Prednisone - What to expect
inte...@cyberramp.net
I just had my second scope in less than 9 months for my recently
diagnosed Crohns Disease. I have been on 2400 mg Asacol up until about 2
months ago when my symptoms started getting worse. My Doctor then
increased the dosage to 3600 mg with no real effect. It appears that my
next course of treatment is going to be 6 weeks of prednisone. I was
wondering if anyone had any advice on how to counter the weight gain
effects and what are some other side effects that I might experience?
Unfortunately I lost about 20 lbs when I first started out and I actually
have my weight down to where i would like it to be. Fortunately, I don't
seem to suffer from the chronic diahrea like most Crohns patients. My
food cycle rate is still about 8 -12 hours. My biggest problem is the
constant low abdominal cramping combined with bad back aches. The
fatigue has also become worse. I am hopeful that the prednisone will
knock this thing down a little. Although I am a partner in a small
architectural firm it is hard to explain the symptoms to people who see
nothing visibly wrong with you.
Sorry for the rambling and I look forward to some good advice.
Mike
Jennifer Antony
Hi, Mike-
I have found prednisone to be extremely helpful to me when I am having a
flare. In fact, usually my symptoms improve tremendously within a couple
of days, which is really nice. My doctor usually has me take a pretty
high dose (60 mg) for 5 days or so, and then he immediately starts
tapering the drug. Sometimes I'm on and off the drug in a total of 20
days or so. When I take the drug for this short amount of time, I really
don't
experience many adverse side effects. Occasionally I have trouble
sleeping and will wake up a couple of times in the middle of the night. I
might have a little bit of an increased appetite, but I try to make
efforts to exercise and only increase my food intake minimally. I've
never really had a moonface when I take the drug for a short amount of
time (I definitely have when I've been on it for a longer period of time,
however). Other things you may wish to watch for are increased thirst and
need to urinate, as I believe these are signs of high (?) blood sugar (?).
You should probably tell the doctor if you experience either of these
symptoms. You may also find that you feel a little "manic" and have tons
of energy (pretty common, but harmless, I think). How much of the drug
will you be taking to start, and what's your tapering schedule going to be
like? I could give you more info if you tell me the specifics. Good luck
with it. 6 weeks really doesn't seem too bad.
Jenny
************************************
Jennifer R. Antony
Department of Psychology
University of Washington, Box 351525
Seattle, WA 98195-1525
(206) 782-6158 (home phone)
(206) 616-3150 (voicemail)
jan...@u.washington.edu (e-mail)
************************************
LMB100
You should obtain information from the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation in NY
- they also have a web page - with detailed info on pred side-effects.
Some of them sound awful but many of us really get very few of them. Be
careful of the weight gain - it is NOT water and if you let your increased
apetite govern your eating habits, that 20 pounds is going to get back on
real quick. If you have trouble sleeping, because the stuff speeds up
your metabolism, don't be shy about asking your dr for a mild sleeping
pill. You need your sleep.
lgtx...@ebtech.net
Hi Mike,
I have Ulcerative Colitis for 2 years now. Until now, Asacol 3000mg a
day was sufficient for me. Than I felt right back where I was and he
put me on Betnesol Anema 100 ml/daily. They are in the same family as
Prednisone but mine treats the problem directly cause my part of the
colon that is affected is the very last 10 inches only!! So anema's
treats the problem as soon as I take them. My doctor told me that the
prednisone pills were absorbed by the body instantly at 100% ,the
anema's only entered the blood streams 40% or less so it actually
takes me a longer time to get those side effects,but I do get them
beleive me.
Once on your prednisone,you should start feeling like a normal person
again, the pain will slowly go away,somethimes I even ask myself if I
really do have Colitis!! The not so fun part is the moon like face and
the sudden increase in weight. But don't discourage yourself cause you
loose it all back within 1 month or 2 at the most after you finish
taking them. Sometimes steroids is what we need to help us get back in
remission and than slowly decreasing the dosage to almost nothing, and
keep on taking the Asacol, the body will come back into remission and
all you'll have to take is the Asacol,whatever dosage is best for you.
I'm now on 100ml steroids a day with 6 tablets of 500mg of Asacol. I
had taken the steroids back in july until december. I was feeling
great and all but the diarrhea came back the very next day I had stop
them!! So I was actually 1 month off them and I lost everything I had
gain, 15 lbs and the moon face shape. Unfortuunately I had to go back
on them 1 1/2 week ago,but let me tell you something, i'm pain free
and very optomistist that I will be back on remission. This time I
take it differently cause before I didn't know if I was going to loose
that unwanted weight and I admit I abused food a little during my
steroids treatment cause I was able to eat and drink whatever I
wanted, specially coffee!!! So now that I know that I will be loosing
this weight fast enough...I also be careful not to abuse of the good
things and I treat it like I had every day diarrhea even if I don't.
Some food and diary products that I know if I was on remission I
wouldn't dare try them scared it would get me sick again.
I can only talk about my personal experience and that the first 2
weeks the dosage is higher than they gradully take you off them,that's
what takes the longer cause they cannot cut you off dramatically. I
experience bloating, weight gain, moon face shape, hyper-active, too
much energy,sweatness, but nothing i cannot leave with.
Hopefully I was of some help, e-mail me if you need anymore advise.
Loraine,
lgtx...@ebtech.net
Steph
inte...@cyberramp.net wrote:
>I just had my second scope in less than 9 months for my recently
>diagnosed Crohns Disease. I have been on 2400 mg Asacol up until about 2
>months ago when my symptoms started getting worse. My Doctor then
>increased the dosage to 3600 mg with no real effect. It appears that my
>next course of treatment is going to be 6 weeks of prednisone. I was
>wondering if anyone had any advice on how to counter the weight gain
>effects and what are some other side effects that I might experience?
My wife says:
"I've been on Prednizone for 6 months now. I went as high as 80mg a
day. I became bloated, but it didn't translate into weight gain. As
for fatigue, I hate to break it to you but Prednizone will disrupt
your sleep patern badly. I could hardly carry on daily routines, let
alone work.
Good Luck,
Michelle."
Benito Rey
Hi Mike,
For my daughter Prednisone was a 4 years waste of time
period.
A combination of surgery plus Elaine's diet ( SCD diet )
solved her Crohn's.
If you want more information please contact me back
Good luck
Benito
Marilyn Dixson
Dear Steph,
I have been on prednisone for almost a year now. I was taken
off for a short time but I am now back on. I gained almost 50 pounds, and
got stretch marks. It's not a fun road but they say it's the only thing
that works. I hate to bring bad news but I had to be honest because when
I went on steroids no one told me what to expect.
I also have to warn you about mood swings. Mine were so severe
I broke up with my boyfriend for no reason and then went home to cry
about it.
My sleep patterns were severely disturbed due to the
prednisone. I did get more energy then I had before though.
I know I didn't bring great news to you but it gets easier to
deal with after you've been on them a while. I'd like to find an
alternative!! Best of luck
Marilyn Dixson
doh...@aol.com
My husband was on high doses of pred. with "many" of the usuall side
effects. He had UC for 13 years. He finally decided he'd had enough and
wanted to go a different route. I put him on an individual herbal plan and
within a few months we could see results. Within the year he was able to
wean himself off "all" his drugs and steroids. He has not had a flare up
for the duration he has been on herbs (over 3 years now), and his scopings
show a healing of all the scar tissues and a healthy looking
colon/intestines. He has been able to eat whatever he darn well pleases, I
no longer have to cook special for him or he has to avoid special foods.
Even when he pigs out on some of his favorites like corn on the cob,
chili, or his bestest - pepperoni, sausage, mushroom, pepper, onion,
double cheese pizza - the worst he gets is a little heartburn or gas of
which he knows what herb to take for that. His special herbal program was
used for more than his UC too (asthma, prostate problems, arthritis -
including all the side effects of the drugs) and they were also
alleviated. We certainly enjoy our 2-3 week vacations travelling all over
and not worring about staying home close to the bathroom.
I got a new man here folks - thanks to herbs.
I've set up herbal programs for many people (and animals) with a wide
variety of disorders and with a very good success rate. Everyone is
different - not all herbs / enzymes / minerals work for everyone, but then
not all drugs work for everyone either. If you've been with one program a
long period of time and it doesn't work it only seems logical that one
should try something else. If it does work for you then use it but no one
should make you believe you "have to be on drugs for the rest of your
life"....unless you want to believe that. Use your freedom of decision
while you are still allowed to have one.
Sandy
Michael Bloom
>increased the dosage to 3600 mg with no real effect. It appears that my
>next course of treatment is going to be 6 weeks of prednisone. I was
>wondering if anyone had any advice on how to counter the weight gain
>effects and what are some other side effects that I might experience?
Depending on duration, Bone density loss can be significant. Many
doctors are now saying most of the damage is done during the first 6
months even with daily dosages <= 7.5 mg. My endocrinologist says
recent studies show it to be more like 3 months, involving a mechanism
that I don't really understand that results in a *permanent* change in
the relationship between osteoblast and osteoclast activity. I
haven't seen that last part written up anywhere, however,
For a good (and highly technical) writeup, check out
http://www.rheumatology.org:80/guidelin/osteo.htm
This document, dated November 1996, from the American College of
Rheumatology Task Force on Osteoporosis Guidelines has the title
"RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF
GLUCOCORTICOID-INDUCED OSTEOPOROSIS"
If you are being considered for, or are already being treated with steroids,
*print it out* and give it to your doctor!
Fcattus
I've had a huge amount of trouble in recent years with IBD complications
and other illnesses and have always suspected that 12 yrs of prednisone
and ACTH-r-gel starting at age 13 may have played a hand in this. The
longest at one stretch was about 6 or 7 years with doses around 80-90
mg/da. Doctors have always laughed off my worries as hypochondria or
"cowardice." The steroids plus cyclosporin and Imuran and 6-MP must have
SOME interesting effect (Taking them made me uninsurable, I was told--do
insurance companies know something?! That would be hard to believe...).
Drs. say no one has found any long-term damage, but I do wonder. I did
stop growing totally 40 yrs ago when I started the massive steroids as a
kid.
--John