Feeling horrible after been on the steroid prednisone

Hi , no I didn't wean off them just got 5 days course doctor never said to go back or that so finished them on Monday I don't feel to bad today but still got sore legs and joints hopefully it passes soon thank u 😀

I have just been prescribed Prednisolone 5x5mg tablets twice a day for 10 days for Bell's Palsy. I have not been told to come off them slowly, just finish the course, should I be worried?

Disturbing so many doctors seem to have little understanding of the importance of SLOWLY tapering this drug. It can be very effective for several conditions but slow reductions are vital !!

hi rimmy , i,ve just come off pred after being on it for only 5 weeks for chest infection , after stopping after 2 weeks i felt really ill . phoned docs he said cantbe the pred but gave me another 2 weeks course to ween myself off them i,ve now been off them for over a month in that month i have lost over 2 stone in weight and shake like mad i did,ent put any weight on while on pred , i asked my doc 3 times about the shakes and weight loss no interest at all i,m now down to 6st 2lb after being 8st i for 1 will never take pred again and patients need to be made aware of the damage this drug can do , i certainly was,ent 

Call your pharmacist. The diretions should be on the label.

hope you felt better but it seems like the weight loss and chest infection history are not consistent with prednisolone effect or side effects.

as a doctor and user of prednisolone atleast 1-2 times every 1-2 years due to asthma, i would advice you to have further tests to rule out other infections like TB which might seem better with prednisolone but will only worsen it eventually

Dear angela009, I see your post is a month old so I sure hope you're better now. Let me know so I have hope. I was put on prednisone 60mg a day for four days with a taper of 40 for four and 20 for four. After the third day I became extremely ill and was no way going to continue. I am experiencing severe dizziness, nausea, head pressure (feels like it's swollen inside but doesn't look it). My arms and legs are weak. I went to work and had to come right back. What a mess. I looked up online and after 5 days or less it's ok to abruptly stop taking it (no taper necessary) but oh my that doesn't stop the effects of what's already been taken.  I feel so ill. Are you ok now? I'll never take this again ! I had no idea ????😔

Hey julie i got notified of your comment in my email this morning, i'm so so sorry you are experiencing the same side affects i had. I took me a couple of weeks to start feeling somewhat normal i actually had to take almost a week off work i was so weak and my face and eyes had extreme pressure and puffiness it was horrible. I am still experiencing hives however so that might be the reason the it had taken be so long to start feeling better, i wasn't feeling very good before i took the prednisone so take that into consideration. I stopped after 3 days and i'm not a doctor but do not take any more of you are feeling ill i will never ever take that medicine again in my life. I still notice fave and eye pressure but it has gotten better. aeveryoke is different so don't let my experience get you down. I am so sorry again, let me know how you are doing and how it all turns out. What were you taking the medicine for? 

Dear Angela, thank you for responding. I was taking the prednisone for constant and severe headaches and migraines. It was supposed to calm my brain down after trying so many meds and failing, and prepare me to try something else. I’ve suffered with this for many, many years but my neurologist and I thought I could explore a few more med options to see if I could get more relief than just continuing with what I’ve been doing.  It turned out to be an awful experience, but at least I found out what I was already doing isn’t so bad after all! I seem to be over the nausea and dizziness. Still suffering from very frequent headaches/migraines and the swelling in my head feeling. I was off work Thursday and Friday, and it worked out that it was then the weekend and Columbus Day, so got 5 days to recover so far but, if not for the holiday  weekend, I would have been off work a whole week too, no doubt. I am much better than I was. What a lesson learned. Thanks for your interaction. It really helps to know I’m not alone.  So, so glad you’re better. 

No problem i'm glad you're feeling a little better. I completely relate to the swelling in the head feeling that was horrible, i had so much pressure in my face, took a few weeks for that to completely go away for me but it does get better. Also, a couple weeks later i threw up and found out that prednisone is extremely hard on your stomach producing a lot of acid i wouldn't be afraid to take tums or something to help your stomach recover, i was told to take pepcid. Glad you're doing better take care.

Hi Julie, Angela and everyone,

Thank you for sharing your experience with prednisone. I was on a 9-day course starting at 30mg down to 10mg tapering every 3 days for a sinus infection. I am  having all sorts of side effects from flu-like symptoms (chills, muscle aches, fatigue) to loss of

appetite, stomach ache and sadness.  When I asked my friend who’s a doctor she said that the taper schedule I have is normal. My ENT is on vacation the whole time on this regimen and it drives me nuts not being able to ask questions. I am having such a hard time and i am becoming a whiner. I had two good days then most days I am just way fatigued and feel hopeless. During the bad days it’s like I’m on a rollercoaster - good one moment and then extreme symptoms. I’ve never felt this way before.  Whereas I’m normally positive and upbeat, I’m  barely functioning and it’s a problem because I have two kids.  The stuffy post nasal drip is still here - even after 8 days of antibiotics. 

Tomorrow is my last day on prednisone and your messages give me hope that I will be fine soon.  At least with the symptoms stemming from taking prednisone. 

- M

You do have complete hope.  Give it a few days and you’ll begin feeling better - unfortunately you do have to ride it out after stopping  - there’s no quick fix   and in a week it’ll be behind you. It’s a terrible feeling and I’m so sorry for how you feel. You got through the full dose/tapering period!  Wondering why you wasn’t prescribed a normal antibiotic instead of prednisone.  Hugs 🤗.  hang on - relief is around the corner. Julie

How long did it take you to get past this? I took 60mg one day, 50mg the next, then 40mg, 30mg, 20mg and done. So only 5 days. I didn’t feel anything during that 5 days but immediately after stopping I started to feel extremely sick - nausea, diarrhea, sweating and chills, and severe anxiety. Heavy chest, sadness, almost feeling like an out of body experience. Every time I eat, I feel sick. For one day, I would be starving but my anxiety was so bad I couldn’t even put food in my mouth and chew it. I was so shaky and jittery. It’s been happening for four days now. I’ve been off them since Saturday (today is Wednesday). I’m praying these anxiety attacks are from the medicine and will be over soon - I’ve never experienced anything like this. Sunday and Monday were the worst, yesterday was better, but tonight has been bad again. Ughhh. 

Hi, it’s been a while now, thank God, so I don’t remember the exact amount of time, but after stopping the prednisone I still felt I’ll for about a week or more. I’m so sorry for how you feel. I know how horrible it is. Please know it will go away and I needed to hear that badly when it was me.  Let’s be grateful we were only on it for a few days. Apparently people on it for long periods of time suffer much more when they stop (can you imagine?). I felt like I was going to die! I will pray for you. You’ll be better soon. Julie

Sorry to ask did it feel like an out of body experience like u were doin normal things but didn't feel myself I too finished a course on Wednesday but today is Monday and I'm not feeling myself at all.

Hi M,

?How are you feeling now? did the steroids help with your sinus infection? Also how did you know you had a sinus infection, did you get a nasal endoscopy or brain/face mri? I ask bc my sister is in the same situation. Her ENT thinks its a sinusitis and gave her Prednisone 30mg for 10days including tapering but now she feels achy. She was on doxy for 10days but is still having facial pain and headaches. SO the doctor thought she could have inflammation and gave her prednisone. So I was wondering if it helped with your infection and its the side effects. Thanks in advance!

Hi Julie

I’ve taken steroids a lot over the years for ulcerative colitis and never before have I felt so out of body like I did on this occasion. The doctor gave me 30 mg a day for 7 days I’ve never felt so ill headaches nausea and a general feeling of pain and tiredness I’ve never felt so awful.

Lisa, I feel so sorry for you, sincerely. I felt exactly the same and it was the worst feeling for me too. You poor thing. All you can do is ride it out. It will go away soon. Hang in there.  This drug is just awful for some (us) and great for some.  Hang in there. You’ll be back to normal in a few days. I know you don’t want to feel like this for a few days but it took that long for me.  Not that long though. Something supposed to help and does this. What a mess. 

Hello, are you feeling back to normal? Please let us know!

Hello, are you feeling better? Please let us know!

Hello, are you feeling better? Please let us know!

It’s almost been 2 months and I’m still feeling tired, but my headaches seem to have gotten less frequent. 

Hello Julie, after reading your post to lisa I feel encouraged. My doctor gave me prednisone 50 mg a day for 5 days. Worst feeling ever!! My legs are so weak to the point I think that there is something else going on here. I have missed a period and I am not pregnant. It has been 6 days since my last dose and and it had gotten a little better but side effects are still here. I hope and pray I feel better soon!

hi heather , don,t go on a downer my love but i,ve been off them for 5 wks now & still feel ill , people sometimes put weight on with the pred i went the other way & lost 2 stone & have really bad shakes . i now only wiegh 6st  but my doc is adament its not the pred . over the last month i,ve had 2 xrays and a ct scan nothing has shown up so to me it is the pred . i for one will never take it again no matter how many chest infections i get .

3 months of my body feeling weird and all the test results are good. It’s frustrating when the doctors doubt it’s the prednisone, but I know I wasn’t feeling the way I do now. I’ve been off of them for months 

Same here, 2 months off the drug ( took it 6 days only) and still not myself . My Sinologist can’t understamd what is going on with me since my cortisol levels are high and sugar is low after breakfast. Before my blood work she was sure that  fine and it can’t be prednisone. However seeing my hormone levels she still doesn’t know what it is. Literally she says “it doesn’t make sense” and keep asking me to come back every two weeks for blood work. Only thing what helps me is running ! I feel much better after run 

*endocrinologyst 

its not right ,  i think doctors use pred as a quick fix i always thought it was for chest infections only but having read some of the posts on here its used for allsorts , the annoying thing is i don,t think even the doc,s are aware of the after effects . i,ve just been left now to get on with it , no come back in 2 weeks so they can check on the weight loss or shake,s 

Hi Georgina,

I agree, I will definitely not take this drug again. It has been almost 3 weeks since I have finished prednisone, and thank God that things have gotten much better. I mean I can walk, I'm not in the bed for days, and I am not feeling like im losing it anymore. But I must admit, I am still feeling aches hear and there on different parts of my body, but I know God will fully heal me in due time. This is the worst drug I have ever taken and I will forever be cautious of any meds I have to take and there side effects. You would think that the docs know best but half the time they prescribe something they probably wouldn't take themselves. To everyone on this forum, have faith. God is a healer! We will get through the effects of the horrible drug, it does get better! God bless!

Good morning all!!! I’m on my 3 month and now I’m getting severe insomnia, I didn’t sleep for 3 or 4 days already, I’m a zombi... have anyone had this ? How to battle it? Do you have any tips? I do breathing and yoga before but it doesn’t seems to work. 

Hi Karina, I had bad insomnia while I was on the med. It took a couple of months for me to start sleeping more than 2 hours at a time. My Dr. told me, if I absolutely had to, I could take melatonin. I decided to ride it out since I could always fall back to sleep and piece together fragmented sleep. I just went to bed super early until I could sleep longer stretches. The usual tips help - no tv couple hours before bed, dark, cold, wear socks, etc.

If I had to make a hypothesis, I would say, based on your cortisol tests, that your circadian rhythm is being messed up by cortisol jolts. As far as I know (not a Dr), your body is supposed to release some cortisol in the morning to wakeup, then come down to level throughout the day, then drop down at night. I bet, if you checked your cortisol levels at night, they may be going higher than they should. If it's a new issue, maybe your body is still trying to come back to homeostasis and trying to figure out its rhythm? I think your previous cortisol tests were very revealing.

If it was me, in addition to talking to my primary dr, I would be speaking to naturopathy dr and/or accupunturist. I haven't done either of these, but I have heard good things.  I'm still having some issues 2 months in and will be seeing accupuncturist next month for a few sessions. If no luck, I will see naturopathy in several months. I'm trying to let my body heal itself to the extent possible. Obviously sleep is very important and can lead to other issues so you don't want it to linger too long.

As far as practical recommendations, not that it will make you go to sleep right away, but try to relax as much as possible. Something I was guilty of is turning to dr google too much and freaking myself out. We all know there are many weird things that happens to people after this medicine but we all have to calm down as much as possible to let our bodies heal. The mind is very powerful, which is why placebo has such a high success rate!

Sorry I couldn't help

Thank you! It helps ! I’ll try do not stress out. I’m going to do my labs tomorrow again , including insulin levels. My endocrinologist for some reasons did not order night levels, I want to ask her to do it as well. Hopefully my adrenals will go back to normal soon, it’s been one of the hell journey. So tired( 

Well said macd279, I really admire the fact that you brought to focus of how powerful our minds are. There are studies that show that negative thinking can actually bring about physical symptoms. Now trust me, I know that the prednisone brought about actual side effects and I know how hard it is to stay positive with all the aches, pain, fatigue, and anxiety that we are experiencing, but we must try and I pray that we find a way to look on the brighter side, pray, and meditate to get through the experience. And you are right, dr. Google doesn't help(probably an added cause to my anxiety). I wish all the best! God is a healer! Fight the good fight of faith!

Hi Karina,

Any word from the doctors? Are you feeling better?

Hi Heather,

Thanks for asking. I’m very frustrated with doctors... I did two more blood works and my cortisol was still high. After I did 24 hr urine test on free cortisol and levels came back normal. So she said, nothing else needs to be done. Consult with your primary care... well, thanks! So not sure what to do with high blood cortisol levels. I’m kind of ok but still have head tension and trouble with sleep, without melatonin I wouldn’t be able to survive. I’m trying my own way now , got some herb and supplements and see how it goes. In a month redo a blood work. What about yourself ?

Hi Karina

From the initial symptoms I am better, although new symptoms appear here and there when after over 4 weeks of being off prednisone which I only took for 5 days, 50 mg. I hate the drug, and even more so I hate the fact that the er doc didn't tell me about the side affects. Now I am dealing with anxiety and slight aches and pains here and there. I hope this disappears soon. I'll say a prayer for you. God bless!

wow im so glad i found this thread! i was given a 7 day dose of 50mg once a day for neuropathy. by the third day i just stopped taking them due to side effects like muscle weakness, headache etc. so nothing since wednesday, its now saturday and everyday ive had these exact symptoms including the out of body experience. i just couldnt describe it to my husband and dr cuz it was like trying to crawl out of my skin. i know your symptoms were almost 2 years ago but im so glad to have found someone with something similar. im just glad to not be alone and i hope this ends soon. i just want to be able to eat again and be normal lol

I am feeling the same way!! i'm hoping it goes away soon. anyone have this last more than a month?

i hope not. my pcm said it should wear off after how many days you took it. so since i took it four it should wear off in four. its the fifth day and im not nauseous anymore and the anxiety isnt as bad. im fighting a viral thing as well so its been rough all around. im hoping itll all be over soon. never again will i take it though

are you feeling better TERRYD73??

Hi Heather,

My name is Rita, I took Deltracortril (presidone)7x 5mg for 3 days. I had very bad side effects and I took 3X5mg on the 4th day and was advised to stop cold turkey. Alot of the symptoms have subsided.

It's over a month now and I'm feeling very weak and I have burning scalp pain. I have pressure in eyes and ears. I don't have any energy and I'm getting anxious about it now.

I'm just wondering how long it took for the withdrawal symptoms you had when you came off presidone to go. I don't take any other medication so this was definitely a shock to my system

Hope to hear from you soon

how you feel now

i was given 20mg 3x day for 7days but i stop after 3 days i done had every side effect but no headache ive been off for 4 days since we took the same amout i just wont a update of your status

how longg until things went back to notmal? ): i have this now

suffering so much from stopping a 30mg x4 days, feel so unwell and have terrible anxiety/insomnia. not sure if these are side effects from the first 4 days or withdrawal symptoms now ive stopped. Are you feeling better?

Hi Karina, I know this thread is very old and there is a low probability you will see this. I followed your comments on this thread and they mirror my story very closely. I too took the Medrol 6-day pack. I am curious, did your issues in terms of sleeping, head pressure, and out of body/spacey feeling ever go away and if so how long did it take from when you stopped the drug? Thank you.

Hi Karina560,

I noticed that you posted this 3 years back. I was prescribed methylprednisolone for 6 days for my back pain - 24 mg the first day, 20 mg the next, 16 and so on... It has been 2 weeks now since I completed my dosage and into third week but I am still feeling jittery, fatigued, weak and feverish. The side effects have reduced from the first week which were very bad but still there so as to difficult to ignore them. I am just concerned about how long it will take for all these withdrawal effects to go away. I am less concerned about my back pain at this stage and more about these side effects. Could you or anyone who has suffered similar side effects let me know how long did it take for you to completely recover from these side effects. Thank you!

Hi Matt,

I noticed that you posted this 5 months back. I was prescribed methylprednisolone for 6 days for my back pain - 24 mg the first day, 20 mg the next, 16 and so on... It has been 2 weeks now since I completed my dosage and into third week but I am still feeling jittery, fatigued, weak and feverish. The side effects have reduced from the first week which were very bad but still there so as to difficult to ignore them. I am just concerned about how long it will take for all these withdrawal effects to go away. I am less concerned about my back pain at this stage and more about these side effects. Could you or anyone who has suffered similar side effects let me know how long did it take for you to completely recover from these side effects. Thank you

i feel your plight!!! im not new to Prednisone , ive had to be on them for 3 separate asthma exacerbations 2 in which i was hospitalized along with bronchitis/pneumonia , but i do feel the side effects have worsened as i got older . its been 3 years since my last asthma flare and right now im flared ans ER had ne on 60 x7 n stop... yeah.... i knew that wouldnt work for me i gave to taper super duper slow . and still i feel crappy. (i have been doing 60 1 week, 50, 1 week, 40,30,20... currently on 20 and im so riddled with anxiety, my chest gets tight, im hyper--emotional, i feel like im not myself, like im in someone elses body because this us just terrible! headaches, no appetite, sleepy. the only thing that's helping is a little antianxiety med. i couldnt go thru this without it . at least once a day i feel like i need to go to ER. i cant wait to be off it but thats when the severe headaches come (from my last experience ) just praying every day to just get thru this!!!

hi are you better ?