HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Any way to mitigate Pred side effects?

Support Forums
>
Ulcerative Colitis
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 6/1/2011 2:05 PM (GMT 0)

Trying to prepare for my new Pred experience...40mg for 14 days then taper.  I tend to be very sensitive to Hydrocortisone which is now on my "do not take list" per Mayo Clinic.

 

I could only tolerate the Hydrocortisone enema for 10 out of the 14 days at 100mg.  I was told only 30% get absorbed.  I expect that to be an equivalent to 30mg oral. Now pred at 40mg scares me, but my other choice is Remicade which I also want to avoid.

 

There are a numerous side effect to Pred and was wonder if there was any way to counteract them such as taking sleep aids, medication to control blood sugar, or meds to depress hunger.  I was also told that Pred may causes the testosterone level in women to drop to zero which causes the mental side effects.

 

Has anyone take additional med while on Pred that has helped with the side effects?

 

Posted 6/1/2011 2:18 PM (GMT 0)
I was told to up my calcium intake to counter bone loss, and get plenty of weight bearing exercise as well. I had occasional insomnia problems which I countered with Ativan successfully. I would use diet to control blood sugar and exercise and increased water intake to control hunger. I don't believe there is a medication out there that can address all the problems you list.

Sue
Posted 6/1/2011 2:26 PM (GMT 0)
I don't remember physically feeling more "hungry" exactly, just having more of an appetite. I'd avoid adding more medications for that since it's a mental thing that you can control. I'm a 5'9" male and went from normal 150 - 155 to around 170 maximum.
Posted 6/1/2011 5:26 PM (GMT 0)
100 mg of hydrocortisone is equivalent to 20 mg of oral pred. 30% of 20 mg is about 6 mg which is quite a small amount, about what the average persons body creates in a day naturally.

If you have low bone density, fosamax may help reduce bone loss from the pred, if you can tolerate it.
Posted 6/1/2011 8:54 PM (GMT 0)

C_G_K,

Yea I know..just had the discussion with the doctor. Can you imagine me on 40mg of Pred if I coudln't tolerate a 6mg amount?

The thing that broke the camel's back was the severe constipation.  Maybe that's only becasue it was an enema.  I had the opposite where I coudl tolerate the enema but not the oral to Mesalamine....maybe this will be the opposite?

Posted 6/2/2011 12:52 AM (GMT 0)
Peace, ambien is definitely good to have on hand while on high doses of pred. I couldn't have slept at all without it. Some people may disagree but see how you do and don't be afraid to ask for it if you need it.

They say lowering your salt can help to avoid bloat.

I was so hungry while I was on pred. If you can keep your calorie intake the same, you could potentially avoid a lot of weight gain. I think I ate 24/7 until I got under 4mg of pred. I was always starving.

I thought you were going to try entocort?

I tok calcium pills and got a bone density scan after a few months on pred to get a baseline of my bone condition.
Posted 6/2/2011 1:13 AM (GMT 0)
My doc cked with a pharm-d and says entocort doesn't treat the whole colon. Also its more for mild-moderate and I'm. Moderate-severe.

Also got some good advice in case my blood sugar gets high..eat less carbs. Hopefully I can tolerate it and come out with reversible side effects. Trying to mentally prepare myself to be brave.

Had a dexascan and fll workup at Mayo Clinic 2 weeks ago. Should hv all my baselines.

Thxs!
Posted 6/2/2011 2:05 AM (GMT 0)
Do a search, there are many threads here with lots of suggestions to help you.
Posted 6/2/2011 4:41 AM (GMT 0)
P&H,

That's one of the worst things about the hydrocortisone enemas, the constipation. They plugged me up real good. Even when I was having lots of BMs, I would just pass a little bit each time... very frustrating.
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply