I always have meds when I need them

Don't worry, these are not mine. That's a lot of meds, are you kidding me?

Ya, I know. Prescription meds have their bad side. And they can be abused. So don't worry, I don't abuse them. But they can also save your life or at least save you a trip to the ER, like they did me last night. You guys, I have no idea what I did but Oh my, ouch!

My left lower shoulder blade was so bad last night that my daughter texted me from the basement to see if I thought I needed a doctor. Apparently, she could hear my moaning and groaning mixed with the occasional outburst of, “holy f*** this hurts, please make it stop!” from all the way downstairs.

Now, usually, I am very quiet about the pain because I don't want to be that complaining whiner that never shuts up about how sick she is. You know? But last night was a doozie. It was beyond the grin and bear it point. Like, way beyond. Like, right about at the “Crap, maybe I DO need a doctor” realization.

But thanks to Lupus, I was able to take some of the extra prednisone I have for just such emergencies and knock that pain out of the ballpark. Well, first I took a couple aspirin to see if that would help. It didn't. So, if not for the extra prednisone Lupus provides me with, via my rheumatologist, I probably would have had to go to the ER last night.

I also have on hand, several unexpired pain meds that have been prescribed to me from time to time. I rarely take them. I'm just not a dosing fool. Plus, I figure that since I'm already on a maintenance dose of prednisone, I shouldn't really be quick to add too much to the mix, if you know what I mean. Anyway, if I have a serious issue with pain, they are there if I need them, because I always fill them, even if I think I'm not going to take them. Hey, you never know when you'll be faced with a zombie apocalypse, right? Might as well be ready for anything.

Now, you might say that I shouldn't be thanking Lupus here, because Lupus is the reason for the pain in the first place. But you know, not all my pain is Lupus related. Some of it is from the rheumatoid and some of it is because I try to be this bad-ass that I'm not. In other words, I overdo it sometimes. No lectures please. I'm a do-er. That's who I am and it's not going to change. Plus, sometimes it's good for me. Staying active is vital to longevity when you have a chronic illness, or even when you don't.

And I do rest in between kicking to-do list butt. I promise. Ha!

So thanks Lupus, for giving me the power to stay out of the ER with surplus meds. Because who wants to run to the ER every time they have an ache or even an extremely painful explosion of epic proportions? Not me.