Prednisone Side Effects

[Mrs. Hatley]

Hello. This is my first post on this forum. I have had Crohn's Disease since Jan of 2000 and have been fortunate enough to not have any major issues since my initial diagnosis. Then this current flare hit me like a ton of bricks. I dealt with it for about 2 weeks, until the pain was just too much, and my husband took my unhappy butt to the ER. Thankfully, it was 1 whole day after our insurance kicked in. (I went 4 years without it!)
Anyway, I had a colonoscopy yesterday, and my new GI found inflammation in my entire colon and some sort of infection (test results are pending - he mentioned C Diff, which scares the living daylights out of me). He put me on 40mg of Prednisone and Flagyl. I've have been on Prednisone before, but not since 2000 so I don't totally remember the effects. Well, the side effects are already kicking in (after 2 doses!!). And I'm FREAKING. My anxiety is through the roof, my emotions are all over the place. I feel like I'm losing control of myself. I know this is all common, and I guess I just need a little bit of comfort from people who really understand. As I type this I'm half way between tears and laughing. I feel like a crazy person. Is there any relief? My mom told me "hopefully you will level out." I don't have time to wait and see if I level out.
I left a message with my GI's office explaining that after only a day, I'm not handling this very well. But is there anything that may help me?

 

[muppet]

My winning strategies in the past have been a glass of red wine with dinner (your mileage may vary as alcohol is sometimes very bad for some Crohn's folks), and more recently, nutritional supplements seem to even me out quite a bit. I learned through the forum that magnesium is really easy to be deficient in, and is used by the body for a huge portion of our metabolism.

This is only what has seemed to work for me. I'm not a doctor. Your results may vary. Yadda yadda.

In the past I tried to stick to lower prednisone doses and would start courses at 20mg instead of 40mg. This may or may not work for you depending on how severe your flare is and how responsive you are to prednisone.

 

[Mrs. Hatley]

My winning strategies in the past have been a glass of red wine with dinner (your mileage may vary as alcohol is sometimes very bad for some Crohn's folks), and more recently, nutritional supplements seem to even me out quite a bit. I learned through the forum that magnesium is really easy to be deficient in, and is used by the body for a huge portion of our metabolism.

This is only what has seemed to work for me. I'm not a doctor. Your results may vary. Yadda yadda.

In the past I tried to stick to lower prednisone doses and would start courses at 20mg instead of 40mg. This may or may not work for you depending on how severe your flare is and how responsive you are to prednisone.

Unfortunately, I think I'm stuck with this dose for the time being. Normally, I'm a craft beer drinker, but my GI told me no alcohol with the Flagyl. It will make me very sick. So no beer for me. I haven't had a drink since Christmas Eve. I miss my beer!!
What sort of supplements have worked for you? I prefer the non-medication route for things, as it has worked for me in the past for small flares. So, I'm willing to try anything.

 

[Michelle89]

I am with you! I just this week was approved to start tapering down my prednisone. I just went down to 30mg from the 40mg I've been on for almost a month. Today hasn't been a good day for my anxiety as I just found out that my insurance isn't going to pay for my humira that I was expecting to start next week. I'm all over the place emotionally today grrrrr..... I don't recall having such side effects the last time I took prednisone but I'm spending most of my day apologizing to everyone for my irritation and stuff that blurts out of my mouth, lol. Oh yeah, and the round face is setting in

Not sure I found anything that helps except a very supportive husband who understands, makes me laugh and knows I'm not normally like this. I am taking Magnesium as Muppet mentioned but I've been doing that for a while. I haven't noticed if it helps with side effects or not. Not much help with ideas easing the side effects but wanted you to know you aren't alone!

 

[Mrs. Hatley]

Not sure I found anything that helps except a very supportive husband who understands, makes me laugh and knows I'm not normally like this. I am taking Magnesium as Muppet mentioned but I've been doing that for a while. I haven't noticed if it helps with side effects or not. Not much help with ideas easing the side effects but wanted you to know you aren't alone!

Thankfully, I have a super supportive husband. I already warned him of the potential side effects, but I don't think he has any idea what it is really going to be like. Thanks for the support, it makes me feel a bit better to know that I'm not the only one, and no, I'm not really a crazy lady.

 

[guest78]

Hi I have posted a thread where people have given some of their advice for some of the horrible pred side effects including anxiety. That might be worth checking out?
My anxiety was horrific at the start of my pred dose, but it does get better! I'm still suffering with general low level anxiety but the surged of feeling out of control and disconnected from my body and emotions has gotten so much better - thankfully!
Hang on in there, this forum helped me SO much and is the best support network. If you need a person to vent or rant to then please don't hesitate I know how tough it can be.
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