Can anybody tell me what the unpleasant side effects I can expect from use of pred steroid medication?
Am down to 11mg a day and am so concerned have been taking for two months and can't see how I could be free of them altogether.
What are your experiences?
Most of the side effects are listed on the data sheet that comes with every pack of tabs.
You have to learn to live with the preds - treat them as a friend! If you are down to 10 mg I would take it slow. When did you start, was kit only 2 months ago?
I got steroid hump i.e. fat deposition between shoulder blades,excessive weight gain,round face including loss of any discernible neck plus increased bruising.These were the worst side effects in four courses forPMR .After 7 months had to come off mainly due to weight gain as I had a heart attack last year.Am back under the rheumatologist who has just started me on methotrexate instead.Has said if this does not work (it can take up to 14wks to do so)there are other options but did not specify.If you have PMR expect to be on atleast9mths tapering 1mg a month and if need to increase at times they say up to 2years
There are a fair few side effects listed for Prednisolone. No-one gets all of them and some get none.
They disperse as the dose is reduced and by the time you get to 6/7mg there are usually none left as that is dose your own body would make naturally. This is also often the main sticking point as you are beginning to ask your adrenal system to wake up and help, but in many cases it has got used to being lazy and is reluctant to do so. Some rheumatologists do mark this by getting their patients to stay on these low doses for some months, and it does seem to help.
There is, as yet, no cure for PMR and steroids are simply managing the symptoms to allow you to lead a reasonably 'normal' life until it packs it's bags/goes into remission/burns out.
Hopefully yours will be a textbook recovery but don't be lured into reducing them too quickly. It's a recipe for disaster.
hi gone girl i am pleased to say i didnt get any side effects at all so i guess i was lucky. i am down to 2 mg now with just a few nigly pains but trying my hardest not go up another 1. so goog luck with your reduction
I got the side effects pretty soon after I started pred, about fourteen of them, if you have not had any yet, you may be lucky and not get any at all. As you reduce, the side effects normally get less anyway. Just don't reduce too fast.
I have been on pred 15 months, and see new side effects all the time. My list keeps growing with no effects leaving. Some can be ignored such as Purpura, the dark red spots on arms and.legs. others are disturbing such as severe hand tremor. I'n short be prepared for a long haul and don't rush the reduction or you will only make it last longer.
Paul
Paul with your purpura, do you find that they split open? In my case some do and the rest are just under the skin. I sometimes look as if I have been in a fight with an unfriendly cat. They take just under three weeks to fade. Mine just appear from nowhere it seems.
Paul and ptolemy
You may both find that Double Base Gel, which can be prescribed by your GP will help your skin. I was told about it by MrsO and it worked.
If you cannot get it on prescription then you cany buy it OTC at Boots for £11.50 for 500mg.
Oh and don't shower more that two or three times a week, each time you shower you strip your natural oils out.
Double Base seems to be the only thing that is any good. It is not a good idea to use moisturisers I have found. I am trying to find what triggers new purpura. I swam a length in the swimming pool the other day and some new ones had appeared! People must think there is something wrong with me studying my arms every few lengths!
Short answer seems to be because your immune system is compromised.
Ptolemy & Paul. Do try the Double Base Gel, I too got the info from Mrs O, it worked a treat (after 3 or 4 applications). Certainly worth the money.
Also, as lodger says don't bath or shower too often, and when you do, don't use soap or foams, just scrub with a flannel then you won't lose those valuable natural oils.
Or cheaper on the well known website! Worked great for me was very supprised that it was not sticky and leaving a foul smell - quite pleasent
I think you misunderstood me! I was wondering if there was any event such as scratching myself thst would make it suddenly appear. In fact my vascular surgeon explained the reason why it hapens in the first place in great detail. It was quite complicated!
Hello ptolemy,
My spots just remain flat and as yours they take about two weeks to fade while others are taking their place. Some of them are due to light bruising or scratching an area but its hard to know which. The worst part about them is the effect on people around you or the percieved effect. I had been playing tennis with a group of seniors and hope to go back, but they must think I have come down with something catchy and I found that no one knows about PMR and it gets old having to go through the whole story.
Paul
Hi Paul
I know what you mean about what people think. Sometimes they look like I have been pruning the roses and hope that is what people think I have been doing. I had a little group of purpura last week that looked like I had a rather nasty graze by my elbow. People kept asking if I had hurt myself. I check each day to see which are new and which are old and number them in the sequence they appear. I think I may be losing my mind!
Hi Gone Girl, it is important to note that some people on prednisone have NO side effects. But you did ask what our experiences were with prednisone. Here are my side effects: hair loss, easy bruising, loss of taste, loss of appetite, nausea, memory loss, moon face, dry skin, elevated blood pressure, tinnitus, dry eyes, weight gain, hump on back of neck and fat accumlated around waistline and, last but not least, chronic thrush.
I started on 15 mg of prednisone in November 2014 and the side effects started shortly thereafter. Now I am down to 13 mg and some of the side effects are lessening, but I have still have all of them. Needless to say, I am very unhappy about all these extra issues. I hope you do not experience any side effects. Please keep us posted.
There are far more things that could make you lose your mind than purpura. (hee hee)! When I had it at the beginning of PMR I had great blotches of it, often two inches wide, and yes, they bled. Had to use special bandages that weren't to be removed for a week at a time. No swimming, showering or bathing for weeks. (Thank God for the flannel)!!
Hi Constance, Mine vary in size enormously. From tiny dot ones and then larger ones, I don't think I have gone over an inch though. Although I did have a fairly large one on my leg recently, luckily it did not burst. They often come in clusters. A real pain, or should I say a painless pain! What dosage were you on when you stopped having it?