T1D and the risk of serious infection

That sounds really neat! Unfortunately I rent an apartment, so I don’t think installing something like that is an option. When I buy (which, ha, I won’t be able to afford any time soon in this city!) I’ll definitely be investing in renovations to make it “allergen-proof” for me. It sounds like something like that installation would be really helpful!

Dust is probably my worst indoor allergen, but unfortunately I’m allergic to almost everything (trees, grass, weeds, cats, dogs, feathers, smoke…), so it’s really hard for me to avoid environmental allergens completely.

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There is that major downside, but prednisone can be a panacea (except, obviously, for diabetes). My family doctor calls it the Gucci of steroids. I am a reluctant user, but when I do take it, it is a beautiful thing.

As for that downside, in my experience it tends to consistently raise BG rather than roller-coaster you, so bumping up basals across the board deals with that nicely. Of course, your diabetes yadda yadda.

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My first endo said “Everyone feels great on prednisone, initially.” He was referring, of course, to the unfortunate side effects that come with long-term use.

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Prednisone terrifies me. My grandfather had health problems that required him to take prednisone for years. While it extended his life for about 10 years, his doctor said that the osteoporosis cause by prednisone is what actually lead to his death.

In addition, he was grumpy all the time and gained a lot of weight.

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True, long-term use comes with a lot of consequences. I wouldn’t want to be on it for years, or even months. I take it for asthma flareups, maybe once every couple of years, and for no longer than five to seven days.

Also, speaking on background, because it’s the one thing that helps me smell, and therefore taste food the way it’s meant to taste, I have been known to take a half-dose the day before going to a fine restaurant.

So it’s unlikely to be the cause of my occasional grumpiness. :wink:

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I never actually knew him before the grumpy phase :smile:. So perhaps it was simply used as an excuse for his cantankerousness! Despite all of that, he was a wonderful grandfather.

I’d take some every so often to enjoy the intended taste of fine food too!

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Yeah, my allergist’s prescriptions have always just been for five days.

I’m actually really curious what effect it may have on me. I feel like my body is in a non-stop state of allergic inflammation, and that I haven’t really felt normal in years. You’re actually making it sound good!

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@Jen, so sorry to read about your problems :frowning: I really hope your doctor can help.

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I don’t know if you’re already doing this, but have you considered getting allergy injections? I also am very allergic to most things they test for (64 out of 65 things on their scratch test panel) and got twice weekly allergy shots for years with success. I’m sure that if you’re being seen by an allergist, and they thought it would be helpful, you would be offered that as a treatment.

I found them to be really helpful, and I should probably get back in there and do it again.

Also, I’m sorry that many folks are feeling like crap. I hope that everybody who is under the weather is feeling better soon.

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Yes, I’ve been getting allergy shots for the past 3.5 years. After 2.5 years of no improvement, my allergist adjusted the dose. But even with the dose adjustment, they don’t seem to be helping at all (or maybe they are helping and my allergies would be even worse without them).

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I’m guessing you already have this, but I thought I’d just double check. Do you have a high quality air filtration system in your apartment?

Also, if you do, which do you recommend? :slight_smile:

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I do have two air purifiers, but I have no idea how the apartment ventilation system is set up. I actually suspect the fact that my building allows pets (and it seems at least half the tenants take advantage of that) is part of my problem. This summer I’m looking into moving into an animal-free building with laminate flooring to see if that helps (I just have to find a place I like but can actually afford…).

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Yeah, I think carpets accumulate lots more pet hair and dander. I have parquet wood flooring, and I feel like I’m able to keep my apartment so much cleaner than I was with carpet. It didn’t seem to matter how often I vacuumed, there was always cat hair deep in the carpet. Even with just 1 cat.

Hopefully the apartment switch really helps! I’m sorry you’re going through this.

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I don’t think my apartment has any pet dander, because it had always had a no pets policy at the time I moved in. But I think the fact that many of my neighbours now have pets might be making my allergies worse (though they’ve always been hard to control during spring).

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You can always get a job in another part of the country. I find that for the first two years after a move, my allergies are better, then they come back, but usually at some crazy different time of the year, i.e. cedar fever in January in Austin was crazy.

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My mom has/had severe allergies and she said the most noticeable effects were in year 4 for her (and she stopped in year 5 and is still doing well), so maybe it’s coming?

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I hope so!

In the meantime, my doctor gave me a shot of steroids today and referral to my allergist. It’ll be interesting to see how I feel tomorrow morning!

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Curious: are you increasing your basal overnight, or waiting to see the rise?

Well, so far (about four hours in) I’ve had no rise and have actually had two lows. I’ll be curious to know how the rise of the steroid interacts from what I expect will be better BGs from decreased allergic inflammation… I’m going to handle any rises with corrections for now, but if I’m having to correct repeatedly then I’ll use a temporarily increased basal, and I’ll go to a more permanent increase if I’m having to do repeated temp basals…

So weird - the steroid has had NO impact on my BG whatsoever. I actually wonder if allergies/inflammation were having a more detrimental impact on my BG than steroids, so the inflammation being gone and steroid being present cancel each other out…

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