The wonder kid drug “Dexamethasone”

PS; this has been in my drafts for almost half a year, i thought it wouldn’t be too important to share, but i have since gotten the same side effects this month. The downward side of recovering from Covid; its symptoms show up once in a blue moon. I was fighting a blocked nose, every morning thinking i had Covid yet the results showed i was negative. So i approached this medical facility and i specifically told the Doctor, don't give me Dexa cause it messed me up and she was like you might be lying. Do i look like “bubu the fool”, i did my research.

Research has been left to theorists, but Doctors and Pharmacists, should research more often, its embarrassing. Fast forward she recommended a syrup i was so excited since i hate pills, all medicines in particular. But guess what the drug she recommended, has 0.5 gms of Dexa. My body has suddenly changed and my feet were swelling until, it hit me that the ka little Dexa is actually messing me up.

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, Dexamethasone (Dexa) and Azithromycin, have been selling like hot cake among citizens to contain the virus. Last year 2020!in particular (December),it was my first time to be prescribed “Dexa” in order to treat the Covid-19 virus i had contacted; i cant lie it has amazing and offered quick results too.

1. I have never taken note of medicines, but its high time i did, as well as the reader; i guess. Any ways, Dexa, has gotten its popularity to the new consumers of medicine, after the Covid 19 saga. Its that drug, that's highly recommended by doctors; if only they put strict restrictions to it.
2. Dexa really helped me alot during Covid, my air passages were all completely blocked and Dexa kept me alive all through (inserts a standing ovation). The kind of drug whereby, one minute your nose is stuffed, in a second after popping that pill, you feel like a completely whole human again.Though i think i might have overdosed, i took more than what was prescribed. Due, to the fear of dying and hoping to really survive, i thought taking “Dexa” for two weeks was the end goal, but it gave disastrous effects.
3. I really didn't feel the effects of Dexa, till my mum asked me in Rukiga, “Muhara wangye kuwa yirugara ” (my daughter, your skin complexion has darkened) ; that was really an up ended statement, cause my skin is my project. I let it slide. Woi woi, on waking up the next day, my cheeks were shaped like the globe; no lies told.
4. I have always been for body positivity, like growing up i was always chubby, Leah says i always termed my self Pretty Hot and Thick (PHAT). But this time round i was fat, i was obese, and no type of affirmation would change anything.
5. How did i go from medium size to wearing extra large which was still tight too. How did i go from a size 10 to a 16; and later on sharing clothes with my mum. *Bambi my mum still thinks i hate taking pictures
6. My features were all enhanced, they were like those squealers’ descriptions in animal farm. I have always had issues with my feet, they swell. But this time round, every healthy thing i did to contain them never helped, instead it became worse. For a second my mind was boggling, i thought you know what, Scarlet you might have a liver or kidney problem; matter of fact you might be dying next year,😂😂😂 yeah and i was thinking of giving birth so that i leave a diamond for my sweet mama. Dont mind me please, my head spins faster than a hamster.
7. I had had enough, so this one day i collected all my energy, and searched about Dexa; all its side effects aligned with me and well its a steroid. Well Evelyn kept telling me about a bad drug “Dexa” that had bad side effects but i kept ignoring and head butting her. One evening time she found me with it while i was treating Covid-19, she warned and i 50/50 listened. Engalabi enno ( the noise that comes from a long drum; empty head). Fast forward; So i started searching about Dexa, all my features aligned with the after effects of the drug.
8. So next was a check up cause i over whined, and my good morning response, was “ I am fat”. My body weight increased to 10 kgs in a week, with my mum commenting “Muharawe wangye kuwa mpikka, wabba size yangye hati”😂😂😂 (my daughter we are now size mates) I was embarassed on my behalf. They were able to confirm my kidneys and lungs were fine. So i reiterated that i was on Dexa and the doctor told me surely that's what has caused all that since its a steroid. Once on the “Dexa” treatment, one has to stop using it in a sequence, till the body adjusts to. Nze me as my own researcher i had already found out.
9. Surprisingly when i tell my demise; people are quick to comment. Most people are aware of the side effects; my friends really doubted my sudden weight gain and when they saw me i told them it was Dexa, Lydia was quick to comment, “Elyo sileye daagala Evelyn ye ya yalya, ne limukyusa; it kept fluctuating her from one weight to another and another person was quick to tell me it changed his friend’s complexion and body mass. Others use Dexa for their health complications, ohh isn't that for asthmatic patients, isnt it good for people with allergies; my cousin told me she uses it once in a while to prevent getting any side after eating meat since she is a allergic to any meat aside from chicken.

I am not blaming the pharma industry, cause i also owe a duty of care to my body to search about anything i put into my vessel. However, they should really warn the consumers of the after effect, cause people are illiterate, pharma illiterate. (Imagine getting another dose of Azithromycin, and telling a friend about it yet an over the counter Pharmacy attendant didn't warn you it was an over dose. Ate embela yali ekaye at that time, medicine was costing an arm and leg; i took back that prescription to give me back my ka money, until they told me drugs cant be returned).

Ignorance is not bliss in this situation!

NB; the next time you are buying medicine, i hope you vehemently read through the instructions and adhere to the prescription religiously.

• Please stop self medication
• Any one with access to internet kindly research about the prescription given to you

~ Ava Aster ~