Why does pred make some us feel so strange and others feel ok

Posted , 9 users are following.

As most of you will know I have taken pred at 15 mg and am now down to 11 .5 mg over 5 months . I feel very lucky that when this started for me it was what seems like hundred of years ago , and in my right neck shoulder and arm , although I had very painfull symptoms in my face and head since I was 24 . I never had the pain that some of you have suffered so badly . The underlying pain is there occasionally but controlled with painkillers. But the shaking and tiredness has come on since taking the the pred.I feel confidence slipping away . As I have said to Margeret who is certainly having a rough time at the moment ,to go with the flow ,and float ! but what in this tablet makes me feel as though I have gained 20 years We go away next week to stay with friend for a few days and I'm not really looking forward to it any more Incase I can't keep up .

3 likes, 20 replies

20 Replies

Prev
  • Posted

    Ah yes, the shakiness and tiredness--best of friends, those two. The hand shakiness especially interferes with my life, I find. (Currently on 10 mg.) It depresses me to have to face the fact that because of the shakiness, I can no longer play the piano, which I used to do at least three times a week. 
    • Posted

      I think am now becoming neurotic,I noticed the pulse either side of my neck beating well 'never noticed it before and have also developed over the last few days a twitch in my eye . Hopefully the pulse will keep beating but having never noticed it befor I now keep looking for it . It seems I am now looking for simptons . It would be so nice to sleep for a few months until every thing is back to normal , but I love to do my sewing, and I am trying to let my husband do the gardening ' under orders of course ' so don't really want miss out on all these things ,so Thankyou all for your comforting feed back and shall not keep taking my pulse .and just knowing I am not alone really helps . Carol
  • Posted

    For me, I think the fatigue is from the PMR.  I'm on 15 mg of prednisone. At first, I was on 20 mg.  In January, I went to a high dose (60 mg) because of GCA concerns.  When it turned out that I did not have that, I did a pretty rapid reduction (10 mg, then 5 mg steps, about 5 days at each) to 20 mg.  

    Fatigue was not a major issue until I reduced to 20 mg- so I think the prednisone was covering the PMR symptoms at the high dose.

    In addition to the variation between people, I have found lots of variation over time.  Some of this is dose related, some of it seems not to be.

    At first, even on 20 mg, I had incredible insomnia, just awful, but it passed.  I had intense, specific food cravings, then none, then a period of acute munchies for anything of animal or vegetable origin.  My face swelled up so much that the fat pad on my cheek was pushed up when I smiled and I could feel the pressure from it against my eye.  (My brother said it gave me a "more youthful look,"  a new high in tact for him.) This may be decreasing (or I am getting used to it).

    Sometimes I have a high heart rate and bad tremor after taking the prednisone, but that seems to be going away too.

    So I am trying not to get too worried about my side-effects- if I don't like them, I can hope they'll change soon!  

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.