I know that Prednisone, a corticosteroid, similar to a natural hormone produced by adrenal glands. I had chance to find out it is often used to replace this chemical when body does not make enough of it. My doctor used it to relieve inflammation, or problems I had with swelling, heat, redness, and pain. I have to use this medicine but I am still worried. Can you tell me something about withdrawal symptoms for Prednisone?
Prednisone comes as a tablet, solution, concentrate, and syrup to be taken by mouth; I guess you already know this. Your doctor will prescribe a dosing schedule that is best for you, so all you need is to follow the directions. You have to ask your doctor or pharmacist to explain any part you do not understand about Prednisone. You may mix taste with fruit juice or semisolid food, and the best is to take this medicine with your breakfast. It is important for you to know not to stop taking Prednisone without talking to your doctor. Stopping the drug abruptly can cause some of withdrawal symptoms, such as loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, and drowsiness. Some other symptoms of withdrawal are confusion, headache, fever, joint and muscle pain, peeling skin, and weight loss. If you take large doses for a long time, your doctor probably will decrease your dose gradually to prevent withdrawals. This is going to allow your body to adjust before stopping the drug completely. You have to take care of side effects if you are gradually decreasing your dose and after you stop taking Prednisone. If these problems occur, you should call your doctor immediately.
Have you suffered from any allergies before? Those who have are at increased risk for a reaction from this drug. Yes, prednisone can cause allergic reactions like skin rash, itching or hives but I don’t know if this happens 6 months after using the same product.
These reactions usually develop if a new drug has been started.
Have you eaten anything unusual or something that you don’t eat so regularly.
It’s been almost a week since the rash breakout. Have you seen a dermatologist?
I hope you have managed to get rid of it by now.
I did a search to find support and knowledge about prenisone. Here I am. Sounds like some of you know a few things I could learn from. It's not an easy journey sometimes. Life gives us ups and down. We learn sometimes.
I've been on Prenisone for about 2 months now to give me relief from RA and OA. I had 3 major events coming up that I had to get through and there was no way I could. My doctor put me on 15mg of Prednisone and swelling went down and immediately I had some energy to do what I had to do. When July 1 came it was time to reduce the dose by 5 mg. The plan is to reduce by 5mg for one month, then decrease that by 1/2 for the next 4 months. The second day of the 5mg reduction I crashed and felt withdrawl symptoms such as no energy, pain everywhere, depression. I felt like a truck had run over me, something I've felt on and off for 8 years. My Rhem.MD told me to go back on the 15mg. So here I am in the month of July still on 15mg. That's ok with me because I've gotten to the point that I would rather have kidney and other damage down the road than be disabled today. That's sad but true. I'm on Areva as of June 14. When the Prednisone was reduced July 1 it didn't feel like the Areva was doing anything. So I"m kind of afraid to try reducing the Prednisone. Should they test my Adrenal Glands to see if they are working or had the Prednisone caused them to stop working? I don't know this at this point.
If anyone can enlighten me I'd be so blessed to hear from you. You have my sympathy anyone that is struggling with chronic pain. I've had 7 children and my body is tired. It seems to be falling apart.
Sincerely,
Mary Ellen ?
REMEMBER GUYS THIS IS FROM SOMEONE WHO CARES ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS TO EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US !!!
GAIL
I notice some of you are wondering what happens when on prednisone, well let me tell you it is an awful drug It has a job to do but the side effects can be horrendous.
I was on 100mg of prednisone last year (2007) for just on six months, the effect on my body has been to say the least, damaging! I suffered a stroke and 2 heart attacks because my cardiovascular system was very much weakened by its use. Many other problems have manifest themselves as well including subcutaneous bleeding and extreme weakness.
I am on 10mg presently and trying to come down 1mg by 1mg to zero, I am stuck at the 10mg level because my body will not make the cortisone required for normal bodily functions. I have no idea how long the process will take but, the withdrawal symptoms are horrible! I had been on varying doses for 3 years prior to that from 5mg to 50mg. so the 100mg dose was the last straw.
Why was I on such a dose? I had a bone marrow transplant back in August 2004 and the expected graft vs. host disease (G.V.H.) broke out in my gastro-intestinal tract. Among other things, it was treated with corticosteroids including prednisone and Deximethisone, both corticosteroids. The G.V.H. has still given me hell since then.
Other side effects often overlooked by medical practitioners is the neurological side effects, one of them being severe depression. What ever you do, when you take this stuff make sure that at the first signs of anything untoward in your normal thinking, let your doctor know and see a psychologist or psychiatrist.
Hope this helps
Sincerely,
Steve N.
!
I noticed Gail mentioned about cateracts from extended use of Prednisone, yes I got those too! I had them removed August.
I have no idea what the fix will be though if I can't get of the Prednisone bit by bit, I am a bit scared to ask! %-) Does anyone know what the likely course of action is?
Sincerely,
Steve N.
AVOID PREDNISONE!!!!!!
Hi, I was on prescribed steroids for Polymyalgia Rhumatica. I was put on a low dosage of 15mg to start with by my Doctor.
First of all a Doctor should not prescribe you with this drug unless it is absalutely necessary. I was unable to take other pain killers as they upset my stomach. (I maxed out on pain killers and ended up in hospital). So they put me on steroids as a last resort before any investigations were done.
I pretty well managed myself on steroids. Always in the back of my mind I knew I should not be on them. However, I was not told about the long term side affects and how my life would be after I stopped taking them.
Make no mistake. Steroids are to be respected, they are not a drug to be taken lightly.
My problems started when I was coming off them.
I have to say I was unaware that I should never have been on them for longer than a couple of weeks. The specialist was telling me I needed to come off them and my GP told me it was fine to be on them and not to worry about it and carry on. I was also told I was misdiagnosed after being on them for over a year.
It is incredible how much faith you put in your GP and specialist because you think they know what they are talking about. And you feel they must no what they are doing. You basically put your life in their hands. They are people just like you and me and they are not perfect and yes they can help when you are ill, but it is very difficult for them to make a correct diagnosis as some things are not only difficult to diagnose but are even more difficult to treat with the correct medecine.
I am now off steroids, but the affects I am struggling with now are terrible. I have joint pain, stiffness, depression (not so bad now). I have been back to my doctors several times. I think they must think I am making this all up.
I was not told about the side affects of steroids by any body. I came off them too quickly. I tappered mine off gradually until I got to 4mg. Then my doctor thought I was having a relapse and whacked me up to 30mg for 5 days. This happened twice before I came off them all together. This was all wrong.
In order to deal with my body now and more importantly have the strength to carry on, I take several supplements (ie evening primrose, minerals, colon cleanse). I have muscle testing, Reiki, massage and hypnosis. All this helps me get through every single day. The crazy thing is that my blood test say everything is normal. However, there is imflamation as my ESR and CRP are a little high. I am concious of what I eat as my bowels are affected and I have noticed my hormones are all over the place. But as the weeks go by everything is slowly going back to normal. It all takes time and I mean a long time for your body to go back to normal. This is scary as each day is different. You have to be positive as the mind is a powerful tool in the recovery process. It is so easy to feel depressed and down. It is so much harder to be positive after going such trauma.
People look at me and say a I look so healthy but I am in pain every day. There are people that like to joke about this too. Which I have to deal with along the way.
I wish everyone who is suffering a successful recovery. Believe in yourself and trust your instincts. If you want answers pursue them and don't be put off by other peoples opinions and ignore people who joke about steroids. Steroids are no joke.
Joanne