Sleep is not my friend

oh how i used to love sleep...my bed was my favorite place to be after getting through a tough day of school or work and just being exhausted. the prednisone has changed all that. i'm up 3-4 times a night now, usually have to pee so bad i'm afraid i won't make it to the bathroom, and i have night sweats all the time. the sweats are gross. and when they happen you're all hot but then you get cold. this does not help me get back to sleep. i do take benadryl which helps a bit and the doctor said that was ok. oh and i almost forgot about the foot cramps! my feet just seize and i can feel the toes curl and it wakes me out of sleep! this morning it was my foot and the calf...ugh. these started with the prednisone a couple months ago. the nights are no fun anymore... problem is, without sleep i feel like crap during the day. my symptoms become worse and i end up getting migraines. on tuesday, i got a migraine during my drive home around 5:30...took a migraine pill (ah the perks of working in a neuro office) and got a little ill but the symptoms went away. then at 9 i got another migraine! i was not happy. and it all comes down to sleep for me. hmmm...

the good news is that the steroids are doing their job. i'm nervous about being on such a high dose every day, but i'm sure my doctor will wean me down when i see him next week. i'm feeling pretty good and the rash continues to fade. the swelling has gone down and i can see my ankles again! i lost 5-6 pounds since starting the high-dose steroids, so i'm figuring that's water weight. yesterday, i noticed that my face was swollen though. the skin on my cheeks was tingling and it feels firm. i'm hoping that the swelling not due to the steroids but i don't want it to be part of another flare either. any other options out there?

i've decided that it's time to set up a couple appointments to investigate my options with this pregnancy. if my doctor wants to restart the enbrel and if we're considering surrogacy as an option if i am unable to be pregnant due to disease activity, we may need to harvest my eggs now while i'm not on the enbrel. so i'm going to call a fertility specialist to set up a consult. also, i got a name of another lupus doctor from my high-risk OB who lists one of her specialties as "lupus and pregnancy" on her site. guess that's a good person to contact...might be time for a second opinion to make sure we're doing everything right.

off to a crazy weekend of running around to see my in-laws and friends. should be fun...then i have monday off to rest. only two weeks until i get to go home to ny and see my family. i'm counting down!