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prednisone withdrawal?

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Posted 11/14/2011 4:14 AM (GMT 0)
just wondering what symptoms are normal after you are done tapering prednisone. i have been off it for exactly one week and have been getting headaches in the back of my head and a lot of chest pain right in the center of my chest over to my left side. i don't think it is signs of a heart attack because it comes and goes. i've just never had this kind of feeling before. it feels like i am being poked all the time. do you think i should call my primary care doctor?? i just saw my gastro last week and he'll just prescribe me more drugs that will screw me up.

have any of you experienced this? it is my first time getting off of prednisone from being on it over 3 months.

Posted 11/14/2011 4:53 AM (GMT 0)
I definitely had headaches and body aches for a couple weeks after stopping. It was really sporadic, some days I'd be fine, and others I could barely crawl in and out of bed. No chest pain, though. My biggest issue were the emotional issues coming off of it, so hopefully that won't kick in for you!

If it was me and I could stand it, I'd wait it out a few more days. Pred does such weird, wacky things to people. And you're right--fixing one medication with another is a bad route to take--I had to do that with Pred and an antidepressant and then had to get off the antidepressant, which was awful. Hope it goes away soon!!
Posted 11/14/2011 5:48 AM (GMT 0)
I have never had any bad reactions to prednisone after stopping it. However it could be just regular withdrawal symptoms, or it could be something more serious. How long have you been on prednisone before you stopped it? How long was the taper? Also, just as a side note what is in the adrenal support that you take? If it has pregnenolone in it, it could be causing problems with your adrenal function.
Posted 11/14/2011 6:02 AM (GMT 0)
Adrenal shock can be fatal, so when you realize the all over body aches and mind fog are from that you go back on and come down slower.

If you stopped last week then you have nothing to worry about. Licorice tea will get you thru.
Posted 11/14/2011 6:39 AM (GMT 0)
I had the same thing, the back of my head felt so weird and I felt foggy, not myself. Of course neither my pcp or GI put it together. My pcp had me stop asacol which I had started with the pred, and then my GI was annoyed that I wanted to stop the asacol and said I could try Apriso. That was 2 years ago. Also had palpitations on it, thought I was having a heart attack, got tested for that too. Since then I tapered more slowly.
Posted 11/14/2011 7:52 AM (GMT 0)
I dont stop after 10mg, I cut them to 5mg and take those for a couple weeks. When i get to 10mg my left foot usually starts cramping up if no socks on and i get leg/back pain. Usually just lay down if it gets bad an relax.
Posted 11/14/2011 12:30 PM (GMT 0)
bananagirl,

I'm sorry, that sounds pretty intense. Hope it stops soon.

Sounds like prednisone withdrawal to me. It affects people differently, depending on their immune system, dosage taken, and for how long, and tapering schedule.

Allswell is right. What was your tapering schedule like?


 

Posted 11/14/2011 4:11 PM (GMT 0)
ok. now i don't feel too bad about all this. i figured it was probably normal. the chest cramps aren't where i cant breathe. i still work out every day. it's just strange.

i started at 40 mg and tapered by 5 mg until i got to 20mg. that's when i went down by 2.5 mg. this was every week for over 3 months.

i also started taking adrenal support when i got off the prednisone. these are the ingredients: vit C, folic acid, vit b-12, pantothenic acid, eleuthero root, ashwagandha root, turmeric root, juniper berry, and licorice root.
Posted 11/14/2011 11:44 PM (GMT 0)
bananagirl,

Sounds like a good taper to me, and you've added the adrenal support, that's great.

I hope you're starting to feel better.

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