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Steroids and copd

Posted , 17 users are following.

Nanny10
Nanny10

Is it true that when copd is chronic you may have to take steroids all the time?

2 likes, 33 replies

33 Replies

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  • jude65855
    jude65855 Nanny10

    Posted

    I've been using Symbicort, a cortisone inhaler, for about 6 months and it's improved my lung function quite a lot.   I am however concerned about the long term side effects of cortisone
    • karen78573
      karen78573 jude65855

      Posted

      Evening jude65855

      Symbicort was the first inhaler for copd apart from the salbutamol but the simbicort just caused me to keepgetting thrush & a swollen throat so was put on fostair & salmeterol then taken of salmeterol then later last month have been put on seretide do you or anyone else feel like a walking chemistneutral

    • jude65855
      jude65855 karen78573

      Posted

      I'm assuming you do the mouth rinsng routine (and not swallow) after each use of the symbicort?   I haven't had a thrush problem with it, but then I also eat plain yoghurt every day.
    • karen78573
      karen78573 jude65855

      Posted

      I see well I would sometimes swallow straight after taking it when I was on the symbicort then rinse my mouth or sometimes just brush my teeth straight after (depending apon where I am in the house at the time as going up & down the stairs is a pain at certain times) not long after & have eaten live yogurt thinking it might help as it's good to eat but still kept getting the swollen throat & thrush so it was changed anyway as I was stil lcoughing quite a bit! I find cranberry juice helps as it's  alsogood at cutting down the bacteria & can help with preventing thrush  but might not for some people,

      Thank you for your advice I'm grateful! So must make  sure we don't swallow straight after taking any inhaler & if possible rinse or brush teeth straight away! I will keep this in  mind smile

    • jude65855
      jude65855 karen78573

      Posted

      I don't think it's all inhalers, only the Symbicort because it's cortisone, but it's definitely essential to rinse thoroughly at least twice and spit out the water and  DON'T SWALLOW so maybe that's why you kept getting thrush. It does tell you all this in the manufacturer's info sheet.

      I hope whatever has replaced it for you is helping

    • pippa55
      pippa55 karen78573

      Posted

      Inhaled steroids do not enter your blood stream so another reason it is very important not to swallow after use is so no steroid gets into your stomach and then able to enter your bloodstream, although it would only be a very small amount it would add up over time if repeatedly swallowed.  Inhaled steroids have been used for decades without showing adverse side effects.  Hope you do well with your new inhaler.

       

  • karen78573
    karen78573 Nanny10

    Posted

    Morning Nanny10

    I'mnot sure if that is acurate but I always thought copd is a chronic illness! Probably if it's in the sever or end stage maybe! Have been on the steroid prednisolon atleast 4 times if I  remmember rightly which isn't as much as what some people have  to take but it seams like a life time the does are for over a  week & more sometimes & the side affects are not pleasent! have asked the doctor if theres an alternative but my answer is no! There must be an alternative surely do u or anyone else know of an alternative what about people who maybe allergic to the steroid medicine? This is not good I would like to know how the doctors treat people who may not be able to tolerate prednisolone or is  it all about the cost thats why they say theres no alternative Just a thought!

  • karen78573
    karen78573 Nanny10

    Posted

    Hi nanny10

    Just correcting my sentence the dose it was meant to read sometimes is for over a week depending how many soluable tablets is given with the prescription given!

    • brenda62546
      brenda62546 karen78573

      Posted

      Hello Karen, my doctors have me taking Prednisone daily, and for the last three years. I have been taking it because they use to have me taking another drug called, Theophylline, but I had to wean off of Theophylline, which landed me in the hospital for two weeks, due to making my heart beat too fast. In the past, I had suffered from Congestive Heart Failure, so my heart has a tendency to beat faster than the normal, and Theophylline, increased the beats all the more. But, it did seem that they replaced Theophylline with another drug, which is the steroid called, Prednisone. I've been taking it daily for three years now. Theophylline treats symptoms of asthma, and other lung problems, such as emphysema, and on-going bronchitis. This medicine is a bronchodilator. I am not sure if it replaces the job of Prednisone, but please ask your doctor about it. Now that my heart seems much stronger, since my Heart Failure occurred three years ago, I may ask my doctor to put me back on it again. 
    • brenda62546
      brenda62546

      Posted

      Forgot to add....my doctors informed me that the reason they have me taking Prednisone daily is due to it being a bronchodialator and also gives respiratory muscles strength. This is what they tell me, but I want to go off it, and it has to be done by a doctor. I want to be weaned off of it, just to see if I can live comfortably without it. So, Theophylline, I could be wrong, but in my opinion,  may be a drug that can replace Prednisone, but ask doctor first. 
  • robert84370
    robert84370 Nanny10

    Posted

    Hi I'm new to this site and was wondering if anyone could help. My mother 65 years old

    has copd for the last 5 years, 2 years ago she ended up in icu with lung infection and phomonia. Since then she's always been taking steroids, she's now trying to tapper them down but she gets terrible fatigue and now her ankles are swollen, she can walk but not to far, some days and better then others depending in weather, she was on 40mg of steroids a day, she been tampering down to only 15mg a day but the fatigue is too much, any help would be great, thanks

    • Vee2
      Vee2 robert84370

      Posted

      Hi robert any steroids should be taken in accordance with that prescribed by your Mother's doctor including any tapering off.

      COPD is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

      Some people whose COPD is severe, that is their lung damage is severe may be prescribed a maintenance dose of steroids to help them breathe easier, if your Mother's symptom is only fatigue when she tapers off it may just be because she has been on the steroids for so long, either way any tapering off the medicine needs to be under her doctors instruction as would be taking them and the dose prescribed.  Perhaps she has already been thus advised.

      Many with COPD get lung infections and some also get pneumonia some recover from the lung infections and pneumonia and may not need a maintenance dose of steroids.

      Chat with your Mother, ask her maybe what the doctor recommended if she is vague on that she probably needs to go back to her doctor for guidance.

      Best wishes V

  • Vee2
    Vee2 Nanny10

    Posted

    This post is over a year old, but answering the original post by Nanny10.

    COPD in short means Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.  

    Not everyone with COPD will need to take steroids all the time.  Such medication is prescribed by the patient's doctor, it is certainly not the case that every patient will require them or have them prescribed 'all the time'.

    There are different doses for prescribed steroid medication and this is prescribed by a consultant or doctor in regard to what symptom / diagnosis is being treated.

    Patients requiring a maintenance dose (daily dose or other) often are prescribed a much lower dose than a patient who is being treated for a lung infection for instance.

    Some patients with severe lung damage may require a maintenance dose but even this is not fix in stone.  Two people with 24% lung function for instance, one may require the daily / maintenance dose and the other may not.  One may require oxygen and the other may not.

    Hope this helps to clarify, some may need the medication daily but not others.

     

    • emmgee
      emmgee Vee2

      Posted

      Very true ... and nicely put !

      Yup we're all different.

  • julian28182
    julian28182 Nanny10

    Posted

    I was diagnosed of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in 2012 at the age of 63.  I had been a heavy smoker, my symptoms started out with dry cough and shortness of breath, i ended up in the hospital, on a ventilator. I should have known it was coming, but like most smokers, thought it would never happen to me. My COPD got significantly worse and unbearable because of my difficulty catching breath. Last year, i started on a natural COPD Herbal therapy from NewLife Herbal Clinic, i read a lot of positive reviews from patients who used the treatment and i immediately started on it. I had great relief with this herbal treatment. I breath very much better now, no case of shortness of breath or chest tightness since treatment. Visit NewLife Herbal Clinic website ww w. newlifeherbalclinic. com. This COPD treatment is a miracle!!

     

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