[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Prednisone (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 5/15/2005 10:14:54 PM EDT
|
GOOD NIGHT!! Have any of y'all taken this stuff? My doc told me that I might have insomnia, weight gain, irritability and possible depression. If I didn't look like I'd dipped most of my body into a vat of poison ivy I wouldn't have gone for it. Here it is, day four, and I CAN'T sleep. Not a bad thing this particular week because I just had to swing from days to night shift but this is freaking me out a bit. I have two more days and then another friend told me by Wednesday I will probably want to sleep the sleep of the dead after it's out of my system. Anyone else had to take this stuff? |
I had to take it for a recent bout of sinusitis/bronchitis/ear infection. I noticed no side effects, but it did clear my ears from the painful "popped" feeling in short order. I only had it for (IIRC) five days--five pills at once, then four, then three, then two, then one. The list of <possible> side effects is frightening--though the benefits are great and all but assured.  Good luck with it. |
| I've never taken it personally, but I fill it all the time. Keep in mind, manufacturers have to list all possible side effects. Even if there is only a slight chance you could have them. Most likely, you wont experience 99% of them. It's only a couple of more days, right? You'll be fine. |
|
Do you have a boyfriend? If so, you need to tell him you are on "Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde" type of meds. Mood swings from that med are bad enough in males. Ok, my brother is hyper-sensitive to urishols (poison ivy/oak, raw cashews) and he had to go on that steriod. He was a monster while he was on it and it didn't help that I am immune to it...research project where he was collecting soil samples full of poison ivy roots. He was systemically affected and I had nothing. Both of us had the same exposure. Just warning you... |
I've already been on it four days and OH YES I am irritable. My roomie was laughing at me tonight which probably wasn't wise considering I was brandishing a knife.. okay.. slight exaggeration. I was cutting veggies for my salad.  The lack of sleep is making me a bit out of sorts....  |
| Yeah I am taking right now as we speak. I started it on Friday and since then I have been bouncing off the damn walls driving everyone around me crazy! I have hardly slept since friday and I know I should be tired but I am not. I know I am irritating to everyone around me right now! |
| have taken it for four years. Was really bad at first when I was on higher doses, but now at lower doses, all I get are quick swings into depression once in awhile. Nothing too bad. Just have to remind myself that it's the medication, not really how I feel. If I get up and walk around for a few minutes, or go out and do something if I'm just sitting at home, it will pass quickly. |
|
Everyone's different. I've taken it a number of times. Never had to take it long term though, and never had any problems or side effects. It is a steroid though. Goes with the territory. Kinda wish doctors wouldn't tell pts about these "benign" side effects, like insomnia. Same with people looking up side effects before even taking a med. It's always "Man, this stuff is dangerous, I'm never taking it". All meds have a list of possible side effects, it doesn't mean you will get them. Not you, just thinking aloud. Good luck. |
| Yes I have taken this twice, and I do not like the side effects at all. My best description for it is throw all your emotions in a blender and you don't know which one will pop out. Be careful on the constantly feeling hungry part.I wish you luck,and hope you feel better. It is definately not my drug of choice. |
I just finished a series of the stuff last Monday actually. It did weird things to me as well, though the doc did warn me about them. Said it would make you hungry, insomnia, and retain water so you're a little bloated. I never got bloated, but I did eat a little more and sleep a LOT less. I assume the lack of sleep is what made me so irritable, but it was like an emotional roller coaster for the whole 9 days. Good luck to you. |
|
I have to keep a week's worth of a very strong dose for emergencies... If I get a severe Asthma Attack and cannot breathe (usually due to it either being cold, subzero winter temps & the common cold) in addition to my asthma & allergies... Then I have to break into the Prednisone to keep my lungs from closing on me until antibiotics or something can kill off an infection, or until my health improves... The problem is that when I have such a problem I usually CANNOT SLEEP for like an entire week because of the prednisone, and you will often get "The Twitch", or the muscle spasms and shaking for 24 hrs associated with such a high dose.  I fuckin' hate the stuff, but it's the only thing that can keep me alive & breathing when my lungs get bad... 
|
|
It sucks I can tell you that! One of the reasons I got out of law enforcement, I was diagnosed with ITP, a blood clotting disorder. Your body makes healthy blood platelets, but keeps thinking it is sick, and kills them off. The standard operating procedure is Prednisone. I was on two cycles of it. Gained a crap load of weight, no matter how hard I watched what I ate, and exercised. After the first week, did not sleep more then three hours a night. Went in for another blood test, and the stuff made no difference at all  Warning you cannot just go off of it, you have to be tapered off, or it will do severe damage! My next step was to have my spleen removed, an old Army doctor I go to and I, decided the cures were worse then the disease. I just live with it. Get off of prednisone as soon as you can,remember to taper off of it, and it is truly the Devils medication.Regards, flyingrhino ETA I forgot another wonderful side effect. It can, and did raise my blood sugar, to almost diabetic levels. I cannot tell you how much I hate it. |
|
I was given a 10 day dose to take but after 6 days I went back to the doctor and told him I couldn't take anymore. For me it kept me awake, made me hungry all the time, put me on edge constantly, and I couldn't concentrate on anything at all. About a month later I was talking to an ENT doctor about my sinuses and he said I should learn to deal with the side effects because there is no medicine better than it for reducing inflamation in the sinuses. |
|
If you are taking it for Poison Ivy, you don't have to take it for very long. It will wipe out the Ivy in less than a week usually. Stop taking it when the poison ivy gets down to a tolerable level. There's no reason to keep taking it once the itching has subsided. |
If you've taken it enough, you know the tricks to putting liquid in your mouth, and leaning your head back and swallowing as soon as the pills hit the liquid, thereby keeping them from touching your mouth.  
|
Sure! I eat em like popcorn. No effects that I've noticed. No effects that I've noticed. No effects that I've noticed. No effects that I've noticed. Maybe a little insomnia, but other than that, No effects that I've noticed. No effects that I've noticed. No effects that I've noticed. They say it causes memory loss and OCD, but there are No effects that I've noticed. No effects that I've noticed. No effects that I've noticed. Other side effects like distraction or short attention span? Not that I've noticed. Not that I've noticed. Not that I've noticed. Now, where was I? |
You might want to explain this to your doctor. |
You're getting better. It reduces inflammation and swelling, which allows the "stuff" to break up and be expelled via coughing. You are on the road to recovery.
|
I went on it to reduce the inflammation from poison ivy. My breathing has always been fine. No problemos. Just hadn't seen wheezing and shortness of breath listed as a side effect and I haven't been around anyone who's sick lately so....?? |
I had the steriod shot once also. I had Poison ivy so bad the doctor kinda freaked out when she saw it. The shot had me feeling better in under an hour. Wonderful stuff it was. The doctor did mention that whatever is in that shot is very bad and takes measurable time off of ones life span. Might have been BS, might not. |
|
I took it for two years for my arthritis, nasty stuff, corrodes your joints. But it kept me in work doing heavy engineering stuff OK. The side effects are a bastard though, you get 'pumped up' …'moody' and if your stop exercising you blow up like a balloon. ANdy |