Hi Blue,

Personally, I don't think the hydro hides anything for me. I'm only taking enough to cover what my body should be making, so there shouldn't be too much surplus-and my blood work reflects this as my doctor regularly tests my ACTH, and my body still produces it. If I were on too much steroid, it would be unreadable (which happened in the past, so we dropped the dose down). I actually think I am on too low of a dose at times, but for the reasons you stated, I keep it low to avoid side effects. I am frequently achy, with achy bones, probably due to having just under what I need-and this goes for morning and night for me sometimes morning is worse than night due to stiffness. I am pretty sure I am developing arthritis at the ripe old age of 35 haha for extra fun. So I am trying to do some muscle strengthening exercises around my joints. Of course-finding energy for it is like tapping an empty keg but I'm making some progress.

I am very fortunate, and I don't have too many really painful flares. I had one a couple of months ago for a few weeks, and the about 3 months before that, and the worst flare was back last January. I haven't taken pain medication. I have take klonopin, however, in small doses. Never daily. It's a benzo med (like Xanax) and it helps me relax. That in and of itself can help a flare for me.

There are still days when things are hard, because yes, telling one symptom from another is really challenging-so when not sure what is wrong, I'll often opt for trying to get some extra rest haha.

I know my attendance on the forum is kind of spotty. I also have OCD for extra fun, so I help out at an anxiety forum because even though I will always have anxiety-therapy put me into recovery with that for the most part.

We also just bought a house a few months ago, and just adopted a shelter dog 3 weeks ago. We are going to try for a baby in a year. I guess I'm stubborn and won't let my crazy body slow my life down more than I'm willing to accept...but who knows what the future holds. How are you hanging in?