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How to cope with Prednisone side effects?

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Posted 3/24/2012 11:57 PM (GMT 0)
Anything that can be done for the side effects? I am currently on 25mg and tapering down once a week. When does the moonface stop getting worse?
Posted 3/25/2012 12:15 AM (GMT 0)
and from others experience when does the acne stop coming in? When does the ravenous appetite fade?

I am hoping I see a lessening in the side effects when I lower to 20mg. I know most people say the side effects begin physically going away after 10mg but I am trying to figure out when they stop becoming worse!
Posted 3/25/2012 12:15 AM (GMT 0)
and from others experience when does the acne stop coming in? When does the ravenous appetite fade?

I am hoping I see a lessening in the side effects when I lower to 20mg. I know most people say the side effects begin physically going away after 10mg but I am trying to figure out when they stop becoming worse!
Posted 3/25/2012 12:22 AM (GMT 0)
I think there were some posts about this yesterday. It is a common theme on this forum. The acne and nightsweats got better when I got down to 20mg but I also got more fatigued and felt more joint pain at this dosage. Tapering to 15 on Monday :)
Posted 3/25/2012 12:31 AM (GMT 0)

ManhattanMama said...
I think there were some posts about this yesterday. It is a common theme on this forum. The acne and nightsweats got better when I got down to 20mg but I also got more fatigued and felt more joint pain at this dosage. Tapering to 15 on Monday :)

The acne is the one I am most concerned with. It really has exploded over the past week or so on my chest and back however my face has thankfully only had a few pimples come in. I am on three topical medicines that I have been on since I was on prednisone last year. I just started applying it to my chest 2 days ago in response to the insane acne there. I am rigorously been trying to findout at what point it stops coming in and I hope 20mg is accurate! Right about now I will take joint pain over acne/moonface haha.
Posted 3/25/2012 12:35 AM (GMT 0)
Right now I am so irritable I am ready to eat nails. I am just hoping I can keep it together and get off this drug soon!
Posted 3/25/2012 12:36 AM (GMT 0)
I didn't start to lose the moonface till I was off of pred for a couple weeks. I didn't get alot of acne only a few on my face and I don't really remember when I stopped with that.
Posted 3/25/2012 12:43 AM (GMT 0)

sherbear46 said...
I didn't start to lose the moonface till I was off of pred for a couple weeks. I didn't get alot of acne only a few on my face and I don't really remember when I stopped with that.

Do you remember when the moonface stopped expanding? My last experience it stopped growing around 15mg but by that point I was on prednisone for around 5 months so it was so bad I don't think it could have gotten any bigger. I am 18 and this really sucks because I had finally gotten my 6 pack back after 6 months of going to the gym and dieting around 2 weeks before this flare started. Mentally this disease is very difficult, I know I won't be going so hard this time to return my body to its shape. Will actually leave the house for things other than the gym haha!
Posted 3/25/2012 1:21 AM (GMT 0)
This is pulling on my heart strings as im reading your posts, and have been in your position MANY times! The last straw for me was a year ago when I was hospitalized 2 times within 3 months- I REFUSED to go back on prednisone after being on it for 8 months straight. And looking to get married 4 months away, I was NOT going to have a moonface!

That was when my life changed and I started getting remicaide infusions. I was nervous and held off for a while b/c I read so many bad things about it. My only regret is that I didnt do it sooner! I got off the steroids- and got back to the gym and have been the healthiest ive ever been! I know it sucks but talk to your Dr. about what other options you have. Good Luck!
Posted 3/25/2012 1:28 AM (GMT 0)

jabby826 said...
This is pulling on my heart strings as im reading your posts, and have been in your position MANY times! The last straw for me was a year ago when I was hospitalized 2 times within 3 months- I REFUSED to go back on prednisone after being on it for 8 months straight. And looking to get married 4 months away, I was NOT going to have a moonface!

That was when my life changed and I started getting remicaide infusions. I was nervous and held off for a while b/c I read so many bad things about it. My only regret is that I didnt do it sooner! I got off the steroids- and got back to the gym and have been the healthiest ive ever been! I know it sucks but talk to your Dr. about what other options you have. Good Luck!

I was on remicade and it worked fantastically but I grew to become allergic to it. I just started LDN yesterday as well as being on 6MP/Allopurional. My doctor believes that by the time the prednisone is out of my system the LDN will be picked up enough to put me into another remission. I am down to going to the bathroom once/twice a day with very little urgency/no blood. I am heading in the right direction thankfully! My major concern being the prednisone side effects is a wonderful thing to have as I remember during my flare last year going to the bathroom 20x with blood and cramping I would've taken the side effects permanently to get out of that situation. Thank you for the good luck :). Glad to hear you are doing well right now and I wish you forever remission!
Posted 3/25/2012 1:11 PM (GMT 0)

jabby826 said...
I got off the steroids- and got back to the gym and have been the healthiest ive ever been!


Interesting. May be you would like to tell us what you did exactly. Doesn't seem to me as straight forward as you put it.
Posted 3/25/2012 1:28 PM (GMT 0)
I didn't lose my appetite until I was on under 5mg of prednisone. My moonface hung around for a LONG time after my last dose. I still feel like I am struggling to lose the last few pound I gained and I've been off the evil drug for quite some time. I started an antidepressant to cope with the anxiety and I am still on it but I am thinking I will probably try to stop it soon. I take too many pills as it is.
Posted 3/25/2012 3:51 PM (GMT 0)
I'm only on week 2 and I swear I will have to be at deaths door before I take it again.
I think because I was so ill the first time I was on it that I didn't realize how many of the side effects were from the pred.
The eating and then the guilt. And the jitteriness. The jitteriness is hell!!
Posted 3/25/2012 10:02 PM (GMT 0)
delta force-

I was hospitalized in 2010 October- got out and was feeling great on Prednisone and Asacol (which I started loosing clumps of hair on). I was feeling ok, but once I started to wean off the prednisone I got really sick again. My Dr. then put me on Azasan. I tapered off prednisone (I hated being on it and wanted off). By March 2011 I landed back in the ER and was showing no response to any of the treatments I had been on. I knew prednisone was not an option- I was putting my foot down. They started me on IV steriods which I was on for a week and started my remicaide infusions. I felt better immediatly and when I got out of the hospital, I was done with the steroids.

Its been a year since, and I am currently only on Remicade, just got off Azasan 2 months ago. Completely symptom free and cant believe how sick I truly was.

Hope this may help someone!
Posted 3/26/2012 1:44 AM (GMT 0)

I've been on Prednisone for about 2 months now, down to 7.5mg and not really having many side effects anymore. Didn't have joint pains when I reduced from 10mg this past Friday and every reduction before that I had horrible joint pains.  Night sweats and inability to sleep stopped around 20mg.  Also started to lose my appetite (actually not really hungry much at all) at around 10mg. 

New side effects cropped up at the lower doses though - nausea everytime I taper along with extreme fatigue at both 15mg and 10 mg.  Also heart palpitations at night ever since 15mg. Oh and everytime I taper I get an increase in BMs and they aren't as formed anymore but then after a week it evens out until I taper again. 

The moon face is still bad but I swear it seems to be getting a tiny bit better. I've never gotten acne from Prednisone but I am on birth control pills so that might be why.  Noticed my hair is starting its usual shed now that i'm below 10mg as well. Still have the extra little flab around my waist though which is very annoying as my waist is the area on my body I never carry any fat - very depressing for sure! 

Hang in there, it will all go away eventually.

Posted 3/26/2012 2:29 AM (GMT 0)
The face stopped expanding when I got down to around 15mgs and didn't start going down until after I was all the way off of it. But the moon-face and the acne both took a couple months after my last dose to completely disappear.

I just went back on it for the third time this year (so excited). If you want to read about it all in more detail, click on the link to my blog below - I have a whole post dedicated to dealing with the "fun" of prednisone. :-)
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