Buying to Live: Prednisone

Poison ivy fucking sucks! I got a gnarly case at the beginning of March while pulling plants off the back wall of the Cardinal Sins Bowl. I was pulling vines off the wall with my bare hands when Grampy Rampy told me I was an idiot and that I was touching poison ivy. I should have immediately washed with cold water and soap but instead I skated for hours, sweating profusely. Needless to say, I got it bad.
That’s where prednisone comes into play. It’s some sort of steroid that suppresses the shit outta the rashes and itching. I don’t know how it works and I don’t really care…

All I know is it does the job. Unfortunately, it has a long list of possible side effects, including:

* increased blood sugar for diabetics
* weight gain
* facial swelling
* depression, mania, psychosis or other psychiatric symptoms
* unusual fatigue or weakness
* mental confusion / indecisiveness
* blurred vision
* abdominal pain
* peptic ulcer
* infections
* painful hips or shoulders
* Steroid-induced osteoporosis
* Osteonecrosis
* Long term migraines
* insomnia
* severe joint pain
* cataracts
* anxiety
* black stool
* stomach pain or bloating
* severe swelling
* mouth sores or dry mouth
* avascular necrosis
* hepatic steatosis

Bummer. I haven’t had any of these, well except for the weight gain, but I suspect that has more to do with initial poison ivy home remedy (drinking until you pass out so that you can sleep through the night without itching). In any case, almost immediately after I got over the March bout, I found myself trekking through a virtual forest of poison ivy, leading to yet another 14 day round of ‘roids. Double bummer.

Here are some stolen images that have something to do with poison ivy.