high dose pred side effects

My doc put me on 40mg of pred to taper down through the course of two months. I am having severe side effects and was wondering if any of you have had a similar experience and if so, how did you deal with it. I have a constant, severe migraine, I am really anxious and jittery and I can't sleep even after taking an Ambien. I am only on my forth day at such a high dose and don't know if I can handle two months of this. Any advice you guys could give me would be appreciated.

Thanks for the response! I could probably handle not getting sleep much better if I didn't have such a severe migraine. I am gonna ask my doc if I can lower my dosage a little. Like I said, I don't know if I can make it for two months w these severe and debilitating side effects. Talk about a catch 22... Take a Med to solve one problem and it gives you five more to deal with. Ugh... so tired of being sick and tired.

I totally understand! I am also getting the eyes popping out my head feeling as well. I talked to my doc a little while ago and he said to try lowering the dosage to 30mg. I am hoping that will make the side effects more tolerable. I am waiting to get financial assistance w humira or cimzia so prednisone is my only option at this point. I am exhausted and really wanting my life back! What good is a medicine when it helps one thing, but you still can't function because the side effects make life miserable? I pray that God brings a better day tomorrow!

Hi CrampyandCranky,

I'm on Humira now. For me it hasn't really worked that well. I started with Remicade infusions and then started having a bad reaction to it. The Humira gives me flu like symptoms for the first few days after the shot. I have not tried Cimzia yet, I found out yesterday that it would be a moot point since I've already been on Remicade and Humira and it's basically the same thing. It was suggested I try Tysabri and I'm a little worried about taking it.

It is frustrating that we take all of this medication and then the side effects make us sick in every other way. Then new meds are given to help with the side effects...it kind of gets to the point of not knowing what works and what doesn't at some point.

The first time I was admitted to the hospital the dr put me on liquid Prednisone, at least 80 mg. Then sent me home with pill form, to slowly taper over 6 months. I would sit in the bathtub and sob. My emotions were running rampant, i felt like i was going crazy, i couldn't sleep, had night sweats, nightmares, I was so physically sick it was hard to move but my insides were racing and jittery. They didn't tell me about these side effects.

There is not much you can do. The slow taper is VERY important, but in the meantime try to calm your mind, do yoga if you can (simple poses if you are sick), meditate, take your Ambien, get an RX for Xanax, take naps, sleep when sleep comes, talk to your dr, talk to a therapist, talk to someone who has been on Prednisone and understands. As much as it sucks, it is one of the only drugs that can calm a flare. Almost a necessary evil. I did have a dr once though who wouldn't prescribe it and even though I got really sick, I was partially thankful I didn't have to deal with it. Another dr uses it as a first line of defense for EVERY sign of illness, so I have had to push back. I had a bone density test years ago, so I have a baseline. After 1st round of pred, I had developed osteopenia in my spine and hip. After the 4th round a few years later, I now have osteoporosis in my hip instead. I'm 35.

One thing to note though is that one time my dr put me on 40 mg and it wasn't enough to get me better so I spent 3 months on 40 mg with fingers crossed until I insisted on a sigmoidoscopy (when I had developed the antibodies to Remicade) and he bumped my dose to 60. I didn't want to be on 60 but i would rather have had him (if he had to do it) put me on a higher dose for a shorter period of time.

I HATE PREDNISONE!! I always say (when I am in remission) that the next time the dr says he is putting me on it that I will take a stand and refuse, and insist on something else and be bold and take charge of my own RX but the reality is when I am in the middle of a flare and am doubled over on the examining table, shivering in a thin paper gown, crying from the pain and exhaustion i am too tired to fight and will at that point do anything to make it all stop. I lose all my steely resolve and tearfully accept the poison prescription. I have to work on that. :)

I started 40 mg last wednesday after being ct'd and labs and no other choice. the first night i took it i took it as a pm dose and didn't go to sleep until 5:30 am. called into work and was out that day. The next day i decided to try and take it as 4 scheduled 10 mg doses. two days later my symptoms were still not resolving so i am now going to try and take it as 2 - 20 mg AM and PM doses.