I usually take my prednisone at approximately 10-11am. this a.m. I was feeling quite nauseous, so I decided not to take anything (including food) until it subsided. it's now 6pm and I've still not eaten or taken any medication. I've got an absolute SPLITTING headache (so far, no pmr pains)! could this headache possibly be related to prednisone withdrawal in such a relatively short period of time?? the headache is Almost unbearable right now.... LOL....I've got a scarf tied round my head to put some pressure on! Sooo attractive!
not sure about the headache, my concern would be your adrenal glands or lack of. I would think it would greatly depend on if you are currently taking more than 6 to 8 mg a day, at a certain point your adrenal glands are dependent on the prednisone and from my understanding serious side effects could result I’m not taking the prednisone because your adrenal glands are suppressed. I’m sure other people will have better answers but just a thought.
by not taking the prednisone, not I’m not taking. 
hi sherri…I’m currently taking 12mg pred…yikes, my head hasn’t hurt this bad in Ages!
finally took the prednisone a few moments ago, so we’ll see what happens!
oh yikes is right, at 12 mg your adrenals are dependent on prednison. you are steroid dependent .
Use ice on your head.
That has been my best relief.
I’m someone who hates cold but I can leave it on as much as 2 hour’s at a time.
Really does help.
Use ibruprofin (spelling) some. I was told not to use Advil because it effects your liver.
Hope you feel better soon.
darlene…funny you should mention ice! I’ve got a "cold pack on my forehead and neck as we “speak”!
it DOES feel good!
and as I’ve grown to find out, Very steroid sensitive!
This has NOT been a good week…hopefully Thanksgiving will be better!
Lynda, you sound to me Dear, that you may be a little dehydrated … try taking little sips of water, this should help you. This is very important, especially for your headache…
Dehydration can also cause nausea… ( I say this from personal experience)
you certainly are having a difficult time with the pred and other tragic issues which have come your way..
I hope by the time you read this post, that you are feeling a little better ..
Di
thanks Di (Diana??)…actually my daughter Just gave me a tramadol…I’ve never taken one before, but 1/2hr later, it seems to have somewhat helped!
wish me luck I may have this headed in the right direction!
couple of comments…
You have to be very careful with not taking pred, because in addition to headache , you may end up with PMR muscle pain. Take some yogurt or milk and take prednisone. I know it is tempting to take some over the counter pain meds, but be careful, they do NOT go well with prednisone and may damage stomach lining.
Your usual time for pred(11AM) is way too late. Remember cytokines are at highest concentration at 4:30 AM. One should take pred as close as possible to that time. If you take pred late, cytokines are “free” to do damage and cause inflammation until you take pred to neutralize them.
please becareful with tramadol. i was given it for pain when i had a blood clot by a gp at our surgery, stopped after two days went to hospital and they said i did the right thing as they dont like people to be on it it is addictive, and i know this as i have a sister who cannot get off it.
sorry you are having a bad time drink plenty, god bless
hmmm…interesting Nick. I’d never heard that before (about taking prednisone early in am).
I’ll try that tomorrow!
thanks for the advice Margaret…I’m aware of the possibility of getting addicted to it…I think that if one takes it OCCASIONALLY, the chances are fairly slim of that happening.
And for the record, my headache is now Gone!!
thank goodness!!
If you have a headache it is always a good idea to try a painkiller - because that will almost certainly tell you difference between “something” and GCA , which is a start. It is unlikely that a single dose of tramadol is going to make anyone addicted and if you have it in the house you obviously have it for a good reason - not a good one to be using for mild pain on a regular basis though.
And while missing a single dose of pred at whatever dose is unlikely to do much harm - more than that should be avoided. As r.d.s also says - dehydration is likely to make any headache worse. And not eating contributes.
Glad it seems to have improved though
It is mentioned on the forums at regular intervals - as Nick says the inflammatory substances are shed in the early morning and the optimum time to take pred was found in a study to be 2am so the pred was at its peak before they appeared. The longer after that you wait to take your pred, the more time they have to wreak havoc and the more inflammation there is to clear out. There are people who set an alarm to take pred in the middle of the night but another way is to wake early and take the pred as Nick describes and then settle down for another couple of hours to allow the pred to work.
Everyone is different - and some people take their pred at night to avoid side effects that bother them. It’s the same with splitting, some need their second dose earlier and others later.
You poor thing, headaches are the worst. I get migraines at the drop of the hat. I have a prescription for imitrex, 100 mg. I usually take a piece of it, so not getting the whole 100, probably a quarter of it at a time, and it always take it away. It’s like the sun coming out after a week of storms, when it lifts.
Patricia…your analogy is spot on!
I’ve tried imitrex once a long time ago. It was an injection and I had a bad reaction (can’t remember exactly what it was as it’s been so long ago)…but I know it works well for many people.
as it turns out, the tramadol did the trick, so thankfully the headache has subsided!
So does ibuprofen!
nope! it doesn’t phase me!