HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

prednisone = zombified

Support Forums
>
Ulcerative Colitis
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 11/10/2007 6:57 AM (GMT 0)
well... im still on the prednisone.  50mg a day for 3 weeks now and another 3 weeks to go before i taper off.

and i feel like a pile of crapola!

does anyone else have these issues with prednisone?  or is it something else that is making me feel like this??

i feel like im in a bubble or something.  like a robot going through the motions.

food tastes a little bit off..

im moody as all hell.  and getting mean.  i anger easily and snap at my husband all the time (poor guy)..

im tired and listless..

oh, and did i mention that if i dont take a sleeping pill im awake all night thru to morning and all day. i didnt sleep for a whole week after i got out of the hospital..

i feel down in the dumps kinda... almost depressed but not "depressed"... just not with it i guess.

i have a general unwell feeling and i guess you can say i just feel "off"..

im not getting puffy or putting on any weight.  i need to cuz im way too skinny now. 

so?

is it the prednisone/steroids or am i just ##$%^&

anyone else have any input into this that might give me some reassurance that im not gonna permanently be like this?

 

Posted 11/10/2007 8:19 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Kazygirl

I think it's the pred causing all of your current troubles. I experienced most of the things you are when I was on the sort of dose you are. I was really moody - could go from really euphoric to mean in an instance. I'm a really calm person normally but did snap at people when I was on pred. Didn't sleep much. I also felt really down sometimes, like I was hopeless and nothing was going right - which again is really nothing like me normally. Those feelings used to hit me hardest in the morning for the couple of hours before I was due for my next pred tablet.

The only thing I didn't experience was food tasting a little off - I had a great appetite from the pred and had to be careful with what I was eating. Still gained weight though.

All I can say is hang in there and try to realise that all this crap is from the pred and will clear up as you taper down and get off the pred. If you feel angry or sad or whatever, try to tell yourself that it is likely the pred and things will get better. Perhaps also explain this to your husband so that he knows it is the pred talking!

When did you start the Imuran? If you are new to it then hopefully it will have well and truly kicked in by the time you taper off the pred. Another thing to consider is learning about rectal meds so that you have a few other options for future flares and don't have to hit the high doses of pred again. If your current flare is affecting just your left side then rectal meds can help a lot and help you avoid going through this again.

You'll get through this and feel better - I promise!

Best wishes.
Posted 11/10/2007 1:13 PM (GMT 0)
I'm going to be honest with you but Prednisone makes me feel good.

I eat well, have a good sense of well being, full of energy, great focus etc. It makes it difficult for me to sleep at night & it makes my joints hurt. Those are really my only complaints about it..............................well other than the fact it's Prednisone.

Hope you start feeling better

Posted 11/10/2007 1:34 PM (GMT 0)
 Reading your story was like reading how i have been this year , although luckily my flare lasted 6 months and touch wood i feel great now .

Felt just like you on Pred, first of all i thought it was withdrawel from the massive amounts i had been having in hospital , but my blood sugar level had gone so low due to not eating for god knows how many weeks and then living on hospital food , which was lovely but just no added sugar , the hospital advised me to eat a small amount of chocolate and coke ( remember i was in remission so had no qualms about eating that much sugar)

Well, after about 20 minutes or so of scoffing a glaxay and a glass of coke i could feel myself ' lifting' almost . My brain seemed to kick into gear for the first time in weeks and that bubble foggy feeling started to disappear .

This may be of no help to you at all but just wanted to pass it on.

I really hope you feel better soon , it certainly is a horrible feeling .

Tab x

Posted 11/10/2007 5:36 PM (GMT 0)
Prednisone is likely to be the culprit.
Posted 11/11/2007 3:06 AM (GMT 0)
Hi krazygirl,


Sorry to hear about the bad side of pred. for you but i really understand. I also have the same side affects except my spine hurts and my muscules and bones. So good lucky and remember that it's NOT you.
Posted 11/11/2007 3:17 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Kazy,

Pred made/makes me cry, be moody, cranky, shaky, leg cramps, feet cramps, hot flashes, night sweats, not all of them every day but have had all of these and some of them more frequently than others. Princesa recommended a book called coping w/Prednisone (search the threads) and the book made me feel normal as normal as being on pred can be.

I have also had a few, crawling out of my skin days (meaning I am just annoying myself and can't shake the pissy mood I am in). Also, I think the side effects were worse for me the first month when I was on 60mg a day, second month 60 / 40 alternating and going into my third month on the 60/40. I think I kind of learned how to deal w/some of the side effects a little better, the first month or two was a real shocker to my system, plus I was flaring really bad and upset about that at the same time too and also anemic from that as well.

so sorry you are having pred problems..........oh and I just got the moonface in the past week (too much salt on my part!).

B.
Posted 11/11/2007 5:04 AM (GMT 0)
thanks for all the feedback.. its good to know that its not me and just the stupid meds. i feel really bad for those who have been on this stuff for years and years. i am having trouble after just 3 weeks.

i've gotten the munchies lately and just want to eat all the time.
and i sweat at night in bed too. that is the pred isnt it?

i'll check out the book. thanks again
Posted 11/11/2007 5:09 AM (GMT 0)
Munchies and night sweats are also classic pred side effects :-(

Sounds like you need to gain weight back so hopefully the munchies will help you do that. Just try to munch on good food rather than junk.
Posted 11/11/2007 5:10 AM (GMT 0)
pred has made my stomach feel great but im all cranky and exhausted all the time and i feel stupid sometimes lol
Posted 11/12/2007 5:18 AM (GMT 0)
i regrettably have to say that im so into the junk food at the moment with these munchies. i just made chocolate chip cookies... yummy.
i do eat fruit tho as well. sometimes it hurts tho.

im getting the night sweats as well now. and today im just so down and i could just cry for no reason (which is unnormal for me). im sick of feeling like crap from this pred. i feel so bad for those who are on it for years. i couldnt do it. i almost would rather go to the loo 100 times than feel like this all day every day.

but the last few days, my tummy hurts. does prednisone cause tummy aches? not the normal UC cramping that I have... its another kind of uncomfortableness in my whole belly area. constantly. like a heavy achy feeling. i can feel my insides, constantly aware of my organs or something. hard to explain.

hmm, what do you think?
Posted 11/12/2007 6:08 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Kazygirl,

Are you taking the prednisone with food? I've found that if you are taking it without some sort of food in your stomach it never works out good. I have this ritual of getting up in the morning and eating a cup of yogurt to take along with the prednisone. My whole refrigerator is filled with yogurts!
Posted 11/12/2007 7:27 AM (GMT 0)
yeah, i definitely ONLY take prednisone with food. i was taking it with lunch as sometimes i forget about breakfast and its noon before i look up from my work...
but this morning i took it around 9am with a bagel and my tea.

maybe its just my tender colon being sore and im getting ahead of myself with wanting to feel better.
Posted 11/19/2007 8:24 AM (GMT 0)
im curious to know... can prednisolone just all of a sudden stop working?

i've been on 50mg a day for 4 weeks exactly. i have 2 more to go at 50mg before i taper by 10mg per 5 days.

my bm's have become almost completely formed (which means it hurts like hell comin out)...
and no blood during these bm's

but the last few days, i have gone to the toilet more than my "getting better" once a day and there has been the tell-tale blood and bits.

is it just my colon getting rid of the lining that was "ripped" up from my earlier bm or is it my colitis coming back or getting worse?

the pred seemed to have been doing its job (with the side effects as well) and then this goes and happens...
can pred just stop working or am i being paranoid cuz im trying to get better faster than it takes to actually heal?

help?
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply