How long does it take for Prednisone to work on flare up?

[palmtreelover]

I was diagnosed with asthma about a year ago. Every time I catch a cold, my asthma flares up & I have always needed to go on oral steroids (Prednisone) to alleviate the flare up. But I can't remember how long it takes for the Prednisone to start working... I started my Pred yesterday (60 Mg) & took another 60 mg today. But I am still coughing a lot.

Question 1: How long does it typically take for the Prednisone to start working?

Question 2: Will this be the "new normal" every time I catch a cold?

I thought that if I followed my daily regiment (twice daily Symbacort inhaler) that I wouldn't run into this...

[Patk1]

Very often viruses trigger exacerbations of asthma (& lung diseases). Best thing is to protect yrself,as best u can,from catching colds etc. I carry handgel everywhere + use viral blockers - coldzyme throat spray× vicks first defence nose spray; I wear a mask at times too.Yr prednisolone, at that dose, should work fairly quickly.do u have a salbutamol inhaler

[palmtreelover in reply to Patk1]

Thank you. It looks like the coldzyme isn't available in the U.S. but I'll definitely look into the vicks nasal spray. And I also use hand gel frequently & typically wear a mask in large public places & always when traveling. I have a nebulizer that I use with albuterol. I am currently using that every 6 hours. My symptoms seem to be better this afternoon, so hopefully I'll continue down the path of recovery.

[Patk1 in reply to palmtreelover]

Good.lets hope yr steroids are working x

[kc01kc01]

My Doctor told me it takes 12 hours for the prednisolone to start working.

From my personal experience I don't get an asthma flare up with every cold I get.

[palmtreelover in reply to kc01kc01]

Thanks... I hope that I can get to a point where I don't get a flare up with every cold... so far, it's about 2x/year, which is 2x too many!

[Homely2 Administrator]

I normally do 40mg of pred. For me this rakes sometimes three days, sometimes five days to get control of the asthma. Some people need more than one five day course.

Not sure of the effect of taking 60mg rather than 40 mg.

You need your medics to adjust your meds so that you do not regularly need pred.

[Gwalltarian]

You could try boosting your immune system by taking Vitamin D3, up to 4000iu daily [Edit by moderator: NHS recommendation is 400iU daily; some people may take different amounts based on medical advice]. I also found recently that taking a tonic with iron - Ferroglobin plus, I used - helped me to recover quickly from a lingering infection following a cold. I haven’t had a cold since and take the tonic occasionally for a few days.

[Lysistrata Administrator Community Ambassador in reply to Gwalltarian]

Hi, did you mean 400iU daily? 400 is the NHS recommendation; 4000iU daily is very high! Please be careful about recommending amounts for supplements beyond what's recommended by medical advice (I do recognise it may be a typo but wanted to flag). I've amended it because I've seen someone is already making decisions based on this below.

[Sunflower2323]

4000 iu of Vit D3 isn't it too much ? I'm worried not to overdose. But if you say it's safe I'll take it. Many recommend Vit D3 for the immune system and it's helping a lot. I'm worried about some symptoms which are still present after 3 weeks when I stopped the antibiotics. I've been at the Dr 3 times ever since. Not sure what's going on. Fatigue, feel like after 1 h or 1/2 h of work in the house the need to lay down for 1 hour and I literally fall asleep. Feel like worn out, exhausetd. Pain to my chest and back. No sounds produced by the lungs and cough quite rarely but still there, dry cough. When I take a deep breath I feel like coughing. It helps the nebulizer which one of my Dr said they don't really recommend ?! Not sure why. Please help. I'm also sweating quite badly. Dr said there is an infection showing up in the blood test but nothing on the X-ray. Got Co-codamol and codeine for cough. If it's infection why not stronger medicines. Please help. Thank you for all your contributions and wish you well and get healthy to enjoy the spring time.

[Lysistrata Administrator Community Ambassador in reply to Sunflower2323]

I think the recommendation from the NHS is 400iU per day, not 4000! Some people do need more and may need it even in summer, but that should really be with medical advice. I definitely wouldn't go straight in with 4000.

Also I wouldn't assume something is safe because it's recommended by another member - people shouldn't really be recommending specific things on here, even if they use them, and I will address that.

Sorry to hear you're not feeling great. I saw that you're in the US where home nebulisers are more common. In the UK they're not generally recommended because it can be unsafe to rely on them too much when you should be getting medical care.

If you were in the UK, I'd suggest calling the asthma nurse helpline, but that's probably not possible from the US - they do have a WhatsApp number but won't be familiar with your healthcare system. You could try the American Lung Association perhaps? The American Lung Association's asthma helpline can be reached at [phone].

[Sunflower2323 in reply to Lysistrata]

Hi and thank you Lysistrata, I'm based in UK.

[Lysistrata Administrator Community Ambassador in reply to Sunflower2323]

Sorry - I got you mixed up with palmtreelover whose post this is and who is in the US! I'd suggest you call the helpline then as they can chat through things: 0300 2225800 Monday-Friday 9am-5pm, message on WhatsApp [phone] or email us at [e-mail]

[Sunflower2323 in reply to Lysistrata]

If anyone can help with these symptoms what to do. ? Please. Chest pain and back pain at the level of the heart and fatigue feeling very exhausted. Little coughing. Blood test showing infection but nothing on the X-ray. Dr prescribed only co-codamol and codeine. Please tell me what to do with this exhaustion ? It's not Covid, done the test, but this is how I feel in the last 3 weeks and it's not getting better. When taking a deep breath I'm coughing and feel the pain in the chest. Thank you everybody and my best wishes of health and get better all of you.

[Gwalltarian in reply to Sunflower2323]

I would recommend that you google it and research the recommended amounts. 4000 iu daily is the maximum recommended but please research it for yourself. It is available in tablet form in units up to 4000 iu. I first saw and heard about it a few years ago when an Israeli doctor was on a programme discussing covid and he said that though he spent an hour daily swimming in the sun he also took a vitamin D3 supplement and that he had recommended his patients to take 4000 iu daily to boost their immune system and none of them had caught covid.

For financial reasons I have taken 2000iu daily for the last 6 months. It is possible to get 1000 iu units and less.

[Lysistrata Administrator Community Ambassador in reply to Gwalltarian]

For anyone else reading, I would recommend a lot of caution when googling anything like this for any supplement - best to stick to research-based, reputable sites. There is a lot of misinformation out there and just because someone is a doctor, does not mean their content will be accurate or should be followed. What happened to one doctor's patients is also still anecdotal evidence, not research-based evidence.

Just looking at reputable sites, I do acknowledge that 400 iU is the usual recommended amount but that to 4000iU per day seems to be the maximum recommended amount. They do say that some people may need more than 400iU or need to take it year-round (for anyone else reading, please note more than 4000iU per day is not recommended without medical advice).

Sunflower2323, here's the NHS site - read all the way down for guidance: nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins-...

[Sunflower2323 in reply to Lysistrata]

Thank you so much.

[Ossing in reply to Lysistrata]

Greetings to all. As Lysistrata said, there is a lot of confusing information on the internet. We have to be cautious about this. Everyone wants to be a specialist on what they don't have the academic or professional experience and know-how. Life and good health are very precious to gamble with.

[MSR1958]

I am presently on Fluticasone Propionate and Salmeterol 250/50 (Advair Diskus) twice a day. However when a cold sets in I usually start using my albuterol rescue inhaler 15 minutes before using the Advair to open up the bronchia better. Also I will continue with the rescue inhaler during the day if needed. If that is not working as well as it should I have emergency prednisone which I start taking 10-20mg once a day. It can take up to two days and then I feel relief. Sometimes I would rather do this than get on an antibiotic. I try to not be on the prednisone more than 5 days. If you are using 60 mg and still not feeling relief by tomorrow I would call the dr.