HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

I feel horrible!! (prednisone related)

Support Forums
>
Ulcerative Colitis
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 3/17/2010 12:36 PM (GMT 0)
I've been on prednisone for the past few weeks and slowly weening off it every couple of days. I started off at 40mg and now on 15 mg. I just emotionally feel horrible!!! I just started Weight Watchers and I've been trying diligently to follow my points and eat healthy. The problem is urgency. Every 20 minutes or so, I feel like I have to have a bowel movement. Most of time, its usually the case. I'm so tired of go through baby wipes like there is no tomorrow! :( I also received a sweet card from my best friend yesterday and I just cried for ten minutes straight before my nap. How can I snap out of this? I totally feel like going off my WW plan today. I'm irritable, tired, and moody. I feel like if anyone gets on my case today, I will snap. :( Any insights? My next Remicade is April 16th.
Posted 3/17/2010 1:52 PM (GMT 0)
If you have only been on pred a few weeks and have already taperd to 15 mg that seems like a very fast taper - maybe too fast... Also, it sounds like you still have some significant inflamation in the rectum since you are having so much urgency. I would call your doctor and tell him/her about your symptoms. I would ask if you could be tapering too quickly. I would try to stick with WW but you might make sure that you allow yourself to eat all your extra points... I really hope you feel better soon!
Posted 3/17/2010 3:10 PM (GMT 0)
Sounds like you are tapering too fast - talk to your doctor about that!  Twice while taking prednisone starting at 40 mg. I had to go back up in doseage for a short time.  At the end I was tapering 2.5 mg. every week - slow is better and your body can adjust!

ElaineNY

Posted 3/17/2010 3:18 PM (GMT 0)
I agree with the others here that you could possibly be tapering too fast... When I tapered, I went down from 50mg a week at 5mg intervals, until I got to 20mg, then I slowed it down to 2.5 a week till I was totally off. I was on Pred for a total of almost 8 months and boy O BOY, the emotional rollercoaster I can understand.. I was feeling very down in the dumps, that's part of the withdrawl, just keep that in mind and be aware of it and that might help you to handle when you are feeling sad or just down in the dumps.. Blame it on the Pred cause that's what is causing it!!

Hang in there and I hope you can manage to get off of it soon!
Posted 3/17/2010 3:24 PM (GMT 0)
the doctor wanted me to start with 40 mg. Then I was feeling very jittery and anxious. I am on lexapro and klonopin for my depression and anxiety. since i want to loose weight and that i am feeling better, i thought i could taper down by 5 intervals every few days. I guess I should have not done that. I am almost done with the tapering and will most likely stay at 15 for the next couple of days before going to 10, 5, and then nothing. The doc wanted me to be on 30 one week, 25 the next, 20 the following, etc. until my next Remicade in April. I just don't want to feel irritable and look bloated (moon face) anymore. It's bothering me. :(
Posted 3/17/2010 3:24 PM (GMT 0)
One more thing...I notice the urgencies are not as bad once I take Hyomax.
Posted 3/17/2010 4:35 PM (GMT 0)
I'm not doing so hot emotionally on the pred either. Little grumpy roid rage fits and stuff. I am on 60mg a day and getting maybe 4-5 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period at the moment. I'm trying to get in touch with my doctor to get a temporary sleep aid. I am so strung out! Unfortunately, I was extremely ill when I started pred so I'm not real sure when my doctor intends to start my taper. He seemed to indicate we would taper when I felt more or less normal. It's been 3 weeks and I am way way better but like today I've already gone 3 times. It's so frustrating because the last two days I only went twice and saw that as progress. Today, totally crampy and poopy! Anyhoo, I think you probably needed to stay on that high dose a little longer. Tapering when you're as poopy as you still are doesn't seem the way to go. Although, you do have Remi coming up so your situation is different than mine for sure. At this point I'm trying to get into remission on pred + Imuran. ;o(
Posted 3/17/2010 4:44 PM (GMT 0)
I am also on pred and I hate it. And when I taper, I am a WRECK emotionally. I have paranoid delusions and everything-it is AWFUL.

Anyway, I agree with the others that it sounds like your tapering is too quick. I COMPLETELY understand wanting to get off of it quick, but if you do it too fast, you could end up back on the higher dose because of complications. To me, that would be the worst thing ever!! I would follow doctor's orders on the taper-tapering too fast is definitely very risky.

When I tapered the last time, I did 5mg/week until I got to 20mg, then I tapered 2.5mg/week until I was off. It was a very long process and I hated it, but I was able to get off of it without having any UC problems-which was the most important thing to me, as much as I HATED all of the side effects. And honestly, the side effects went away in the order they appeared for me-my moon face and acne and facial hair all started going away long before I was fully off of the steroids. I had other issues from tapering off of the steroids, but acupuncture has helped me a LOT with that. I am still struggling with the weight though-I never lost all of the weight I lost from the first time. So far this time, I am not gaining as quickly, but time will tell if that keeps up.
Posted 3/18/2010 12:21 PM (GMT 0)
Yeah, I am starting to agree with you all. I am going to stay at 15 mg for another 5 days or so before tapering to 10, 5, etc. I do feel horrible emotionally. My joints are killing me, I'm an emotional wreck, and I had a crying jag the other day when my wonderful best friend sent me a card saying that I am a wonderful person and that her daughter is lucky to have a great "aunt" like me. I lost it. LOL. Normally I would just shed a few tears over something like that, but its brutal. I even scowled at my father!!! LOL. My poor dad is having thyroid surgery in a month. I kept reminding him that I am on the prednisone and he understood.

I am keeping track of my WW points, but I know I am not going to see results for awhile. How long will it take before I see results once I am off the prednisone?

Thanks for your insights everyone! :)

Heather
Posted 3/18/2010 12:56 PM (GMT 0)
Heather, my heart goes out to you-I completely understand! I think you are wise to hold off on tapering further right now-and you can always go down by 2.5mg instead of 5 if you keep having trouble-I know it extends the pred, but it might help.

My joints were AWFUL as well. I am already dreading that, knowing it is coming once I start tapering. Some days I swear I could barely walk-it was terrible!!!

And the emotional stuff was the worst!!! I was convinced my husband was cheating on me-and one time I even accused some poor teenage kid at the grocery store of taking my credit card at the checkout-it was in my purse. I was mortified and apologized profusely, but I was seriously OUT of my mind-I was paranoid all the time, cried all the time, it was terrible. And I tapered slow slow slow!!! Just know you are not alone, and as soon as I start tapering (hopefully in a couple of weeks at the most), I will be right there with you.

I stopped gaining as soon as I started tapering, and as soon as I was off of the pred, I am sure I could have started losing the weight right away, had my joint pain not been so bad and could have exercised more. I would think once you are off, you should be able to start getting the weight off. Just try and be patient with yourself. I know that is really hard, but your health is the most important thing!

Hang in there-I know it is awful. Vent here if you need to!!
Posted 3/18/2010 1:16 PM (GMT 0)
i agree with everyone about tapering slower. I really feel your pain. When Im on predisone its like im in my own little world of hell. Im usually put on xanx cause i get the shakes i brake out with sores in my mouth and im always pissy. Good thing i live alone.huh ha ha. It really takes care of my side-effects so far. The blues your going thru is normal. I try to find funny books or movies anything to take my mind of everything. Goodluck to you.
Posted 3/18/2010 4:43 PM (GMT 0)
Sounds like you're still having some symptoms. You may need to increase your dose a bit before tapering. Hopefully not. That is exactly what happened to me. I was tapering down very quickly from 40/30/20/15/10/5/2.5 and when I got to 2.5, I started getting symptoms. Of course, being slow to accept that my flare was coming back, I waited too long before increasing back up to 5/10. I ended up having to go back up to 15 and now I am down to 10 again. Hoping this time I have better luck. Seems like luck is never on my side!! I hope you are feeling better soon, physically and emotionally.
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply