Prednisone fevers?

[kello82]

prednisone fevers?

has anyone ever experienced high fevers while tapering their pred? mine are currently hitting 103 multiple times a day and ive been checked for an abcess but it seems all clear. i had my last dose a few days ago.

it seems that whenever i taper this happens and i always thought it was just my syptoms returning until i found something online somewhere that suggested fever as a withdrawal side effect from the drug. doctors definitly dont seem to believe that though.

any thoughts? thanks!

 

[drew_wymore]

I used to get night sweats from The Evil Drug(tm) which I'm told is fevers spiking at night so it doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility.

 

[kromom1]

I used to have night sweats and fevers with prednisone, too, but my fevers were very low-grade - 99-100 degrees.

Hope the fevers stop soon for you Kello!

Lisa

 

[Kittee]

I get horrible sweats. I don't think I get an actual fever though. I've never checked.

 

[teeny5]

I never took Pred. but have gotten night sweats since having Crohn's...could it just be the disease?

Sorry I am no help with this.

 

[Colt]

This is a normal, recognized symptom of tapering prednisone. If it's a significant fever like yours it is often a sign of tapering too quickly. Let your doctor know.

 

[kello82]

OMG COLT YOU SAVED MY DAY!
it felt so good to hear that it is a normal and recognized symptom ahh!

yeah, this was a quick taper for just a short course of it. but i remember years ago being on the drug and tapering at a glacial pace and i spiked just as bad as now. 103+. i was cutting 1 mg tabs in half to get even slower. maybe my body just really has troubs with the adjustment, no matter how evenly paced it is.

to all the others- i get night sweats too, and even when im not on prednisone or have a fever. just random. maybe like teenyy said...coould it be the disease itself? hmm.

 

[jed]

i've definately had both sweats and fevers at night with pred.

n hospital, when i was on huge doses, there were nights where my bed had to get completely changed due to the amount of sweat coming out of me. it was like a bucket of water had been thrown over the bed.

 

[cheeky]

i'm no expert, but could the fever/sweating be the way the body adjusts to level out the drug's previous effect of water retention? i heard that's a side effect water retention right? so maybe it's your body's way of triggering the release of any extra fluid.

but hey, i'm just guessing, i know absolutely nothing lol

 

[Colt]

Sweating is also a normal prednisone effect.

http://www.drugs.com/sfx/prednisone-side-effects.html

Kello, considering the severity of the fever I'd like for you to keep an eye on your blood pressure and keep your doctor informed. If your blood pressure goes low <100/50 something needs to be done because you're having an addisonian crisis due to tapering too fast and you may be on your way toward hospital time if left unchecked. If you can, check your blood sugar as well and make sure that's not low either as that would also be a good indicator of addison's (adrenal insufficiency).

 

[katiesue1506]

but what about us peeps with normal BP at 100/50?

 

[kello82]

Colt- thanks for the advice. youre so knowledgable ive been in one or anothers doctors office everyday this week, so i am pretty closely monitored. weekly iron infusion was today and my bp was low, ninety someting/64. i cant remember exact. but it has been that low for quite a time. i think they said its cause of my platelets? count today was 569, which is down actually.
these counts probably all sound pretty bad but my hematologist does keep a close eye on me, and i see him at least once a week. my tests from today were not strikingly different from previous weeks so i supposed that is a good in terms of the adrenal insufficiency. will definitly watch out for any changes though

 

[Colt]

When you have a lot of different causes for the same thing it can definately get confusing. It sounds like they're keeping an eye on it.

Normal BP at 100/50 isn't really that bad just like BP at 150/90 isn't that bad. It's when you go significantly out of the normal range that you need to worry. If it gets low enough you'll start fainting which is a pretty big indicator that the problem needs to be fixed well before the threat of serious problems. The main thing is the diagnostic significance.

 

[heartofwisdom]

I have horrible night sweats too but I had them before prednisone. I thought it was menopause until I found out it is also a crohn's symptom. Since prednisone the night sweats are worse.

My temp runs 97.5. For the last year I've thought I was having hot flashes until I started going to doc and twice had a fever. So I started taking temp at home. Often runs 99. Not too much more.

Nigh sweats: Is it prednisone? crohns? or menopause? ? Who knows?

 

[Colt]

I'll put my money on all of the above.

 

[cheeky]

i have night sweats too...had them before prednisone and still having them now while newly on it... but not super heavy sweating, just to the point where i turn over my pillow or i feel damp in the collar of my shirt, so it kinda feels uncomfortable.

something else about me, i wake up to go pee a lot during the night... this has been the case for a few years. i'm starting to wonder if that's a symptom for me, instead of diarrhea, i go pee more often. who knows. i try not to drink too late at night, i drink quite a bit of water during the day... but seems like it doesn't matter much. i wake up to pee about 4 times a night.

 

[kello82]

wow, lotta crohnies with night sweats out there. very uncomfortable and annoying symptom it is.

cheeky- sorry, not much advice on the peeing. maybe mention it to your doc? i know peeing a lot means youre hydrated well, but 4 times a night seems a lot to me. but i dont really know any facts or anything

 

[cheeky]

wow, lotta crohnies with night sweats out there. very uncomfortable and annoying symptom it is.

cheeky- sorry, not much advice on the peeing. maybe mention it to your doc? i know peeing a lot means youre hydrated well, but 4 times a night seems a lot to me. but i dont really know any facts or anything

yeah i had looked up the peeing thing before, and 4 is considered frequent. oh well, i don't mind if i wake up to pee now, if it means i won't retain so much water on prednisone... i tell you, i am so paranoid being on this med... it's only been day 4, i feel great, but i'm scared it won't last long, and the ugly side effects may start.

i'm just curious to know when other people's bad side effects began.

 

[Lom]

[QUOTE i'm just curious to know when other people's bad side effects began.[/QUOTE]

I had the mood swings only a few days after starting the pred, however I think this was down to the initial euphoria of feeling better for the first time in ages and then the near depression of feeling ill again.

My side effects such as the moon face and fluid retention only began about 4/5 months after starting on the Pred, funnily enough it was when I started Remicade (as if before my body wasn't absorbing the pred properly, which would probably explain why the pred only made me feel better for a few weeks)

I do understand that calcium supplements can lessen the chance of Osteoporosis and have read the book 'Coping with Prednisone' which recommends cutting down on your simple carbohydrates to lessen the moon face (although there is no scientific evidence to support this.) I also believe that adding diuretics (such as a little lemon juice to your water) to your diet will reduce the edema.

I personally never had insomnia (which I count my self lucky for as love my sleep!) so like everything that's linked to this disease it's different for different people!

 

[cheeky]

thanks for the info Lom! well, today i weighed in this morning, and i was up by a couple pounds...i am sure it is water weight, maybe because i drank later at night than usual and of course i'm sure it's the meds... but my clothes still fit ok, so nothing major. to me my eyes look a lil puffy, but i have experienced puffy eyes prior to prednisone so i dunno, could be just too much sodium in the diet (had soup a couple times on the weekend).

also, for the first time last night, i really had a hard time sleeping. however, i returned to work today after being off for a few days, so maybe i was a lil anxious... i didn't have any night sweats last night, i was VERY cold! actually i usually start out feeling very cold at night before i fall asleep and eventually get the sweats but last night i barely slept.

hopefully tonight i sleep better.... i am also going to keep exercising, stay away from too much sodium and i'll be picking up water pills today to help decrease the water retention.

 

[cheeky]

well i guess it wasn't the pred that kept me up, cuz today, i came home... had a snack... felt a little tight in the stomach (bloated) decided to get comfortable on the couch, then knocked out... woke up thinking i had slept for a few minutes, but it was actually 2 hours!... and i'm feeling tired now, so i'm sure i'll sleep ok tonight.

i bought water pills today... hope it helps, i am really not cool with the weight gain thing... but my appetite has REALLY increased. i gotta watch it.