I’d be interested to hear what experiences people have had with Prednisone. I’ve had to take it often over the past year or so after deverloping a rather bad case of asthma. I’ve been able to get the asthma somewhat under control – meaning I’m not having to take big bursts of Prednisone anymore. But I still need to take it fairly often in smaller doses.
The darn stuff has a long list of side-effects, all of them nasty. But, being that the weight gain and moon face and buffalo hump is what I see now, that’s what I care about.
My question is how long after stopping prednisone treatment did you get back to normal fat-wise? I have asked one of my doctors this question, and was told it depended on how much you had to take for how long. Well! that clears it right up, eh?
So, how long did you take it, and how much? How long until you started to look like yourself again?
And for our medical folks, has anybody ever figured out why Prednisone does what it does? I’ve read about it being much like um, cortisole? something our bodies make naturally. Some of what I’ve read about Prednisone says that it seems to speed many of the natural aging things, like cataracts and bone loss and hardening of the arteries. So, why? Does cortisole (if that’s what it’s called) do the same thing?
Why must such a wonderful drug be such a pain in the butt?
The longest single period I had to take it was about a year. Had I not also found food horrible at the time I’m sure I could easily have gained a hundred pounds in a year. I could gain as much as 20 pounds in a week when on Prednsone.
My underlying problem made it easy to lose it when I stop taking it. Not all the weight gain in fat though. You can be light sensitive. I got a bit hairier on the high doses, but that went back to where I was before taking the Prednesone. Your immune system is repressed so get flue shots, and stay away from sick people. Side effects are more severe the higher the dose and the longer your taking them. Low doses don’t normally give you the neck hump, or severe side effects. The warnings say to tell medical persons about the Prednesone, for a year after you take the last dose. Your body stops making the horemone when you take the pills. It can be hard to get off the last bit of the medicine, because your body doesn’t want to start making it again. Low doses take a long time to cause this problem. You must never just stop taking the Prednesone after being on it for a longer period. you have to reduce down and get your body to produce it again, or you’ll die.
It’s only a wonderful drug in that sometimes it’s the only drug that helps and that’s because it shuts of the immune system. The side effects are nasty and the fact that many would die without it is the only reason to call it a good medicine. Weight you gain on it for more than a month, will be just as hard to lose as always.
My SIL has been on it for decades. She ballooned from 115 to about 300 lbs. Her general health was in the toilet. I personally think they should have taken her off of it, but she’s addicted to it.
I have been on prednisone (pill form) a few times for more than a year each time, to keep my Crohn’s disease under control. The first time I developed the moon face (Cushing’s syndrome) and gained about 50 pounds. As soon as I was off the prednisone, I started dropping the weight - I lost 30lbs in maybe 3 months (I happily kept the other twenty since the Crohn’s had made me seriously underweight.)
The other times I’ve been on prednisone I have also found that whatever additional weight it put on has dropped off rapidly after the final dose - within a few months, and the moon face quickly went away as well. Just about the only side effect I didn’t develop was the buffalo hump.
And prednisone has another very nasty side effect in pill form - it leaches calcium from your bones over long term use. I am 34 and I have osteoporosis. You may want to ask your doctor to have a bone density scan done to check.
It’s not something that’s adictive. It has no substitue other than dying in many cases. It can be the only drug to stop deadly symptoms. I haven’t met a person that wants to be on it. Prednesone in low dodes for asthma is common. The last step in a severe attack of asthema can be putting a person under with surgerical anesthesia.
I research the asthema throughly, because I was so bad I wondered what was left when the medicine I was using stopped working. I had a couple times where I thought the swelling of my lungs and throat would kill me.
Thanks for the replies. I don’t think I can go three months without having to take it. I guess I will need to go get myself one of those body shaper girdle type things. Does anybody have a source for face and neck girdles? How do you spell girdle? Gah!
You may be able to stop taking it after the seasonal changes occur. You may find that less is needed when antihistimes are taken regulary. I hope I didn’t scare the crap out of you by being intense. A low dose is not a huge problem for most of the symptoms, but the weight gain needs to be watched carefuly.
I hear you. I almost died last year from it. I know that this is true because after 24 hours in the intensive care unit the Doctor told me that I damn near died. Usually the doctors say you are very sick or some such nicety.
Keep up with all your meds, and I will do the same, you doubter of dog linguistic abilities!
Cut salt out of your diet and take a diuretic (under medical supervision, and not too much!). It’s water-weight gain; my mother has been on prednisone for more than 30 years and was able to avoid the weight gain and moon-face through those methods.
One longterm side effect (besides bone loss) is thinning of the skin: my mother can literally cut her leg open brushing against a paper bag.
I blocked the thin skin part from my memory. Your body is covered in black and blue spots at all times. A shin wound took a year to heal beyound a scab. You literaly do get a mark from resting your fingers on your other arm. Eve is in noway exagerating her mothers ability to start bleeding.
Yes, I’ve had the bruising and slow healing as well. I’ll talk to the Dr. about a diuretic next time I’m in.
I still wonder if anybody knows why prednisone makes your body do all this weird stuff. Seems like it’s taking all the inflamation out of my lungs and moving it up to my neck and face!
It is based on a regulatory hormone, if it’s not exactly the same as your body produces. Your body is reacting how it would to your own hormone. Look at people that take illegal steroids for sports inhancment. They gain mass, have raging fits, and can get bone cancer from heave use. It’s a different hormone than prednesone, so don’t worry about the bone cancer.
Eve, I hope you can understand this; I am pissed off. I’ve erased something like seven statements now because they are so shallow and silly. Such as: I look like shit and I hate it. Just how much is a human supposed to give up? and Why Meeeeeeee?
I doubt it’s shallow and silly. It’s a legetimate concern when you have something that affects your personal perception, and physical being.
You don’t have to give up food or salt. You need to watch what you eat and use as little salt as you can. Don’t cover french fries with salt, and that type of thing. Weigh yourself every morning at the same time, and if you have gained multiple pounds every day over a number of days cut down on the quantity of food in your meal. It’s way easier than gaining 50 pounds and trying to lose it then. To reduce injuries I had to wear shoes at all times, and normaly a long sleeve shirt. The shirt did help prevent some bruises and hide the ones I had. I don’t know how badly it affects your life, but you can get through it.
Bitch about it if you want. You don’t want to alienate everybody here by doing it all the time. The people on this board won’t condem you. The best listeners I’ve had are people that have had medical problems. They like other’s don’t want to hear about it all the time, but they’ll listen, and sometimes you’ll need to listen to them. It’s an equitable trade in the end. Rant, rave, and throw virtual pans if you want.
You may wish to start a different thread for that.
One dosing method to help reduce the side effects, is to alternate doses. something like 40mg, 10 mg, 40mg. 10mg… You get the pattern. The dose would vary for your situation.
Don’t forget, prednisone (going or or off it) can effect your mood as well . . . Good thing it keeps you alive, or the temptation would be to say, “screw it.”
