Hi fellow sufferers. Some of you may know this already, but I thought it might be helpful to let you know what I've found out about Prednisolone and Liquorice.
I've been suffering from the usual dreadful fatigue and other symptoms of both PMR and reducing Prednisolone and I'm now down to 5mg a day and have stabilized at this level. However a couple of weeks ago, while having an episode of feeing particularly dreadful, I questioned everything about both Prednisolone and PMR and in doing so, I looked into what might be in my diet that could react badly with Pred'. Bingo! Liquorice!! Apparantly it's the one most important thing that shouldn't mix with Prednisolone and it makes withdrawal symptoms much worse.
I like herbal and fuit teas and a particular favourite of mine contains liquorice. As I've all but cut out alcohol, I've tended to drink this tea before going to bed and sometimes during the day. I haven't drank it now for two weeks and the headaches have subsided. I feel much less fatigued and fuzzy and generally better in myself.
Hopefully this might just be useful for some of you to know.
Well that would explain my terrible headaches a few months back. I was taking massive amounts of liquorice to counteract stomach acidity and GERD I stopped about a month ago and the headaches dropped too . Another good reason for popping in here every day!
It seems we are in a catch 22 situation. Pred causing stomach problems and remedies causing bad reactions..... Such is life! Shame I love liquorice.
I think really it amounts to the usual caveat: check out any supplements or dietary additions before using them alongside pred. Not that I imagine any pharmacist would think about that and GPs wouldn't know!
Many herbal teas have medicinal properties - so obviously must have pharmaceutical effects to do that. So care is needed when mixing them with pharmaceuticals of any sort.
TIMELY POST FOR ME! I am "stuck" taking both Pred and an NSAID for now to treat different conditions. I am taking Prilosec (omeprazole)as well as stomach protector but was just remembering that I had read licorice was the thing and was considering trying that next. Guess what? I will not be trying that right now. Thank you!
Very interesting. I've been reading many of these posts and have considered my diet and PMR. I did not know this correlation. Good to know!
I do know that ever since I got PMR, I have no desire for alcohol. I use to enjoy a glass of wine occasionally, now I take one sip and it sits. Although I've never been much of an alcohol drinker, I have no desire for it at all now.
I'm down to 5 mg Pred. for the 2nd time. Scaled down from 15mg each time after a year. I took it very slow. I'm now heading into year 3.
I have no real side effects of Pred which is good. So staying here at 5mg seems to do the job. My Dr basically let's me call the shots as to when I can go down or if I need to go up on Pred.
This forum is the most information I've ever seen on PMR. I have learned a lot and feel the disease is a bit more serious than I previously thought. How I'm feeling these last few years really is this disease and not me mentally. It's sad the great physical shape I use to be in has just gone down the toilet. I started a great running hobby at 53, when my husband was dying from cancer. I was a pretty good runner! It kept me off of anti-depressants. I loved it. It was my Zoloft. After some foot problems I decided to cycle more. Then after 2011 and some stressful events throughout the year I was hit by PMR and thyroid problems. I've mentioned all this previously in a post. I've battled back so many times. Now at 62, I've really slowed. I still cycle some good distances, work in the yard a lot, I've always been high energy. Even with this disease I out-work most friends my age. It's just a bummer I'm not what I use to be. Now I'm that lady that always talks about her health problems, like most old people. I will be back to running someday. I battled back last year and ran just 3 road races and placed in all of them. It pays to be an old woman in a 5K. Now I'm dealing with Plantar Faschitis again and some female problems that both require surgery. So next year will be my year! Watch me! Do not give up my friends! It could be worse! We are still standing and not 6ft under!
Fortunately I've not had stomach discomfort on Pred but wanted to mention I use to find liquorice raised my blood pressure A LOT, especially if I had a lot of it! I stay away from it these days and my blood pressure is normal. Maybe some of its ill effects for others has been a rise in their blood pressure.
Oh absolutely Pam - it's what I want to shout when people are so upset about what they have lost in terms of what they can do. I can't cycle or swim other than backstroke because of a back problem besides the PMR - and so many swimming pools won't let you swim backstroke! I've just started to clear the mess on the balcony after having the wood sanded and re-coated (not happy about how it was done but hey-ho) and sweeping and washing the floor has finished me for the day I think! The rest will have to wait.
But my niece has cystic fibrosis and I suspect she has just been told she's to be put on the transplant list as she was down to about 30% lung function earlier in the year and her mother has just been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Both of them have always been keen walkers and my SIL is/was a very "on the go" person - just being with her exhausted me! So my PMR and its add-ons are minimal in comparison.
Yes I was about to post about liquorice and blood pressure when I saw your reply, Leonard. When I was young, it was nothing for me to get through a small bag of liquorice allsorts - really love them. Have avoided them for years now though since I read about their potential to worsen high blood pressure. Unfortunately, I haven't had the success you seem to have had with your blood pressure since avoiding liquorice.
I have had fairly few problems with stomach since putting my Prednisolone tablets into empty gelatin pill cases bought on Amazon for £2.50 for 200.. 00 size. Best move I ever made as I was having real bad acid reflux all day and night.. so much I couldn't talk or eat. Now I dont even need gaviscon except once in a blue moon.
Thanks for this notice regarding licorice. I have been taking two deglycyrrhizinated Licorice extract tablets before each meal to counteract stomach issues caused by the prednisone. I opted for them in place of zantac because they have been recommended as safer than zantac or prilosec because they are not considered a drug and I buy them at the health food store
I will stop taking them and see if there is any improvement in my fatigue. There is so much helpful information here and I thank eveyone that shares information.
Again - for anyone looking in on this discussion: it doesn't matter what something is sold as, drugs or supplements or even teas. Pharmaceutical drugs are considered as such and subjected to very close scrutiny and testing which tends to flag up the interactions with other medications which must be warned against. If the drug company doesn't do it, the FDA or their equivalent in the various countries will do so sooner or later.
Supplements are not subject to the same testing and scrutiny - so actually should NOT be considered as "safer" as there is neither the stringent regulation of their manufacture or their labelling. The lack of monitoring of their manufacture and marketing means that you can be buying ANYTHING - and this is particularly the case with stuff you purchase on the internet.
One substance was being claimed to be totally safe and to do the same (or better) as prednisolone in arthritis. When tested by government laboratories it was found to contain very high levels of a corticosteroid as well as several risky substances. The people who were so convinced they were getting a fantastic result from a herbal mix - and the result WAS good - were actually taking very high doses of corticosteroid, exactly what they didn't want to do and why they were using it. And a substance with rather dodgy contaminants.
Remember that the substances the health store is selling and recommending also can have medicinal effects, and that means side effects too. And the health store will use all the normal marketing ploys to get us to buy their product rather than anything else - profit is their bottom line. The counter staff don't spend 5 or 6 years getting a pharmacology degree either...
I love liquorice allsorts too but have kept off them recently with pred. I understand that beetroot is good at reducing blood pressure. You can get beetroot juice at supermarkets nowadays too.
Thank you ptolemy. I did buy a carton of organic beetroot juice just a couple of weeks ago. It's quite a large glassful you have to drink every day and one carton is probably not enough to have any effect on my BP but it did result in everything coming out pink the other end!
The trouble is a lot of the juices are also mixed with quite a lot of apple juice. Probably better to go for solid beetroot, it is supposed to be good grated in salads, very nouvelle cuisine.
Yes your right, ptolemy - there was 10% apple juice added to the beetroot juice - probably makes it a bit more palatable. I'm sure grating raw beetroot in salads would be the best way - will try that next.