Starting Prednisone for first time...

Hi Pooie,

I was put on 60mg a day of prednisone and got hot flashes and mood swings right away, but you being @ 15mg a day, I don't know if you will get any of that or not or maybe some of it but not as bad as you would at a higher dosage? Also, I did not get the majority of the side effects like moonface and weight gain until 3 months later (I was at 40mg at the time).

My pred suggesstion would be to watch your salt just in case you have to be on it for longer, eat a banana a day (for potassium) take calcium + vit D (check w/GI on dosage). You may get some mood swings, so if you end up crying over something you normally would not cry over or are angry at someone for something that normally you would not be, it will probably be the pred.

The pred took a while to work for my flare, though I think it helped my kidney faster.......anyhoo, most people I think it starts to help them in a few days.

Sulfasalazine, I think I had to eat when I took it b/c it made my stomach upset, it was a while ago. Also I am hypersensitive to 5ASA meds, so if your ankles swell up have your Doc check your blood protein levels (however, most people are not hypersensitive, I am one of the few).

Thank You Beth. :O) I like hearing about what other people have done and gone thru with this disease. Will be sure to ask about the Calcium and Vit D. I realize its a small dosage but as I said, my doctor really does not want me to be depnedant on this drug and is working with small remedies first. I am okay with that for now. :O)

15 seems small to have any affect(or many side affects), but if it works, yippie. We started right at 40, then 50 then IV, and are working our way down now and working up on the 6mp. Side affects are icky, but the colon is worth saving. My doc doesn't call it "steroid dependent", but is thrilled when a well studied drug still works, and thinks you/we are lucky to have it as an option. The Pred. may give you a bit of energy back.
Good luck.

Hi. Sorry to hear that you are in a flare. Here are my thoughts:

15mg of Pred is pretty low to start. If I am in a very bad flare, I have been started at 40 mg and then taper from there.

The body naturally produces some cortisol, which is suppressed by prednisone. What that means is that once you take the pred, your body stops making cortisol. When you get down to about 5-10 mg of pred, that's about the amount that the body should be producing and that's often when people can't get off it. The body just isn't re-starting it's own natural cortisol production. At least that's for some people. Others get stuck at higher doses.

I don't know whether you can stop "cold turkey" after 10 days of a low dose. I would DEFINITELY ask your doctor and maybe even look this up or ask another doctor. Stopping steroids without a taper is generally not a good idea, so I would want to know whether after 10 days, this is realistic.

Do you know why your doctor is choosing oral pred? Is it more to treat your joint pain? I would think that there are some other drugs for that but I don't know. Since you don't have D or much blood, it doesn't sound like the pred is to treat the UC. Am I missing something?

Sulfasalazine. A decent percentage of people are allergic to sulfa drugs. (Like me!) Do you know if you are? Just be careful that if you develop a fever or rash that you stop taking it and call your doctor. The pred could mask a mild allergic reaction, maybe. I'm not sure. I know that switching from sulfasalazine to pred cleared up my allergic reaction super quickly. The allergy didn't show up for a week or two and I thought I was getting some weird skin disease!

Sulfasalazine is a totally benign drug, as far as I know. You can take it forever if it works for you. I hope it does!! :)

Thank You all for your comments and suggestions !! Very insightful !! Yes, I am taking Folic Acid, 1MG tablets plus whatever is in my daily vitamin.

As for mood changes.. I think the Entocort prepared me for those, lol I found I was very moody on the Entocort.. not even sure if that is suppose to be a side effect or not. And thanks too for the heads up on the possibility of being allergic to the Sulfa.. I'll watch for that... I don't have nay known allergies.

AS for why he prescribed what.. I was pretty sure that he said the Pred was for my joint pains and the Sulf was primarily to treat the UC and would also help with the joint pains... now.. I MAY have gotten these in the wrong order... ?? He doesn't concider my flare to be extreme so I guess that's why he's going with the low doses. Also, he is only my family doctor and is just trying to find something that will work for me <or at least make me more comfortable> until I have my appointment with the specialist in June.

Thank you all for your comments.. keep 'em coming !! LOL

Thanks Julee... I will certainly look into that. I had been experimenting with meditation when I was younger but kinda got away from it. :O) Starting to wish I kept up with my Yoga too !!!!

Just another question...

Is it common for people to stay on the Sulfasalazine or is it just meant to be a treatment to get back into remission??

I am just taking one pill 4 times per day. This is my first day taking them and the prescription is for 30 days. I have to go back to my Dr before the prescription runs out to do a re-evaluation and see where I am at.

:O)

Thanks Donna.. will look into possibly increasing the sulfasazine. :O) As for tapering the Pred.. it says in the instructions I got with it that tapering is generally only necessary if taking it for more than 14 days. He also didn't mention anything about tapering. How long have you been taking the Sulfalazine?