Does prednisone lose its uummph?

[sawdust]

Just wondering if you find that pred doesn't help as much as it has helped you in the past?

I have usually get the nervous energy, run in circles kind of reaction, but this time, I still have pain and I actually slept through the first night for the first time ever. thanks.

 

[lseibert]

Sawdust,

I know that it worked for me the first couple of times, but when I really needed it, it didn't do the job and I ended up getting surgery,,,

 

[Johnnysmom]

I am not sure if it loses it's effectiveness or if it is that when your condition is worse it is just less effective. And I am not sure unless you get a colonoscopy each time how you would know.

I do know that my son slept through the night for the first month but the Pred lowered his Inflammation markers to normal within the first 5 days he was taking it. So maybe the tiredness is not necessarily an indication about whether it is working.
Hope it kicks in for you soon!

 

[Artificial]

Hi Sawdust,

The first time I took it i felt AMAZING. The next two times I took it at the same dose, I felt nothing and it didn't really work!

As Johnnysmom said i guess it's hard to know whether it loses effectiveness or if the disease has got worse x

 

[Kev]

I found that every time they put me on pred, then weaned me off, and my disease came back... then they'd put me on pred again... only the dose that worked last time didn't do so well the next time... then they'd wean me off again... the disease would come back.. and back on pred again.. and just like before they'd have to up the dose to achieve same results. It was a vicious cycle, always with diminishing benefits, and increasing dosages.
(not to mention the pred withdrawal..oh, and the bone density tests after being on it for a year.) If someone could go on it, and stay on it, it would be lovely. But you can't!

 

[rygon]

Ive only had it once when I was quite ill. It helped ease it a little bit but quality of life and pain didnt go away. I think maybe I was just too bad for it to work effectively

 

[Susan2]

I was on prednisolone for 25 years from the early 1970s. It was the only thing that I was able to tolerate and that had any effect. The sulphur drugs made me very nausious and neither Imuran nor Flagyl - the only other things that were available - had any significant effect on my Crohns). Eventually, I had to have a proctocolectomy in 2000.

I have some osteopoenia, but then I am a woman in her late sixties, so that is not uncommon, although it might be worse than it would have been if I had not been on Prednisolone. Who knows?

The only noticeable physical effect that I had was that, when I stopped taking it after the proctocolectomy, my face fell in and everyone said how ill I looked.:ybiggrin:

 

[DustyKat]

Matt has only been on Pred once and it didn't really do anything for him. Having said that, I'm sure it helped to stabilise his condition but that was it. I don't think he even had any side effects, chipmunk cheeks included. I don't know but I do believe it may have to do with the fact that he was only on it a about 10 days when new symptoms crept in and they found he had a micro perforation and abscess.

Dusty. xxx

 

[Grumbletum]

It gave me a bit of relief from symptoms but tests showed it hadn't done anything for persistent severe inflammation after several months on it.

 

[Ian]

First two times I took it, it kicked my disease out of all existence pretty much overnight and kept it there for 18 months each time. It was absolutely incredible. Since then it's not been anything like as effective and symptoms tend to return as soon as I'm off it. As someone else has said, we either become more resistant or our disease becomes more severe and too much for it to handle. The latter is definitely true for me, and I think the former may be too because I've also experienced less side effects as its become less effective which to me says it just isn't affecting my body as much in general (small silver lining there I guess). The moon face isn't as bad, not as many spots, no night sweats or trouble sleeping etc. Still, I'd prefer to have those sides and have the drug actually work like it used to.

 

[tiloah]

I agree with what Johnny said. The worse your inflammation is, the harder it is going to be to treat. And if your problems extend beyond just inflammation to something Prednisone can't affect (such as scar tissue or an infection) then it won't be as effective.

I hope the Prednisone does the trick for you though.

 

[sawdust]

Thanks for the responses. It seems to be helping more after a few days, but still not like it has in the past... I agree that I don't like the side effects of pred, but I'm happy enough to deal with those sides over the way I feel when I need it. I'm a left over "bottom up" patient from my original diagnosis, so I expect there's something different in my treatment future.

 

[tiloah]

You're probably right about your "treatment future." I hope you find something that's effective and keeps you off of the steroids.