I wasn’t one to bruise as a kid but as I’ve gotten older it doesn’t take that much to bruise and my skin is thinner also. Does this have anything to do with taking cortisones (prednisone, hydrocortisone) my whole life ? I read somewhere that bruising and thinner skin is a side-effect of long-term cortisol also and I keep that in mind but there isn’t much I can do about it.

What I find interesting is what makes me actually bruise. I’ve down-loaded boxes from  retail trucks and I’ve been full of bruises. Taking out racks of clothes that would wack against my legs and again full of bruises. Falling over the back of a suburban and wacking my face on the wheel- well? no bruise. Falling of horses? never a bruise. Getting sucker- punched in the face by a big blond in a parking lot? no bruises    But once I was carrying dishes at a restaurant and I tripped over this lady’s purse (the woman must of had a bowling ball in there) and I fell directly on my knees on a carpeted floor. I ended up with bruises from my knees to my ankles and when I went to one of those work related medical places the doctor told the medical assistant the reason the bruises looked so bad was because of the long term prednisone use.

What really freaks me out is the loss of bone density from the meds, I wish that the Endos that I had in my late teens and 20’s were more forth coming about that one. Then maybe I could of started taking Actonel for the bone loss earlier and avoided osteopenia (sp) all together.

Aimee