prednisone side effects

[emptyskies13]

Hi again guys, wow 2nd post in two days I hope you all don't get sick of me lol. Anyway as I mentioned in my previous post I've been dealing with a pretty bad asthma flare-up the past few days and my doctor prescribed me 40mg of prednisone to be taken over 5 days to try and knock the air back into me. This is a pretty standard treatment for many asthmatics and it's a standard treatment for me as well. It's been a year since my last prednisone treatment and usually I have no issues with it but after taking the first dose yesterday I got incredibly sick.

It took about 8hrs for the steroids to kick in but when they did I felt extremely lightheaded, my heart began to race, I was so nauseous and shaking uncontrollably. My breathing improved (although I was still taking a lot of ventolin and it's bad again today) but I have not felt that sick in a very long time. All of this happened while I was at work as well and my coworker and boss both got extremely worried for me and wanted me to go home. The feelings lasted for about an hour then I slowly began to adjust but now I'm terrified of taking the second dose because I do not want to react like that again.

Has anyone else had any experience with prednisone side effects and if so how did you deal with them? I dont want to have to choose between my breathing and the rest of my bodily health but at this point I'm not sure I have a choice.

[hilary39]

Did you talk to your GP? I have a lot of side effects with steroids and I find they're sometimes different with each course. I get very moody, cry easily, sometimes I feel weirdly euphoric and productive. It can mess with my memory and sleep and usually even a single course makes me gain a few kilos. Are you taking the steroids with food? Could the ventolin have also caused or contributed to the heart racing? Oof. This is why people on here call them the devil's candy! Sometimes they're the only thing that can help our bodies calm down but they can be vicious.

[Cheetahstar88]

I always struggle with pred side effects. Must say though.. if I'm on pred I'm never at work. Not sure you can work if you can't breathe. Sign yourself off sick xx

[dawnhaycock]

My daughter always takes hers after breakfast, if taken on an empty stomach she is sick.

[Poobah]

I had a course of Prednisolone in March, hadn't had them in about five years. Took the first 40mg dose and after a while I felt awful - like either my head or heart would burst & it lasted hours. It was truly frightening. I took a reduced amount the following day and found I could tolerate 25mg.

I spoke to my asthma nurse and GP & they were happy with what I'd done (it had been the weekend). My asthma nurse followed up with a phone call a few days later to make sure things were heading in the right direction taking 25mg daily.

I'm not sure if I had such a bad reaction because I now have hypertension. It's certainly not a reaction I've ever had before. Fortunately, I took the the reduced amount over a longer period and it really helped my flare up.

I know that short, sharp treatment with steroids is now the norm, but I remember the days when a course would be divided into 3 times a day for a longer period of days, with a phased reduction in dose factored in. I'm certainly going to be careful in future if I have to have another course and talk about the daily dose with the doctor first.

[Snazzyjack in reply to Poobah]

Prednisolone is a life saver for me,I am hyper, and have nightmares though

[ChrissieMons]

I have always tolerated pred well, but I had the 5 day dose recently and felt horribly ill for the 1st 2 days. I took them all, and felt gradually better and it did the trick for me. Maybe it’s just me getting older... sigh!

[Mark-f]

Hi.... I’ve been on prednisone continuously since 2015 ... they have proper messed me up ... I’ve now got osteoporosis and adrenal insufficiency as well as terrible moods and anxiety ..

I’m sure you will be fine after a few days and short courses will do little or no harm .. make sure you take early in the mornings with food ..

good luck