Prednisone and side effects.

I just started on 5 mg daily for s week. Haven't hv any side effects . IYa too soon to show may be . I know ppl who put on wight and had a moon face while on it . Hoe much are you taking?

Pred has 82+ listed side effects - most people get some, a few lucky people get none and noone gets all of them. It is very dependent on dose and how long you have to take them for. If it is just a couple of weeks you won't have much trouble unless you start on a high dose when you are likely to have trouble sleeping and may be a bit jittery.

I have taken pred for polymyalgia rheumatica for the last 7 years. The first sort caused the weight I'd gained due to inactivity to redistribute to the typical places - back of the neck, around the face and midriff but I didn't gain any more and that was about it. The next sort, Medrol, caused further weight gain (a lot), my skin and hair went haywire (wouldn't grow and was frizzy) and I grew a very fetching dark beard - I'm female and prematurely totally white! To boot - it didn't work. The current one I was switched to I have no side effects I'm aware of and I have lost all the weight I put on with the other one. 

If you are worried about weight gain then cutting carbs makes a big difference - pred changes the way you process carbs and makes it far more likely they will end up as fat pads in the places I described. When I eat more than very small amounts of carbs I don't lose weight, eat more and I gain it quite quickly but when I go back to my normal pattern of eating with almost no carbs and all in the form of non-root veggies/salad stuff it goes again fairly quickly. On a regualr basis I eat no processed carbs or fruit - obviously I'm not fixated on it: if I want a pizza once every couple of months I have one (or half a one for dinner, the rest I take home and freeze) and in summer I eat an icecream once a week or so - I live in Italy, it's normal! But I eat almost no bread - just 1/2 a slice for the taste because we have wonderful bread here!

But to answer your other question - I've never had side effects that were so bad I'd consider stopping taking pred. It is the only drug to manage my illness and it gave me back a pretty well normal life. Others do have side effects that are bad enough to stop - but they are rare and mainly at high doses, over 40mg/day or so.

 

Prednisolone is a useful interim drug to deal with pain and swelling while waiting for a dmard to work. Long term use is not advised for RA unless nothing else works as it does nothing to hold back disease and joint deterioration. For me, at 5 mg a day currently it makes me slightly hyper or anxious - but that s ok cos I know it s the meds. It is similar to the fight or flight response from adrenal glands.

Hi Martin...I was on prednisone for about 2 years when I was first diagnosed in 2005.  I felt great while taking it but it raised my eye pressure, the eye doctor put me on drops and said it would go down when I was no longer taking it.  I had to have both eyes lasered twice to bring the pressure down, had to quit taking it, pressure did not go down, I now have glaucoma!  I encourage anyone on prednisone to get their eye pressure checked.  It can slowly steel your vision and you do not even realize it!  Good luck with your treatment!

I have RA and was put on prednisone to help with the inflamation and pain until the other meds kicked in. I told my rheumatologist that I didn't want to be on it for long because it messes with my moods real bad.

At least I think it's bad when I have bouts of getting upset or cry or generally feel down for no reason, whenever I take prednisone for more than 2 weeks.

I have cornea transplants and whenever my cornea would start rejecting, the doc would put me on prednisone. When I realized what it does to me, I learnt how to take care of my eyes real quick so that I wouldn't have to take it. The irony of it is that the anti-rejection eye drop is prednisone 1% for the rest of my life, if I want keep my corneas or keep my sight for that matter.

All this to say that, for me prednisone gives me mood swings. I don't stay on it long enough to know if there is more. Or maybe I'm never able to see beyond the erratic emotions......

I assume this is a "short burst" for a flare-up? If so, I have done it once or twice a year for a bad flareup and keep a fresh prescription of it on hand in case I need it again. There have been no side effects for me. However, be sure to wean yourself according to instructions. One time, when reducing dosage according to instructions, I had the flareup return and it was even worse than the original flareup. So the doc had me start a short burst over again and instead of reducing by one pill per day I had to reduce by quarter pills until I used it up. That did the trick.....a really gradual reduction of dosage.

when things are good I take 2 mg. a day. When things act up it goes to 5 a day and tapers back to the 2. I've tried for 3 yrs. to get off but just about the time things get good and I try everything starts going wacky again.  Had I known what I know now I would not have started it. The only side effect that I have is being addicted to it and it has an effect on my muscles, makes them weak. I am hoping that starting the new biologic I will get off the stuff.

I've had just about every side effect one can have, ok, maybe not all 82 as Eileen mentions. Thank goodness.

Moon face, elephant hump, I actually lost weight and most of all muscle! But am gaining muscle back a bit.

Dry skin, dry curly hair, dry mouth, dry nose, brain fog on higher doses, insomnia, way too much energy (on higher doses), fatigue, thrush, lost taste buds for about 4-5 months, acid reflux, skin pigment white dots, low blood pressure (may be due to weight loss).

Muscle weakness probably due to muscle loss.

Strict diet, no flour, no dairy, no legumes, no grains, no sugar, potatoes, ...  I do cheat occasionally.

Been 1 year 8 months, down to 1 mg, I'm very determined to get off. Yes, still have some pains, but will deal with them.