Severe asthma and effects of prednisone
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This is my first post and as you can see from the title I'm suffering from an exacerbation over the last 5 months that has really been awful. Prednisone does not seem to help much ,even starting a round at 60 mg.i also use all the reg. breathing meds . I'm getting bigger and bigger and hate this the most. How do you manage the side effects of predict.?
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ptolemy Wheezy_1
Posted
Wheezy_1 ptolemy
Posted
EileenH Wheezy_1
Posted
You can often help the weight gain by cutting carbs drastically - a lot of us on another forum have lost weigh using that or Slimming World seems to work too. Everyone is different.
But that is by the by: as ptolemy says, if the pred isn't helping the asthma you need reassessment of your other medications, you may need a different drug or a different dose and you may need referral to a specialist asthma clinic. My 17 year old granddaughter has really severe brittle asthma and has been in resus repeatedly. In the end it was first of all decided her dose was way too low (no wonder it wasn't working!) and most recently the new team (she's now under adult care instead of paediatric doctors) have changed the drug.
She has also become vegan. She started as veggie out of conviction and then decided to go the who hog and go vegan. It does make sense as, as a baby, she was allergic to dairy and had horrible eczema which then cleared. The asthma appeared when she was about 7 and then got worse and worse. Since becoming vegan her asthma has improved a lot. A year ago she had to be taken to school by car and couldn't manage a full day - today she is starting college which will involve a walk to the station, a train journey into Edinburgh and then a bus to college. I'm not saying it will necessarily work for you - but diet CAN make a big difference. Being vegan cuts out a lot of junk food - her diet is now far more fresh food and much better. But above all - less asthma and she has lost weight.
Wheezy_1 EileenH
Posted
i too, had terrible excess as a toddler and my first attack of asthma was at age 7 also. I misses many days of school and was in the hospital frequently. I got better after ninth grade when I was out of school 66 days!i improved and had few days out of college.But I chose to become a teacher, and being around children made my asthma become more active -- what heartbreak! I taught ,married, had two daughters, transferred with my husband's career with the Bell System for a number of years. I am now 74 yr. old and I have had a rough 1 1/2 yr. and awful 6 months. I am finally getting better, but have had enough prednisone to cause sizable weight gain.i have been very limited in what I can do,including getting dressed. I finally feel like I've been let out of a cage and hope for better days ahead. I will keep the vegan diet in mind. Thank you.