Scared, my first running with Prednisone :(

[joshludlow]

Hi guys, my names Josh and I'm 19 from England.
I got diagnosed with Crohns in October and only now have I needed to be put onto Prednisone. At the same time I'm already on 2000mg Pentasin and 20mg Citalopram (anti depressants).

My main fear is that these Prednisone steroids are going to have major side effects. I'm being made to go onto 40mg straight away (8 tablets a day!) and then take one tablet less per week until I get down to 5mg.

I'm hoping someone can put me at ease as I'm completely (excuse my language) 'shitting' myself at the thought of bad mood swings or weight gain (I'm 6ft1 and weigh 11 stone, id look horrible with extra weight!)

What are the side effects?
Is 40mg a lot?
What should I expect/be prepared for?

Thanks for reading and I hope you can help me, please?

 

[D Bergy]

Hello,

40 mg is a pretty standard dose. I never took more than that but I have heard of higher doses.

I am not sure what to tell you about the possible side effects. Some people don't have much of a problem with it, and others gain weight, get moon face and have the mood swings.

I did not have any of these responses to it but had weird ones I never heard of.
My teeth became super sensitive to hot and cold. If you can imagine a tooth ache in all your teeth at once, that is what it felt like. That has mostly gone away since I got off the Pred, but not completely.

I had one leg swell up all of a sudden. It lasted a couple of weeks and then went away.

I had the shakes real bad. I have a little of this normally but it was much worse on Pred.

The good news is that all of these normally go away once you taper off of the Prednisone.

I did not like using it, but I really needed it at the time. So you take it, and make the best of it I guess.

Good Luck

Dan

 

[emmaaaargh]

Hi Josh! Sorry that the best I can do is give you my experience - I was only on Pred for the first time myself in May and I was terrified!

As for side effects, yeah, I put on weight, but I was underweight anyway so rummaging through the fridge and making a sandwich at 11pm was something my parents had no problem with! Instead of getting any mood swings, I was perpetually happy, and had more energy than I knew what to do with. I resorted to cleaning my room . The only bad side-effect I got was I got cramp in one of my legs every day, but I'm pretty sure I read that that can happen with steroids. I need more vitamins, clearly. 8)

Anyway, yeah - if you DO experience any side effects, they'll fade once you taper off. Prednisone isn't forever (...*wistful sigh*) but I guess when it's necessary, it's necessary . Hope it all goes well for you!!

 

[joshludlow]

Thanks so much for telling me about what had happened to you, I really appreciate it. I've taken my first 8 tablets today, I tried explaining it to some people (what the side effects could be) but its hard to convey that it scares me.

Thanks guys,

 

[joshludlow]

I'm also just wondering how long it was after you started Prednisone that you started to experience side effects?

 

[upsetmom]

My daughter was 14 when she was first put on 50mg of prednisone and shes not a very big girl.
She did gain weight..was full of energy and she kept getting hot flushes.
I think it took a few days for them to kick in.
Everyone's different so try not to worry...what happens to one person might not happen to you.

 

[xmdmom]

My 19 year old was on 40 of prednisone this summer. He gained weight but then lost most of it after he was off the medication. The other side effects weren't too bad -- he felt better after 1 or 2 weeks of prednisone.

 

[muppet]

I don't have citations to back this up right now, but I think that the psychological side effects of Prednisone occur primarily in long time users. For me, the only side effects I had initially were insatiable hunger, cold sweats, and a little insomnia (and moon face.) It took years of on again, off again use before I started to experience anxiety, paranoia, severe insomnia... in my experience it takes awhile, As you're a first time user, it probably won't be a problem.

Best thing to do is see your doctor regularly, watch your diet, follow his/her instructions, and manage your disease well enough that you rarely need steroids.

 

[UnXmas]

I learned its effects are different for everyone. Some of the ones you see mentioned all the time - like hunger, bloating and weight gain - I didn't get at all.

For me the side effects came on gradually over a few weeks. I get mood swings (though mostly euphoria, but anxiety too), have more energy, and the biggest problem has been insomnia.

It really just seems to come down to luck whether you get each side effect or not.

 

[joshludlow]

Yeah I suppose it is a game of luck. I probably wouldn't notice severe hunger as I eat all the time anyway buy I just don't want mood swings but if it happens it happens! Also, this might be a silly question but what the hell is moon face?! I've seen it everywhere on here but don't actually know what it is?

 

[muppet]

Your face tends to bloat up a bit, I'm not entirely sure of the mechanism but your cheeks get puffy and you look like the Pillsbury Doughboy for a bit. The effect subsides when you go back off the medicine.

 

[katiesue1506]

That seems to be a rather quick taper too, so you may not suffer from many sides.

 

[joshludlow]

Lets hope I don't get too many or that I get none! Thanks so much all of you

 

[emmaaaargh]

I was started on IV methylprednisolone after being admitted after my colonoscopy (freaking terrifying when you're still groggy and you don't know what's going on) and I had two doses a day. By late night on the second day I asked my dad if we could go down to the hospital's café and get a sandwich. And then it started! Oh, the eating. It was amazing and I miss it - haha!

I'm not sure if oral steroids straight off take any less time to work, though. But yeah - improvement within a day. Ahh, those were good times!