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withdrawl from prednisolone

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Posted 12/6/2011 7:48 AM (GMT 0)
  I want to come off Prednesolone tbs, but am very scarred to do this.

My systoms are very bad while I have been on them.i.e round face, stomach probs,horrible sweats and dreams.The tiredness is very bad.

What will happen if I just stop taking this terrible tabs.

help. 
Posted 12/6/2011 7:59 AM (GMT 0)
Ilexave,
I hear ya. Nothing is worse than prednisone. I get the moon-shaoed face, my crohns sometimes gets worse,sweats,broken teeth ..anxiety etc etc. Huh?
Have you ever tried entocort? It is a new medication for crohns disease. It is still a steroid but it centers around the intestinal tract rather than the entire body and the side effects are very little, if any.
I would assume if you want to come off prednisone the doctor will taper you down slowly off it. I know you can not stop it immedialty, that coukd be dangerous. I would ask the doctor about the entocort, I know for me it has been a blessing. Good luck to you,
Leslie
Posted 12/6/2011 10:26 AM (GMT 0)
Ilexave--

I've heard that it can be very dangerous bc prednisone causes your body to stop making the hormone cortisol if you're taking it long term. The taper helps your body to start producing the hormone on its own. I know this sucks bc I have a really bad emotional reaction to pred...lots of anxiety and panic attacks. It's really a terrible drug that docs usually go to first bc it's been around so long :( But I also heard about entocort in a couple of my recent doctor appts. My doc said less side effects, but I haven't tried it. Good luck and stay strong!

Oh, here's something from Mayo Clinic written by an MD about stopping pred abruptly:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/prednisone-withdrawal/AN01624

Much love!
Posted 12/6/2011 10:37 AM (GMT 0)
They go for the prednisone because it is what they learned in school and it is cheap! The entocort now has a generic so it's not so bad.
Posted 12/6/2011 12:50 PM (GMT 0)
I was on prednisolone, but only a very low dose for adrenal support when they were much more fatigued than they are now. It's VERY dangerous to just stop taking the tablets as your body had adapted to them now and wouldn't be able to make it's own cortisol properly which if you don't have can kill you within 4 hours. But your adrenals will adapt to living without them if you come off them very gradually.
It was relatively easy and certainly painless for me as I had the non-lactose soluble tablets so I was able to gradually reduce the tablets in a water solution using an oral syrige to measure. This might be easier for you, then you can do it as gradually as you want which will give your body time to get used to the lower doses in a way it will hardly notice. Your doctor can prescribe these type instead if you aren't on them at the moment.
You can also get herbal adrenal support like Tulsi, Maca and Ashwaghanda but I don't have any experience of these so couldn't recommend them, so you would have to research them yourself. All your minerals and vitamins are important for adrenals support, including C, B complex, zinc, molybdenum, selenium, calcium, magnesium, etc. Also, sleep is very important for recovery and your adrenals especially recover between 11p.m. and 1 a.m., I've heard it said by an encodrine expert.
Posted 12/6/2011 6:03 PM (GMT 0)
I have been on pred for more than a year and a half now. But, sorry to tell you that, all my attempts to taper it failed. It depends on the duration of being on pred. I did not taper it quickly. My doc started this 3 months after I was on 40 and 30 mg. I too gained 14 kgs but I don't look overweight as I was skinny and I'm tall.

Three weeks ago, I started Entocort but it hasn't kicked in yet and started to taper pred very slowly.

The most important question you have to consider is: Have your Crohn's symptoms subsided or not yet? It's not advisable to start tapering when your disease has not been controlled yet. Don't worry, I have been through the phase of hating my appearance but when I relapsed after a quick taper, I realized the importance of pred and would ignore my appearance.

I agree with other posters that you should ask your doc about switching to Entocort and ask him whether he approves of the generic one or not. My GI insisted on the brand name.

Please, don't come off this drug all of a sudden and taper it off.

Hope you feel better soon:)
Take care!
Posted 12/6/2011 6:12 PM (GMT 0)
Hi and welcome to forum.

Stopping prednisone or prednisolone can cause dangerous effects on the body. It must be done slowly, especially if you've been on them longer than a few days.
Contact your doc to get on a schedule.

Take them with food to reduce stomach problems. Also, the "moon face" will probably get a lot better on the lower doses.

Good luck!
Posted 12/6/2011 10:17 PM (GMT 0)
I agree with what everyone else here has said. Do NOT just stop taking prednisone. You could really harm yourself. The best way to come off is to taper and your doctor can tell you how. Usually when I get under 20 mg/day the side effects stop. The moon face may take a bit to disappear, but it will. Hang in there!
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