prednisolone and head aches

[Pinkyboo28]

I hate it these steroid tablets give me such severe headaches I can’t handle it although I need them for asthma exacerbation. Is anyone else getting headaches? Also stomach aches

[Truckerclark]

sometimes they can give me stomach aches but mainly steroids give me insomnia,,, other than that ok ,

[Patk1]

I don't get thm frm prednisolone,more frm infection & inflammation

[Santoshax]

hi - me too - makes me feel absolutely awful - hate it. Insomnia / headaches/jumpy

may I ask what dosage ?

All the very best .

[Pinkyboo28 in reply to Santoshax]

Hi I’m currently on the 5 day course of 5mg and it is horrible can’t sleep indigestion stomach cramps severe headache I wish I didn’t keep having asthma exacerbations because I hate these steroids. Are you on them regularly?

[Patk1 in reply to Pinkyboo28]

Try taking as early as possible,with food

[TwoPuffsAl]

Sorry to hear that Pinkyboo, but they are pretty essential when you get a bad spell. I’ve not had headaches or stomach problems but do have problems sleeping when I’m on them. I hope things improve over time.

[Pinkyboo28 in reply to TwoPuffsAl]

Thanks I’ve been up most of the night I guess it’s also down to the tablets which I did try to take early as possible I hope this passes real soon

[Symes]

Never had headaches or stomach issues with Prednisolone, but they did cause me to get diabetes. Like you I need them for all the chest infections I get. But there are a lot of side effects.

Steroids. Fix one problem, cause another.

[Pinkyboo28 in reply to Symes]

Wow I’m so shocked with this because o recently got told I am pre diabetic and although I struggle with weight I was surprised than I’m on borderline now that u say that I’m wondering if it is the side effects of the steroids I have had to be on them 3 times in the last 3 months and this is when I did my bloods for diabetes, thanks for that. These tablets definitely do fix problem but create ten others

[Kekememe1 in reply to Symes]

Same here. I became an uncontrolled diabetic because I can't get off them. For me, they are life giving. I just hate the massive weight gain.

[teddyd]

Headache and lack of sleep can be an issue for me, but the benefits out weigh the side affects.

[Poobah]

If you can, check your blood pressure while you're on a course of Prednisolone. It may be that the headaches are caused by raised BP and if that's the case, you need to tell your doctor.

[crille]

It might help if you take the prednisolone with food, which is quite all right according to the slip enclosed with the tablets.

[Thomas45]

During the last 45 years I've had many courses of prednisolone which has never caused a headache. It's not clear what your dose is. My last was 40mg a day for 7 days. That was in November 2023.I have permanent, though asymptomatic, Atrial fibrillation as well, and my body reacted to a new anticoagulant by giving me an auto-immune condition called Polymyalgia Rheumatica. The only treatment for that is a very slowly reduction of prednisolone, from 30mg a day to no mg a day. It took me just under 4 years to achieve that reduction. The one side effect I had was osteopoenia, which is increased porosity of my bones. Not as bad as osteoporosis, but still taking vitamins C and D3 tablets for the rest of my life .

I have had bad reactions to other prescribed drugs, which I can avoid as there are alternatives which don't give bad reactions. Unfortunately for you there is no alternative for prednisolone.

[Pinkyboo28 in reply to Thomas45]

Sorry to hear the struggles with your health I’ve been on it for asthma exacerbation which is either the 5 day course or 7 days and it’s 8 tablets each morning 5mg. I suppose in order to avoid steroids is to get my asthma back under control thanks

[DannyQ]

I want to ask how much water your drinking as that will help with the head aches, well I say that as I helps with me I probably drink a minimum of 3 litres of water a day and try and reduce your coffee or tea intake as well.I hope this helps

[Pinkyboo28 in reply to DannyQ]

I think I need to up my water intake it’s nowhere near enough tbh I need to work on this thanks Danny

[Kekememe1]

Sorry to hear that. It's actually the opposite for me. Without Prednisone, I get headaches!! Reason is my allergies and asthma go crazy and my throat starts closing up. So while I'm sleeping, I can't get enough oxygen and get these massive headaches that wake me up! 🙏.Everytime I try to taper down to 10mg, it happens. I take 20mg everyday as a maintenance dose and up to 40mg when I'm going through a flare up. Hope you find something that works better for you.

[Pinkyboo28 in reply to Kekememe1]

Thanks it’s so awful I’m glad it works well for u

[Jamesd1234]

I think I have had headaches with it and mostly felt overly energized. It can be exhausting but found I had adjusted a little after a few days. It might help to drink plenty of water and maybe take a paracetamol for the headache if it gets bad

[Pinkyboo28 in reply to Jamesd1234]

Just wish the headaches weren’t so severe trying water and paracetamol nothing helps it just hope asthma gets better so I don’t have to take steroid tablets anymore

[Jamesd1234 in reply to Pinkyboo28]

sorry to hear that. I've heard someone else on here mention another alternative to pred, maybe a type of antibiotic?. im not an expert but may be worth asking about

[Homely2 Administrator]

You need to get off prednisone by finding a medic who will sort you out with a drug regime that avoids it. So get referred on.

If your GP will not and asthma UK cannot help, see a local NHS asthma consultant privately and ask for their advice.

[EJS87]

I'm on prednisolone for my asthma as it is really severe eosinophilic treatment resistant asthma. Been rushed to hospital 8 times and on 2 occasions they were very close calls to being admitted to ICU.

The normal prednisolone was okay when I first started it but then it was causing me a lot of stomach issues and needing to go to toilet, sorry if that's TMI. I wasn't getting the full benefit of the prednisolone and was having asthma attacks daily and ending up in hospital a lot. I'm not sure that if I was getting the benefits I would have stayed out of hospital but it would have helped. My GP changed the prednisolone to enteric coated ones and it has made a big difference with regards to my stomach. Had a few emergency asthma attacks since but not having the daily attacks, still getting asthma symptoms though.

I don't get headaches but they have made my insomnia worse. Caused weight gain and my diabetes to return after getting it to remission last year. Also caused high blood pressure, but I know if I don't take them my asthma would be a million times worse. I'm waiting to be referred for biologics. Hopefully they will help and I can eventually come off the steroids.

Maybe ask your doctors to change the steroids to enteric coated ones and they might help with the stomach aches at least.