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Prednisone and puffiness - how long does it take to go away? Like, in actual time :)

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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 3/26/2010 2:02 AM (GMT 0)
So I have been on prednisone several times and have gotten a puffy face several times.  Each time i can never remember how long it took for the chipmonk cheeks to go away.  Is it usually after the pred is completely out of your system?  Or as you wean down does the puffiness go down?

I am on 20 mg now (down from 60) and my face and chin are puffy.  In the gramd scheme of things, I can deal with it.  But I will be happy when it goes down.  How long does it usually take?  I have gone through this about 5 times before and can't remember what it was like for me before.

Any input is helpful! :)

Posted 3/26/2010 2:49 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Wednesday :)

I was on Pred one time, for almost 8 months.. I was on 50mg and BOY O BOY, did I get moon face... and moon back, moon neck, and about 30 extra pounds.. UGH...

Anyhow, for me, I started noticing the puffiness going away at around 15mg or so.. Then by the time I was completely off it, the changes back to normal were very noticeable. I'd say though, that now it's been about 2 months since my last dose of 2.5mg, and it's pretty much gone. You should be noticing gradual changes soon :) I still have about 10 pounds to go, but 20 of it came off without even trying, just took a bit of time..

Hope that helps :)
Posted 3/26/2010 2:59 AM (GMT 0)
Thank you Susie!!  I love resposes to my questions. :)

I was on 40 mg (which wasn't working) then my GI bumped it up to 60 mg (which did work) - I think he kind of forgot about me though and I had to make an appt to go in and have him tell me to start weaning off.  He bumped me down from 60 to 50 right away, then 50 to 40 a week later.  He wants me to do the rest of the weaning slowly.

How long did it take you to wean off?  By how many mg did you go fown each time and how often?

Thanks!!

 

Posted 3/26/2010 3:32 AM (GMT 0)
My daughter was on it for about three months. It took another 3 months for all the puffiness to go away.  She tapered very very slowly from 30 mg down to nothing.
Posted 3/26/2010 3:38 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks Moobydoo!   But what did slowly mean for your daughter?  Like 5 mg a week, 1 mg a week, etc?
Posted 3/26/2010 4:27 AM (GMT 0)
depends on the person, the dose and the length of time on it. as a general rule figure at least the time it took to happen.
Posted 3/26/2010 4:32 AM (GMT 0)
It took about 5 months for me to loose the moon face.
Posted 3/26/2010 5:09 AM (GMT 0)
Hey Wednesday :)

I like responses to my questions too~! It makes you feel like you really aren't alone doesn't it? :)

Anyhow, I'll give you my taper schedule... The first time I tried to taper, I did it too quickly and flared right back up, so this is what I did the second time and it seemed to work on keeping my original symptoms at bay..

I started out at 50mg.. then tapered down 5mg every week, as long as I stayed symptom free until I got to 20mg.

Then from 20mg, I tapered at 2.5mg a week until the last week, then I did 2.5 every day for that last week, then every other day for a week, then quit altogether..

It's a slow process, but you will have less serious side effects if you taper slowly and it's easier on your body to taper slowly.. I'd say the worst withdrawl symptom was fatigue and I got some pretty awful joint pain once I was completely off it, but that all went away within a few weeks.. To help with fatigue, I went on a med called Wellbutrin, which is an anti depressant and that REALLLLY helped me get through it.

Hope this helps :D
Posted 3/26/2010 10:25 AM (GMT 0)
My moon face lasted for about 2 and a half months.  I came off pred at 5mg per week.
Posted 5/11/2013 4:42 PM (GMT 0)
when my face swelled up from prednisone, I jumped on a rebounder trampoline for five minutes a couple times a day. I would lift my face up and also gently turn it to the side slowly back and forth. It went away, and never came back. I was on 60 mg a day and now have gone off of it. When I flare from UC, I go back on a 50 mg dose for 5 days, however, jumping on there, takes the swelling away.....
Posted 3/12/2014 12:27 AM (GMT 0)
How did you "lift lift your face up and also gently turn it to the side slowly back and forth". Did you massage your face back and forth, moving your cheeks from side to side with your hands?
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