I am a 21-year-old female going for my teaching degree at Central Michigan University. I had a migraine headache for a month straight, so the doctors put me on a steroid boost to try to reduce inflammation in my head. I could not sleep more than a couple hours a night for seven days. My immune system got so run down that I got the flu and a sinus infection too.

The doctors would not give me medicine to help me sleep. For the first four days they would not even take me off the steroids because they were worried it would hurt my heart. Finally, on the fifth day they took me off the steroids, but it is the twelfth day and I am still feeling negative effects. My heart rate has been between 120 and 140 bpm when I have been resting and it is usually about 60bpm when I'm resting.

After seven days of not sleeping at all, I was going crazy. The room was spinning, I was seeing little spots all over, and I could not stop thinking. I finally found a doctor to give me anti-anxiety medicine on Monday, and I have slept until today. My teachers say they will let me go back to school, but I know I've missed a whole week and I have tests next week that I know I won't do as well on as usual. I got a 4.0 last semester, and I know I probably won't get that GPA this semester because of my experience with steroids.

My advice is, don't use steroids. They are dangerous for your body. You may not have my exact experience, but I promise you they will have negative effects on your heart and mind.