my doctor refuses to give me charged Prednisolone. Having been on them for eighteen months I am experiencing some nasty acid stomach symptoms after taking them early in the morning. It gets worse as the day goes on. I gave up Omneprazol because that too was giving me really nasty side effects... Worse than indegestion ! Today I emptied a capsule of the no longer wanted Omneprasol slow release beads and put my Prednisolne tablets inside. I took it with the usual early morning lactofre milk and dry crackers..... After two hours I still have none of the usual burning pain or acid throat that I normally get from this.... Let's hope it does not affect the action of the Preds but hey! Hopefully I am going to have a nice day.
i feel that my doctor refusing to give me coated tablets is cruel and if this experiment works I am definitely going to take that and many other complaints to whoever might listen.
Enteric coated Prednisolone costs way more, so that's why a lot of GPs refuse to prescribe it. Good luck and I hope your day is a good one.x
I wish there was a way to edit these posts... My iPad has gone haywire with its word check and changed things.... Title should read Preds give me stomach problems and the first line should be coated Prednisolone! Sorry about that
Actually empty pill capsules are very cheep on the Internet so perhaps this is a way forward... DIY kind to the stomach remedy 
I am just lucky the Preds fit in just right
Well its nearly four hours since I took my preds in the capsule.... I have no indegestion whatsoever and was able to eat a fairly substantial breakfast without pain or discomfort. We will see in half an hour which is the time the 'after breakfast' hell usually kicks in. I feel good for a change... even my headache has eased off. I still have a little lumpy feeling in my throat but I think that is just damage done by the reaction of my stomach to the raw preds. Have not had to take any indegestion remedies so far today... oooh I really hope I have cracked tis and its not just my body being temporarily confused!!!
Hi Christine,
It is a great discovery you made. If it continues to work it may be a good solution to taking all the other drugs for tummy troubles albeit it bit of a nuisance filling the capsules.
I hope the rest of your day goes as well as the beginning.
Hugs, Diana🌸
No it doesn't - that was the case (sort of) when the edict was issued that enteric coated was to be restricted. The enteric coated then was approx. 17x more than ordinary white tablets. As soon as NICE issued the edict, the manufacturers put the price of ordinary pred up so there was no longer the differential.
The current (12 months ago) relationship is about £1.30 for 1 month 5mg ordinary pred, £1.80 for 1 month 5mg enteric coated pred. Then you have to add the £1.80 for 1 month's supply omeprazole (as the cheapest PPI, if you can't tolerate it and need a different one it is more). And then you have to add the dispensing fees: pred plus PPI is x2, enteric coated x1. In the end enteric coated is cheaper.
To top it all - the NICE edict included the get out clause that if a patient required enteric coated because of intolerances the patient was to be allowed it.
In fact, during the consultation many GPs felt it was fair enough and agreed to the change. Within a year of the change they had had so many patients like Christine who couldn't tolerate pred plus PPI and developed stomach problems that they said that they wished they had objected at the time.
Shame Christine has such an uncooperative GP.
Your GP should not be allowed to get away with this.
Go to your Practice Manager, tell them exactly what has happened and what you have had to resort to and ensure that that situation does not occur with anyone else.
Elderly people, and I am one, would not have the skill to open and empty a capsule and insert their tablets. They would also not have access to the internet or perhaps could not afford the cost.
By the way, Ranitidine (new name for Zantac) is the best PPI if you have to take one.
A remedy for acid reflux, which works as many people taking pred have tried it is a lemon placed in the microwave for 1 minute, juice squeezed out of it, taken three times a day in water - result no acid reflux. Remedy courtesy of MrsO and well used.
Thanks yes I have been to all of the people in the practice but have been labelled 'trouble' so they take no notice of me.
I am having my lunch now and still hardly any indegestion so I think I have discovered the cause... from now on, as you say I will put all plain meds in capsules, This has been a hell of a pain trip the past six months. , but today no acid stomach yet and the headaches have susided a bit too so some of that may be due to the stomach sensitivity. I dont think I am ready for a full meal or some of the less plain items yet...still very sore but optimistic. I have just finished the upstairs wallpapering I started two years ago and had to give up when PMR developed. Not such a bad day at all...
Hi Christine,
I agree with Lodger, I don't know if you've tried the lemon juice and water, and I know it seems strange, but it really does change the ph in your stomach and does work. I have it every morning to clean up my system a bit and I've never had a problem with my stomach.
My son who suffers from acid reflux swears by "mother" Apple cider vinegar.
Have a happy tummy day!
The acid in lemon turns to alkali when it is drunk.
Perhaps that is the same for Apple Cider.
Cabge your GP and report that practice to the Commissioning Group in your area.
I would have to change the wole practice.. we a remote and rural. The next practice is 4 miles away and run by the same group of doctors... they each open 3 days a week.
If I upset them any more I will be struck off...so the receptionist says.
The next practice is over six miles away and they wont take us as too remote. When you are old some places treat you very badly...you are a nuisance unless you curl up and die quietly... Its not as easy as when you are younger
Oh Dear
Perhaps you ought to move to about 10 minutes away from the best hospital in your area. 
I suspect that if you were struck off that other practice who say you are too remote might be instructed to take you on! But I don't think the receptionist has any right to say that anyway!
But it is a disgusting set-up altogether.
Thank you for this tip Christine. I am going to try it as my GP wont prescibe coated pred either despite the fact that my pain was extreme enough to mimic heart attack symptoms requiring two days in hospital having tests!. She says the coated or uncoated in trials have been shown to have no difference. She seems to have an answer for everything however many I Have ready to throw at her!
well this is day two of the experiment. Last night I ate a small amount of meat for the first time for weeks... no acid or heartburn.. a little coughing but for the first time yesterday.. I am usually coughing constantly) my husband could not believe I had a day without coughing.. Have not had to take any indigestion relief for the past 24 hours. My puffy face has actually gone down a bit too. I wonder if the side effects of Pred can start by the reaction in the stomach ? I am going to have to buy some bigger capsule cases for when I reduce next as I will have to use the 1mg to get the numbers right. Would love to know if it works for you too.
I am so happy to have another day without pain and misery and not being able to eat anything.
Have just bought 100 empty new gelatine capsules at Amazon for £2.25. so that is the way to go I think.
I am certainly going to try it but really it shouldn't come to this! I have lost weight and been referred to a dietician as BMI too low....but its not about the food is it? Just the ability to eat and digest it.
exadtly and I am sick to death of being a pawn in policies and practices that are so far removed from care and help for the suffering. Since being on this forum I have learned far more than anyone I have had contact with who purprts to be a 'practicioner' about PMR I have proven, in my case, that Omneprazol causes heart arythmia, breathlessness and fatigue. Now I am sitting here without any pain or soreness in my stomach actually looking forward to a light lunch instead of pain and fear of never eating normally again. Just a bit of innovation... a bit of imagination.. it works wonders...Brave people are not afraid of change... they make change work