questions about Prednisone

I was wondering if anyone could tell me why it is not good to be on prednisone for long periods of time? and how long is too long? Or how many times are too many?

louies_girl

Apparently, it can do bad things to your body/health over a period of time (how much damage, to what degree and just what consitutes a long period of time is subject to dabate). I have been on verious dosages of Prednisone for many months and my side effects are relatively minor in the overall scheme of things. Some folks report horrors...read some of the related threads. My GI recently mentioned that I'd almost certainy prefer having my colon removed than have to deal with the quality of life (or lack there of) I'd have if I had to stay on 60 mg of the stuff for over 6 months at any one time. I was already depressed enough at that office visit, so I did not ask for gory details. What can you do? darned if you do, darned if you don't...

Whoa! Thank you. That is good to know. The support and help is awesome.

louies_girl

     Prednisone was the only drug which helped me into remission, but I became dependent upon it.

     It gave me full blown osteoporosis, uncontrollable high blood pressure and prednisone induced type 2 diabetes.  I had surgery in 2010 and was finally able to get off it two months post op and NEVER took it again.  I will forever have osteoporosis (three back fractures) but my blood pressure is easily controlled with only 1 pill a day (while on prednisone I was on three different BP meds at same time and pressure was still running 216/110...lucky to be alive) and I no longer have diabetes.

It's been years since I had been on prednisone until a very recent flare. I am on 40 mg and just tapered to 30. In the last 30 days I have packed on 20 pounds, my heart is constantly racing and feels like its going to pound out of my chest, and I'm very jittery. My eyes look like 2 slits on my swollen face. This drug cannot be good for you. Yes, I've stopped bleeding but the side effects can't be good for me. I'm tapering faster than dr said and frankly I don't care because I don't even recognize myself in the mirror anymore.

To be fair, the side effects aren't so horrible if you are only on it 6-8 weeks and get totally off but there's the catch. It's almost impossible to do that since it very rarely puts anyone into a pred free remission and you get sucked into staying on it. You are always chasing that carrot at the end of the stick but can't ever catch it. It just toys with you and toys with you and toys with you. The end is always just right around the corner. So far I have not taken it for my UC but I took it in the past for another autoimmune disease. I always wondered what was going on in the minds of pyscho killers and while on pred I had a good understanding of what it meant to be "postal". I had to try real hard to control myself with life's little misadventures because if the mailman would have dropped my mail into a mud puddle I would have been tempted to take an AK47 to him.

Hi louies_girl, really interesting question, i have spent many months thinking about and researching this. i second what has been said above - darned if you do, darned if you don't. At a talk I went to recently on corticosteroids, a clinical pharmacologist said that you've got to weigh up the risks and benefits of being on this class of drug - if you NEED them, they CAN BE a great thing as they can be very effective. But if you DON'T need them, per se, then get off them ASAP.

Personally, pred is the most effective thing i can do for my UC but i feel like a slave to the drug, which is saddening. i have mad inexplicable anxiety, heart palpitations, joint pain.... but for being able to actually leave my house and go to class, might be worth it...?

Hi Christine,
I have read some of your other posts where you mentioned how you became prednisone dependent... i know where you are coming from & i am SO eager to kick it ASAP but it's not that simple, as you know... when its the only thing that works.
Thank you for sharing your experiences & advice though, any advice about UC is always appreciated

Found this while searching:


Side Effects of Corticosteroids. Oral steroids can have distressing and sometimes serious long-term side effects, including:
•Susceptibility to infection
•Weight gain (particularly increased fatty tissue on the face and upper trunk and back)
•Acne
•Excess hair growth
•High blood pressure (hypertension)
•Weakened bones (osteoporosis)
•Cataracts and glaucoma
•Diabetes
•Muscle wasting
•Menstrual irregularities
•Upper gastrointestinal ulcers
•Personality change, including irritability, insomnia, psychosis, and depression; such emotional changes are sometimes severe enough to produce suicidal thoughts

Withdrawing from Corticosteroids. Once the intestinal inflammation has subsided, steroids must be withdrawn very gradually. Withdrawal symptoms, including fever, malaise, and joint pain, may occur if the dosage is lowered too rapidly. If this happens, the dosage is increased slightly and maintained until symptoms are gone. More gradual withdrawal is then resumed.

Louies_girl- your partner is lucky to have someone as supportive as you :) it makes such a difference to how you cope with a chronic disease when you have someone who is by your side to help you through it.
When I was first diagnosed, my ex boyfriend thought all my bowel symptoms were disgusting, and constantly made fun of me. Eventually he left me because he didn't want to have to look after me. (I later found out he had also been cheating).
(Anyhow, I'm now engaged to a wonderful wonderful guy so this post has a happy ending!)
Doesn't have much to do with prednisone but seemed relevant lol.
All the best to you both.

Post Edited (katy_felix) : 9/17/2012 6:38:21 AM (GMT-6)