Steroid Junkie!

I have been on steroids for 12 days now...Today is my last day and I can't wait for my body to get back to a normal functioning pattern.
It started the day before Easter when we went out to Klondyke for the Curtis family reunion. Maybe it was the abundance of fresh air or the pollen out there with all the vegetation but I got hit bad on the way home with what turned out to be sinusitis (as diagnosed a few days later by my Dr.). She prescribed me an antibiotic to make it go away and I started taking it the next day. That was Thursday. I took it twice Thursday, once Friday (I forgot on Friday night) and then again on Saturday morning. When I woke up on Saturday morning I had a rash all over my body. I had already taken it, but did not take it again after I noticed the rash.
Saturday we loaded up all the branches and sticks from our front yard (from trimming the tree way back in like February) and took it all to the dump b/c it was free dump day. This was a lot of labor; loading and stomping them down and then unloading. By the end of the day we were tired.
Sunday we went to church had a normal day until that night when Jeff noticed a cut in our window screen and we wondered if someone had done this from the outside. I slept on the couch. Jeff had work the next day and couldn't be half-sleeping in case it was nothing. Plus I don't mind the occasional sleep on the couch.
Monday I woke up sore from head to toe. Most of the day I moved around like a person twice my age. I thought it was from the work we did on Saturday so I figured it would just get better eventually. I slept on the couch again Monday night just to make sure and when I woke up Tuesday, I was almost immobile. It took so much work to move around and get the girls ready for school etc...I thought, that's it I don't care if someone does break in, I am sleeping on the bed tonight. which I did.
Wednesday I woke up still sore and stiff and swollen in every joint. I went back to the Dr. She told me that rarely a person will have this kind of reaction to an antibiotic but that she shouldn't be surprised that I had this reaction since everything weird and rare happens to me! Ha Tell me about it!
So she let me try high doses of Ibuprofen for 24 hours and if that didn't work to relieve the swelling, I would have to go on this steroid. Of course, the Ibuprofen did not work and I began Prednisone. I had to take 6 pills the first three days, 4 the next three days, 2 the next three and one the last three days. The pill tastes terrible and makes all my food taste terrible. It also gives me nausea, constipation or diarrhea depending on where I was in the course of the medication as well as fatigue and hot flashes. I have felt crappy for 12 days (not to mention the 10 or so days I felt sick before this started) and am hoping that as soon as this last pill goes through my system and does its work I will be back to normal.
I am not for taking steroids. They are as much of a harm to your body as they are a help. The severity of this situation was what made my Dr. choose them for me, but in the future I hope to be able to avoid them.
I am actually looking forward to doing some exercising soon and tasting my food again.