Is prednisone working? Should I be concerned about side effects?

[michelle222]

Hi everyone. I've been on 40mg of prednisone for close to a week now. I'm feeling much better, only having 2 formed stools a day. Here's the problem, I'm still having some blood in some of my stools. It's actually not in it, more bright red blood on the outside of some of it (sorry for the visual). Is that odd? Shouldn't I be symptom free by now?

Also I'm hearing so many warnings about not taking prednisone on this site, should I not be taking this stuff? I've been on it before and have really only noticed my face swelling a lot and feeling super emotional as side effects....

 

[Johnnysmom]

My son was on Prednisone for about 2 and a half months. He felt better almost immediately but still had blood in his stool occasionally. For him it was caused mainly by constipation and having a really large stool. I would call the nurse and let them know but she said just to watch it, his body was probably still adjusting. He also took iron at the same time which constipated him. We gave him miralax to help with constipation and that seemed to help a lot.

Prednisone is definitely a very serious drug. But more so if you are on it long term. (and many people need to be). I feel the benefits out weigh the risks. The side effects for my son seemed annoying and trying at times but he was a trooper and made it through and got a lot of healing because of it. I don't think the 6mp would have been able to get him into remission with out the prednisone. It has kept him in remission though.

Johnny did continue to get better over many months, it was a longer process than what I thought it would be. So hang in there. Let us know how you are getting along. (((Hugs)))

 

[zilla7777]

I'm not going to lie, Prednisolone is a damn powerful drug.

Because of the hormones it effects, people on pred pretty much always have some sort of side effects. It's just some get more than others. Generally most if not all go away with cessation of pred, so it isn't all too bad.

Most of the time the benefits outweigh the side effects, so don't worry. It's not to say "Don't take Prednisolone," It's just the majority of us on here that have taken it have developed a love-hate relationship with it.

As Johnnysmom said, it might take a short while to feel completely 100% again. It depends entirely on the person though, some still get cramps and whatnot, some not.

Good luck! Hope all is going well.

 

[jt5]

To be honest, It's like what zilla7777 says. I have a love-hate relationship with that drug. Everytime I'm flaring, my doctor would prescribe that, it has alot of side effects, such as swollen face, increase in appetite and give me mood swings. But in terms of medication, it works pretty good since it gives you almost symptom free but the thing is, the last time I used it, after I finish my course of prednisone, my crohn's was back again. symptoms slowly coming back, and it's like my body is used to taking prednisone again and relying on it. Then I'm back at the hospital and they prescribe me with prednisone and flagyl again. Same thing happen the first time. Third time I was admission to the hospital I had to get surgery to cut that part of inflammation. Which is awful, but at least now I'm symptom-free. But I really hope not to use prednisone again since it has so much side effect and a really strong drug