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Posted 5/9/2013 6:40 PM (GMT 0)
I am a first time poster, but have gleaned great info from this forum in the past, so hoping for some help.

I have been in a flare for the past two months, but was unable to get into a dr as we had to change medical groups, so I have just continued with Lialda 2x/day. I had to go thru the process of seeing a primary care dr and getting a referral to GI. Yesterday, I saw my new primary care dr and, after explaining my situation, she prescribed Rowasa enemas (which I have taken before) and prednisone (which I have not).

After taking the second dose of prednisone, I have a severe headache, honestly the worst I've ever had. Is this normal? Will it taper off as the pred gets into my system?

One other question: should I increase my Lialda to 3/day to help move this along? No pun intended. :)

Thanks, Cindy
Posted 5/9/2013 6:47 PM (GMT 0)
Prednisone should be used as a short term fix to address urgent need. I would call the GP and tell her that you have a terrible headache and stop the pred. This assumes that you are not losing a lot of blood or running to the bathroom 20 times a day, for example.
Posted 5/9/2013 7:10 PM (GMT 0)
I have been visiting the bathroom on avg 10-15 times a day and am passing blood, although I don't think it's too much. The urgency is my biggest concern right now as I have been unable to work much over the last couple months (substitute teacher) and have a few jobs scheduled over the next week. I did express my concern to the dr over using steroids, as I've avoided them thus far and am fearful of weight gain and other side effects. She suggested I try them for one week and see where I'm at then. Does that sound reasonable? BTW, she is not a GI dr...I am still waiting to get into one.
Posted 5/9/2013 7:32 PM (GMT 0)
Headaches, huh? That's a new one on me for pred. I did check the side effects listing for pred and under the "adverse reactions" heading headaches were listed. I guess it mostly depends on whether pred is improving your uc symptoms (for some it makes a big difference within days, or within a week) and whether you can tolerate the headaches for your course of pred. Your length on pred really depends on how quickly you heal, if you are lucky then it might not be long, others (like me) have been on pred for many months.

Pred is a drug with a bunch of annoying side effects that seem to randomly hit different people (not everyone gets every side effect). Pretty much all of the side effects are temporary nuisances, such as insomnia, acne, increased appetite and so forth, all of which start to disappear as you begin tapering off of the drug, and those side effects are entirely gone once you are off of the drug completely. Pred is generally fine for short term usage, and most uc people are on it for a few months to half a year or so. However, long term usage of pred is quite dangerous as really bad side effects start appearing (glaucoma, osteoporosis, other such nastiness).
Posted 5/9/2013 9:43 PM (GMT 0)
Never had pred headaches. It must be from the fact that you're tired and stressed. No sleep from the pred and the constant toilet trips.

Welcome to Healingwell!
Posted 5/9/2013 9:51 PM (GMT 0)
Trying pred for a week? I would commit at the stage you're at.
Posted 5/10/2013 5:18 AM (GMT 0)
I spoke with a friend this evening who said it was probably a caffeine withdrawal headache...I gave up diet coke a couple days ago...I caved and had one tonight and the headache is gone.

Journey, what are you saying? That I should commit to pred for a longer duration?

Also, I feel so much better tonight! Could the pred work that quickly? I'm definitely not 100%, but I made it thru my son's baseball game and dinner afterward with only one trip to the bathroom.
Posted 5/10/2013 12:43 PM (GMT 0)
Ah caffeine withdrawal, yeah that'll give you headaches. Yes, some report that Pred can work within a day or two of taking it. So you might be responding to pred pretty quickly, and if so congrats. Just keep taking your meds as your GI prescribed regardless of how good you feel. Pred is just a temporary solution, so your GI should be giving you other meds to help you recover.

Best of luck,
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