Indigestion on Prednisilone??

Thank you MrsO, will try your and Charlies suggestions also......I haven`t felt too good on 20mg, having Fibromyalgia as well, med ication toleration, is very difficult, so hope I never have to take a higher dose like you!!.....Thanks everyone.

I also have a glass of water with lemon first thing in the morning. It is surprising but the acid in lemon changes to alkaline in the stomach so helps with acid stomachs.  I have yogurt often as well and take a good probiotic especially when in Mexico where I spend much of my time.  Haven' t had any stomach problems with pred. In 2 years but if I have a twinge I drink a little more lemon water.  I have been told to drink it with a straw as it does wear away the enamel on your teeth.

Good luck with your tummy. Hope it's better soon.

Diana

Thank you for that, I will stock up on lemons......I do eat a good probiotic yoghurt on my breakfast....there`s always a trade off it seems with medication!

Mrs. Mac, yes, it's fascinating how the acid of the lemon turns alkaline in the body, and it seems to have so many benefits.  I believe it helped to fight a UTI I had some 18 months ago.  I awoke around 5am one morning shaking and needing the loo urgently.  This then carried on every 15 minutes or so, including passing blood and stinging, so I immediately recognised cystitis as I had experienced it for most of my childhood.  This culminated in having a kidney removed when I was 12, so I was hugely panicked during this episode in the early hours.  The only way I could control the shakes was to try and keep moving and I knew I would need to ring the surgery as soon as they opened.  So I carried out my usual morning routine (only this time it was at stupid o'clock!) and squeezed some lemon juice into a mug of hot water and drank it, had an early breakfast and got ready for an early appointment.  By this time, the shaking had stopped.  The Dr tested the sample, diagnosed an infection and prescribed the necessary pills.  By the time I got the pills from the pharmacy and returned back home, everything was getting back to normal - the frequency and the bleeding had ceased.  I left a phone message at the surgery asking for an urgent call back from the Dr, and it was mutually agreed that I wouldn't take the pills unless the symptoms returned, which they didn't.  They did test another sample a week or two later and all was fine.  At the time, I wondered if the lemon juice could have been the cure.  Some 6 months later, I awoke in the night with the shakes again and immediately went downstairs and made the warm lemon juice.  Went back to bed and was fine the following morning.  So maybe this was proof that the lemon juice had worked its miracles for me.  

I too years ago used to have cystitis, quite frequently...an old fashioned doctor (where are they now??) told me to buy a cheap product to keep with me at all times in the cupboard, call MIST-POT-CIT I think that`s the spelling.  It was an acid alkaline changer, diluted with water (I think) it worked every time.....I think it`s still available.  Have`nt tneeded it for years, but would try that in the first instance if I had to!......

Interesting, Linda.  Will go and look that up.  In the meantime, hope you continue not needing it!  

I, too, had a wonderful "old-fashioned doctor" in my younger days who would come out at the crack of dawn.  I fear many of today's doctors wouldn't cope - in fact, they aren't anyway, if the heammorhage of doctors from my practice in the last year or so is anything to go by.

I do have a lovely lady doctor, that works with me so to speak....but it`s difficult to get in to see her.  It`s usually a three week wait, because all ladies want to see her!   Also she does three days a week.....ok, if you can delay what you need to see her for!....I do think also by being consistant with the same doctor helps enormously!.....but alas, it will never go back to how it used to be....apparently other EU countries GP`s do not deal with the different patients that ours have to (Diabetes/heart problems etc) they are sent to specialised clinics.....perhaps that`s the problem!

Thank you for that Linda. Have just finished antibiotics for cystitis and don't think they have helped much.

 

That's good to know.  I have very UTI's but my mother suffered from them terribly so they may be in my future since I seem to follow her medically.   Apparently as we get older our bladders don't empty completely which can lead to infection.  Maybe the lemon juice changes the environment in the bladder to more alkaline which the bacteria doesn't like.  Love lemons😊

Both PMR and pred can lead to something called intestitial cyctitis - the symptoms are the same but the cause is different. Your GP should really do a urine culture before handing out antibiotics - if it isn't bacteria, abx are not appropriate. There are drugs that can calm the bladder down.

Interestingly I was diagnosed with having interstitial cystitis about 8 years ago .After years of cystitis systems being given antibiotics ' Incase ' even when no infection was shown ,I had a bout while on holiday and saw a differan doc . He went into raptures of excitement when I told him my history .He said he was doing a paper on this interstitial cystitis .Sent home told not to drink cranberry juice  etc. and ask my doctor to see a specialist .He gave me a copy of his papers to show her .i was lucky that the specialist had heard of it as well .Asked me if sometimes I also had sore mouth at time ,which occasionall occurred .Anyhow after examination under anasth he con firmed all was well but coated the inside of my bladder with some thing and confirmed the diagnosis . It is also thought an autoimmune disease which is agrivated by stress ,to much in the way of acid through food also can agrivate it . Stress is usually my cause or unfortunately red wine .Tricia , really worth going back to doctor .

Thank you. I have another appt. on the 23rd.

another question please. Why do people blaim omeprazole for side effects and not Pred ? I take those as well but think they help.

Omeprazole has side effects too - and if you stop taking it and a problem goes away it's fair to say it was due either to the omeprazole itself or to an interaction with pred. There are alternatives to omprazole, there are no alternatives to pred in PMR.

Apparently though many doctors are not aware of the side effects of PPIs because they don't warn patients about them. One is it can cause osteoporosis - they panic bigtime about pred causing it but PPIs are handed out like sweeties with no comment at all. 

I will try taking it again in the morning, like I used to...I tried taking it later because I was wanting to go to the loo every half hour, so got to the point where I cut down on drinks....and I do love my tea!  I wasn`nt given anything new to take, just upping my dose (20mg)  Will try Mrs O`s suggestion, and get some Zantac.....thank you as usual the answers are always here!

You know - I do wonder of the people it makes pee so much are the lucky ones really! Have you put on weight or have you pee'd it away?

Both Eileen, my weight is on my face and stomach, half stone heavier, (ghastly) and I pee a lot, my husband says I`m like a dog that can`t pass a tree, only I can`t pass a loo, without using it!  it`s also thinned my hair....but I`m on my feet, and at 63, vanity dosen`t come into it does it...feeling pain free comes top of the list....I`m thinking these things will ease when I lower (very slowly) the dose anyway....

Had I only gained half a stone due to PMR and pred I'd not have complained believe me! I have lost about 37lb and am not quite back to pre-PMR! Note I say pre-PMR not pre-pred - I gained weight after the PMR started beccause I couldn't exercise. Then that rearranged itself when I went onto pred and then I was switched to a different sort of corticosteroid and ballooned. A third sort of pred has allowed me to lose the weight by cutting carbs and calories drastically but it is slow work. My hair went berserk - frizzy and awful but is now almost back to normal. So is my skin. 

I don't know about the vanity bit - I could only cope by not looking at a mirror. The hairdresser was awful - luckily I don't go often!

I am already  too heavy (about 2 stone) because of being housebound periodically from ME/Fibromyalgia, so when able 3 years ago to take steroids to help me (PMR) the weight ironically came off!  simply because I was able to move around,  My family wrere amazed....as was I. i got down to 7mg, but the PMR came back, so went up to 15mg again, but ended up on 20mg because of blurred vision.......now lowering....slowly this time.....

i have lost weight the last 2+ years because of a differnt sort of pred and being able to move - plus I have practically cut out all carbs, just veggies and the very occasional treat. It is possible to lose weight on pred - and there are a few people who lose weight without even trying on pred. They are usually the ones who are thin to start with!

I agree, I am also gluten free, not because of being celiac,(spelling?) but gluten intolerant.  I don`t have wheat, but lots if things offered as replacement are too sweet....I have also read that gluten free helps with inflammation....but not convinced on that one.  I will cut out carbs, but the one thing I would really miss is rice.....

I'm not gluten-intolerant - specifically something in wheat gives me horrendous eczema. When I realised it was flour-containing food that did it I joined the local coeliac group to get suggestions on how to avoid it since it is in almost everything. At that time much of the gluten-free flour in the UK was made with "washed wheat starch", chemically treated to remove the gluten - and I reacted to that too! So I was effectively gluten-free when the PMR started so I tend to dismiss the idea that gluten-free helps. Definitely NOT convinced there. One of the few gluten-free cakes that was worth it were jaffa cakes - they're better gluten-free than ordinary! Now I live in Italy and although coeliac is very common here and there is loads of gluten-free food available the cakes aren't the sort I would eat! We do get buckwheat cake here as a local speciality - I eat that a couple of times a year ;-) 

My husband doesn't like rice (he is the original chips with everything) so I didn't cook with rice very often anyway but if I want a risotto I have one. I don't say "NO carbs" as a religion but any carb or dessert I eat is a treat and it has to be worth it, something special. Our village pizzeria makes me spelt pizza as I can eat spelt and kamut even though they are wheats, he also does gluten-free pizzas for people. It is very easy to eat out here and get gluten-free, they know what they put in most of their food and make a lot from scratch. We spent a week in France a couple of years ago and the (male) friend we were meeting on his canal boat had done the shopping before we got there: heavy reliance on baguettes and pains au raisins! I ate it rather than go totally hungry and had no problems. The French use soft wheat - and the structure is obviously different enough not to have "my" trigger! Just as well I don't spend a lot of time in France...

I am so jealous of you living in Italy!....The spelt thing I will look into, because apparently the "old" type of wheat mixed with spelt, is tolerable to people like me.  It`s the gliadin in wheat that I can`t tolerate, and gliadin is in all gluten.......I have tried cooking bread with rice flour, and bought it, it`s disgusting!...I have rice cakes, and when i crack, and want bread, the best I`ve tried and rolls are fron Dr Schur (not sure of spelling!) can live with out potatoes....so will try cutting more carbs out.  Now all we hear in the UK is cut out sugar......what will be left to eat....veggies, good job we love them!

Dr Schar has his main factory and research bit about 70 miles as the crow flies from where I live! I've had excellent gluten-free rolls over here, especially in Austria, but all of it is only fit to eat straight out of the oven or rewarmed in a toaster or microwave! In hospital here they send me the roll in the pack - it says quite clearly on it it needs to be baked. So I just tell them not to waste money and don't bother. I got so used to not eating bread in the UK it doesn't bother me!  

Do you eat oatcakes? Nairn do gluten-free ones but the gluten in oats is totally different anyway and many people can eat them OK. My friend in Germany who was diagnosed coeliac in his 50s has a bread machine and makes his own bread - German bread is a totally different thing to the UK stuff and his doesn't compare too badly at all.

But I was quite surprised when I found something on the internet recently that said many of us were fine with "old" wheats - if I remember rightly it was an NHS site too! People always look at me as if I'm crackers! I have a lovely Italian recipe for Paradise cake which is made with potato flour, best spongecake I've ever eaten. It is in "The classic food of northern Italy" by Anna del Conte - and her recipe is made with all potato flour unlike many that mix it with wheat flour. The book is worth it just for that, the buckwheat cake recipe and one with chestnut flour!

I decided though that nothing was preferable to rice cakes - they are utterly disgusting and pointless! I don't buy sugar at all - except once every few years I have to buy a new pack of icing sugar for making brandy butter - it comes in 4 plastic bags of 250g, enough for 4 Christmases. I keep the paper packs of sugar in cafes and that is enough for the pancakes we'll be having next Tuesday!

Yes, I do eat oatcakes, just had some (Nairn) for lunch.  Will try potato flour, and look up the recipe....The rice cakes I am eating from Waitrose, are with chocolate on, they are my treat!  Like you I have to check when to buy sugar, purely for people visiting.  You are right about having to toast gluten free rolls/bread etc, infact some bread has to be toasted twice because it won`t brown....I think I need to look more deeply into the "old" wheat thing....I can`t believe in this day and age, they haven`t perfected a better gluten free bread, and it`s always the same, something is taken out, and it costs twice the price!!  We have a new gluten free shop with everything available now opened nearby, but the prices are shocking.  The only german bread I have seen is Rye, too heavy for me...Will look up the "paradise cake"  My mother-in-law used to like "cafe" extras to take home...nobody ever said anything to her...at 93!

I

Juvela did have good gluten-free bread but it was made with this washed wheat starch stuff and it was really convincing. However, it had a very very low gluten level, well below the figure that was set as the limit, and it was eventually decided that was a "bad thing" and stopped - they did have a non-wheat version and it was nothing like as good but there were still people who reacted to it (I did).

In the whole of the rest of the EU gluten-free stuff must be made from naturally occurring gluten-free grains/foods so it may well be the big bad EU who are to blame - though it can only be preferable to some rather alarming use of chemicals when you think about it. 

The trouble is, you need gluten to make a crust and get the texture of bread so any other version is never going to match up to what you are used to. Having lived in Germany for 10 years I find most UK bread positively insipid - only good hand made sourdough is worth it. And apparently THAT is also something that makes a difference - a lot of the trouble started because of the accelerated starters used to speed up bread production. French bread is usually still made with a much longer process which changes the gliadin, making it easier to digest. 

I'm very partial to toasted polenta - and it makes a nice base for pizza toppings! If you look around enough you can always find something - of course, being able to eat other grains means I'm a big cheat, but for a long time eating out, especially in the UK, was an utter pain.

I suppose it all comes down to what the allergy does to you. I've always said there are some things that are worth itching for - if it were gastrointestinal effects I'm sure I'd be rather less gung-ho!

I`m not surprised the French bread has a longer process...so tasty, but then the French do take much longer to eat their food as well, compared to here in the uk....eating out can be a pain here...especially for snacks...

I`m sure it is the big bad EU.. well,.they`re to blame for everything else!

Before I had PMR, I had more stomach cramps, and lethargy....steroids funnily enough have eased these, but I still don`t overdo it with gluten.

Summer is coming, when it`s easier with salads!!

I used to have this vague sore stomach, entire lower abdomen, felt a bit like my jeans were far too tight and I had wind at the same time - do you know the feeling I mean? That went away with pred - I have often wondered it it was GCA in abdominal arteries since the opinion of a couple of rheumies (and mine) is that I have large vessels vasculitis. 

I eat salad all year round unless the weather is utterly freezing. Mercifully that is standard fare here - a giant lettuce never costs more than about 80p. I was in the UK last summer and saw a punnet of cherry tomatoes for over £3 - at that time of year they cost well under a quid here. My income won't be any higher if we have to return to GB so I think I'll stay here...

Very wise, don`t think I would leave Italy for the Uk, that dosen`t sound very nice I know. A

Although with Lidl and Aldi here now, prices have become much more competitive, therefore cheaper. Lots more people do two or three small shops a week, instead of one big one.  Also more people grow their own....

I do know the abdomen feeling you mean, it`s does make you wonder sometimes....