[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Anyone else ever take prednisone? (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 3/27/2012 9:16:34 AM EDT
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I have Crohn's disease and have to take it every time I have a flair up which I usually end up being on it for about a 50 days at a time. It seems to work in reducing my immune response enough so that I can heal properly from damaging inflammation, but the side effects of prednisone really suck. When I am taking it I usually have an enormous appetite and seem to gain weight extremely fast. I have been pretty sick in the mornings for about 2-3 hours before work so I can not get my morning cardio in, which only compounds the weight gain problem. This week alone I have gained 5 lbs, which took me alot longer to lose. When I start to come off prednisone I seem to get crippled by joint and back pain for a few weeks. Any time I am off prednisone and just taking my anti-inflammatory Lialda, I can steadily lose the weight gained while on prednisone through a physical trainer twice a week and cardio 5 times a week. But damn this fucking prednisone, I would take something else if there was a better option. Anyone else have similar issues while on prednisone? |
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I have Crohn's disease and have to take it every time I have a flair up which I usually end up being on it for about a 50 days at a time. It seems to work in reducing my immune response enough so that I can heal properly from damaging inflammation, but the side effects of prednisone really suck. When I am taking it I usually have an enormous appetite and seem to gain weight extremely fast. I have been pretty sick in the mornings for about 2-3 hours before work so I can not get my morning cardio in, which only compounds the weight gain problem. This week alone I have gained 5 lbs, which took me alot longer to lose. When I start to come off prednisone I seem to get crippled by joint and back pain for a few weeks. Any time I am off prednisone and just taking my anti-inflammatory Lialda, I can steadily lose the weight gained while on prednisone through a physical trainer twice a week and cardio 5 times a week. But damn this fucking prednisone, I would take something else if there was a better option. Anyone else have similar issues while on prednisone? My mom has dealt with serious chron's, and ended up taking prednisone for years. Eventually the side effects caught up to her, and she decided to quit taking it cold - it was bad juju. Since there, she has been receiving the Remicade infusion (Link) back when it was experimental through current day - it has made her effectively symptom free, minus the symptoms of having a couple feet of intestines removed prior to beginning the Remicade. Her only downside she says to the remicade - if she is even a couple days off of the 4 month (IIRC) infusion schedule, she is down and out with symptoms. |
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Hungry, cranky, mean –– welcome to the world of prednisone. Yep. I took three 4 week sets of prednisone last year. I noticed that I was getting angry real easy at things that would normally not piss me off. I also gained 25 pounds while I was on prednisone. |
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I have Crohn's disease and have to take it every time I have a flair up which I usually end up being on it for about a 50 days at a time. It seems to work in reducing my immune response enough so that I can heal properly from damaging inflammation, but the side effects of prednisone really suck. When I am taking it I usually have an enormous appetite and seem to gain weight extremely fast. I have been pretty sick in the mornings for about 2-3 hours before work so I can not get my morning cardio in, which only compounds the weight gain problem. This week alone I have gained 5 lbs, which took me alot longer to lose. When I start to come off prednisone I seem to get crippled by joint and back pain for a few weeks. Any time I am off prednisone and just taking my anti-inflammatory Lialda, I can steadily lose the weight gained while on prednisone through a physical trainer twice a week and cardio 5 times a week. But damn this fucking prednisone, I would take something else if there was a better option. Anyone else have similar issues while on prednisone? My mom has dealt with serious chron's, and ended up taking prednisone for years. Eventually the side effects caught up to her, and she decided to quit taking it cold - it was bad juju. Since there, she has been receiving the Remicade infusion (Link) back when it was experimental through current day - it has made her effectively symptom free, minus the symptoms of having a couple feet of intestines removed prior to beginning the Remicade. Her only downside she says to the remicade - if she is even a couple days off of the 4 month (IIRC) infusion schedule, she is down and out with symptoms. Prednisone is one mean mother. It's MUCH better than the alternative, though. If you're taking it for crohn's, try looking around in your area for a gastrointestinal research facility. There are some new things emerging that look VERY promising. The early results have been very good, and the side effects are not quite so bad. The only downside is that the inclusion/exclusion criteria are very stringent, and not everyone that is suffering a flare is going to be eligible. If by chance you can get into a IBD study, you may want to try it. Some of the results we've seen have been very good. The bad part of GI disease is that several pharmaceutical companies that have been big in GI and GI research are getting completely out of the gastro area. The good thing is that a few companies have stepped up their research, and are even using US sites for their initial testing, as opposed to being in Europe. If you're wanting to get some info about someone that may be doing research into IBD in your area, shoot me a PM and I'll see if I can help in any way. Nobody should have to suffer like that. IBD/IBS are evil. |
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i have crohn's as well. diagnosed in '09. went on prednisone and that got rid of the symptoms pretty well, but its hell to be on long term, so i was put on apriso, which did nothing for me. back on prednisone to cool down again, then tried azathioprine. that seemed to be OK for a while, but ended up having to be on a small dose of prednisone as well for it to be effective.
so this last summer, everything went to hell. 4 hospital stays and 5 operations and another colonoscopy later, i was put on remicade. total night and day difference. i'm mostly symptom free, and the immediate side effects aren't all that bad. its supposed to make you more prone to infections, but i have only had a minor cold. my sister also has crohn's, went through various drugs and ended up on remicade. seems to be working well for her. if you and your doc agree on remicade, hopefully your health insurance is pretty solid, because its about 6-8,000 per treatment. if you have any questions OP, shoot me a PM. |
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Two days ago I woke up, had a nice breakfast, nice sunday dinner BBQ chicken lunch and headed off to work. Decided, what the hell I will grab some donuts for the other officers on 3rd shift tonight. Got a box of 12 assorted donuts, and by the end of the day I had finished 5 of them, this was on top of eating the dinner I had brought in, then went home and snacked some more. I bet I ate upwards of 4-5,000 calories that day and could have eaten even more. I am usually a pretty small eater when not on prednisone, but damn it is like I have an bottomless pit that can never be filled when I am on that drug. Crappy thing is that I am too sick in the mornings to do my normal workout because I am constantly running back and forth to the bathroom in agonizing pain.  |
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On 10mg a day for next 45 days. Then taper for a month. Yeah, I am hungry all the time. Bet you're fuckin meeeaaaaaan too, but you'll be meaner on that taper. 
My wife's had numerous long term, high dose prednisone prescriptions due to sinusitis. She doesn't have weight gain issues, but she has terrible mood swings. Key to managing that is diet. Diet, diet, diet. If I was to offer a wild-ass guess, it seems like her mood crashes out with her blood sugar. Numerous small meals throughout the day, and a carefully watched diet free of empty carbs and sugar most definitely helps her. Lots of meat, lots of veggies. No candy, no fruit, easy on the carbs. She has to meter how much she eats, but spreads it over about 5 smaller meals a day. That said, all the diet in the world can't fix 50mg a day of the stuff. When the mood swings come, she doesn't know it. All she knows is how she feels at the moment. If it's rage or sadness, she won't realize that she was just laughing ten seconds before, and she won't fucking care when I mention it. The only thing to do is bunker up and wait for it to shift back to something reasonable. She sees what happened after it's done though, so that could be worse. When you come off the stuff, you need to step it back a little at a time and wean yourself off. Your body will not like that. It's no fun at all. My wife worked out her own titration schedule as one doc neglected to mention it, and another had a schedule she found too abrupt. She went in for same day surgery a year or so back, and I remember that she hadn't been on prednisone for months, but the doc was worried about it. He gave her a shot of it prior to the surgery. I don't remember why exactly, just that there was a possibility that she'd go into shock or something if she was anesthetized without a little kick of the stuff. It affects your body for a lot longer than most medications after you stop taking it. It's incredible stuff, but scary. |
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Moon face, weight gain, thin skin, scarring, takes forever to heal, yeah, there are a lot of side effects to pred. I have RA and took it for a long time. Its a great drug but will also mess you up. Make sure your doctor is checking you liver enzymes as it can be really hard on your liver. My rheumatologist basically told me to just quit drinking while I took it. |
| I took a course of it a few years ago when I had Bell's Palsy. It didn't help... or maybe it did. I don't know. The Palsy worked itself out about a month later and I guess I'm back to 90-99% recovery. I don't remember having a massive appetite or anger issues or anything like what you're saying... I actually had less appetite... I guess maybe it was because I was concerned about eating and not chewing on something I didn't have feeling in... |
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Quoted: prednisone is the debil! It makes me swell up like a balloon and ill as a hornet. It turns my wife into the devil. I swore i would never take it again. That is why my wife is not taking the prednisone she has right now. She's waiting til after spring break. |
| I've been taking it for a couple weeks now. The weight gain really isn't my problem. My main issue with it is I have become extremely short with people. I already have a short fuse while driving and in dealing with silliness, but this stuff has amped it to the roof! I'm on the weening off period at the moment and will be glad when it's over. |
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Quoted: I've been taking it for a couple weeks now. The weight gain really isn't my problem. My main issue with it is I have become extremely short with people. I already have a short fuse while driving and in dealing with silliness, but this stuff has amped it to the roof! I'm on the weening off period at the moment and will be glad when it's over. This works for me. Drinking lots of caffeine. Tea,coffee,hot coco or anything else with it.  |
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I've been taking it for a couple weeks now. The weight gain really isn't my problem. My main issue with it is I have become extremely short with people. I already have a short fuse while driving and in dealing with silliness, but this stuff has amped it to the roof! I'm on the weening off period at the moment and will be glad when it's over. Some people tend to get particularly mean during the titration/weaning, and may be for a week or two afterward as well. Depends on dose, depends on the person. Best part is I don't really think there's a way to allow for that. You can remind yourself that you're "a little touchy" all you like, but you're still going to go just as ballistic when something sets you off, and the people around you are going to notice. Get good at apologizing.
Diet helps. Not kidding. Cut down the carbs. Otherwise, it's just the roid rage.
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I just got off a 20 day run of it to deal with some pretty severe poison ivy. I gained 10 pounds in those 20 days...about a week after getting off of it, I've gotten rid of 8 of the 10 pounds, and I figure it was mostly fluid retention. I hate it...but when you're left arm looks like Hell Boy's because of Poison Ivy, you'll eat damn near any pills the doc tells you too. I also couldn't sleep when I took it, felt hot and flushed all the time...still not as bad as the poison ivy. CVN |
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Dick move, grow the fuck up. OP, I've only been prescribed it when getting poison, so I never had to deal with the long term side effects of prednisone |
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I had to take it once for 10 days for a nasty case of poison oak that I had. I work as a graphic designer, and that was easily the most efficient and creative 10 days of my life. It was like tiger blood.
I will mail you a poison oak contaminated blanket, if that will result in the immediate completion of the RPVD.
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During our our first year of marriage, my wife ended up on two separate two month stints with Prednisone. Some days I was convinced that she must have escaped from an asylum. If you're ever near Ft. Smith, beer's on me. We can swap war stories.  It basically saves her life, but it has some of the nastiest psychological effects of any medication. How about a bottle of bourbon and some Nebraska prairie dogs? |
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I react the same way as all of the above posters. I has asthma as a kid, and still get really nasty bouts of Bronchitis ever other year or so.
Prednisone, combined with a couple a few other drugs is the only thing that allows me to breathe and recover when I get into a bad URI.., I also get very oily skin, and break out in acne..I hate that drug!!! |
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Quoted: Quoted: I had to take it once for 10 days for a nasty case of poison oak that I had. I work as a graphic designer, and that was easily the most efficient and creative 10 days of my life. It was like tiger blood. I will mail you a poison oak contaminated blanket, if that will result in the immediate completion of the RPVD.  Well played, sir. I laughed. Oh, and please don't send the blanket. |
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I have MS.
Exacerbations are treated with 1,000 mg (yep, a whole gram) for 3-7 days with Solu-Medrol (Methylprednisolone). Methylprednisolone has most of the same effects of Prednisolone, but varies slightly around the edges and is preferred for MS. It is nasty stuff. You cannot sleep, may produce so much stomach acid you can develop an ulcer (the various acid reducers can be somewhat effective), and will gain both water weight and deposit fat. The 'dose pak' doses are much lower than for MS (the whole pack only has 84 milligrams (21 pills of 4 mg each) and is used over 6 days. The first dose is 6 pills giving 24 milligrams, then tapering off each following day. My mother had Chron's for over 30 years. Questran was one thing that finally helped, though at some impact on dental health. |
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Anger issues, weight gain, round puffy face, urge to piss every 40 seconds, insatiable hunger and thirst, and a host of other nasty sides effects are pretty common on the prednisone. Those who mentioned cold turkey from long term use really put themselves in a world of shit. Predisone takes over your bodies production of cortisol, a necessary hormone that has a role in regulating many bodily functions, and causes your body to stop producing it naturally. You cant just stop taking pred cold turkey and expect your adrenal gland to take up the slack producing the right amount of cortisol on demand. It can make you susceptable to something called an Addisonian Crisis, aka acute adrenal crisis which can be life threatening. Do not stop taking it without consulting your doctor. |
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I have Crohn's disease and have to take it every time I have a flair up which I usually end up being on it for about a 50 days at a time. It seems to work in reducing my immune response enough so that I can heal properly from damaging inflammation, but the side effects of prednisone really suck. When I am taking it I usually have an enormous appetite and seem to gain weight extremely fast. I have been pretty sick in the mornings for about 2-3 hours before work so I can not get my morning cardio in, which only compounds the weight gain problem. This week alone I have gained 5 lbs, which took me alot longer to lose. When I start to come off prednisone I seem to get crippled by joint and back pain for a few weeks. Any time I am off prednisone and just taking my anti-inflammatory Lialda, I can steadily lose the weight gained while on prednisone through a physical trainer twice a week and cardio 5 times a week. But damn this fucking prednisone, I would take something else if there was a better option. Anyone else have similar issues while on prednisone? My only side effect on prednisone is that I can not and do not sleep while I am on it. Was on once for 2 weeks pyrimid style dosing for an ulcer in my arm and I litterally slept about 10 hours in that entire 2 weeks. As I recall I did have an increase in appetite that time, but was also running 5 miles a day and working out alot so its didnt have any negative effects. Was just on it last month for three days for a bad strep infection and it did the same thing then too, only slept a couple of hours in the three days. J- |
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I have Crohn's disease and have to take it every time I have a flair up which I usually end up being on it for about a 50 days at a time. It seems to work in reducing my immune response enough so that I can heal properly from damaging inflammation, but the side effects of prednisone really suck. When I am taking it I usually have an enormous appetite and seem to gain weight extremely fast. I have been pretty sick in the mornings for about 2-3 hours before work so I can not get my morning cardio in, which only compounds the weight gain problem. This week alone I have gained 5 lbs, which took me alot longer to lose. When I start to come off prednisone I seem to get crippled by joint and back pain for a few weeks. Any time I am off prednisone and just taking my anti-inflammatory Lialda, I can steadily lose the weight gained while on prednisone through a physical trainer twice a week and cardio 5 times a week. But damn this fucking prednisone, I would take something else if there was a better option. Anyone else have similar issues while on prednisone? the anger part I keep reading on here is utter bullshit, unrelated. This does not raise your testosterone if anything it lowers it. I have Chron's aswell I am on Prednisone right now... I was diagnosed 10 years ago pm for questions. - I eat like a monster on it - I work out like a monster 5 days a week so it evens out. - I sweat more when I am on the stuff. - not sure about joint pain, doesnt seem to happen to me - I do not get sick from it. Some times I am on it months at a time, eat healthy and you wont have moon face, hard to get fat off vegatbles!! drink lots of water to combat over eating. |
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Weight gain, from either slowed metabolism or increased appetite, is a known side effect of steroids.
I have been prescribed Prednisone three times and all three times I gained a bit. Fortunately it was short term. Most aggravating thing about it, is that when you are supposed to take it easy while you're having a relapse, so you can't burn off the extra calories. |
| Took it for nasal polyps. Pills taste awful and the taste takes forever to go away if you don't swallow them fast. I didn't notice anything except i thought my vision got blurry or hazy. I was 2days from being done with the post operation treatment of pred and some antibiotic so i quit both just took the lesser antibiotic as directed. Felt a lot better. |