile, I did anything to improve my immune system by way of a thorough detoxification plan, and a transform of diet program. I did not achieve weight, my blood stress became standard and, most vital of all, my myasthenia gravis circumstances did not deteriorate. Up to this day, I still 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 far more than a single decade currently.

Hippocrates, the father of medicine, after mentioned: “No man is a greater doctor than himself, who knows his personal constitution.” No 1 can make a decision for you what is greatest for your overall health. A doctor can only give tips, but you are the a single who tends to make the selection on no matter whether steroid therapy is proper for you. Listen to your body.