Prednisolone

[Shiney1959]

Hi all. I haven't posted for a while, but I am on here everyday reading all your updates.I had an ablation in November 21. I have had a couple of AF episodes since, but they didn't last too long. I am getting what I think are palpatations, which seem to be getting worse.

I have been feeling quite poorly lately & have been prescribed Prednisolone for possible Polymialgia. Does anyone else take this as I am a little worried about taking it due to the palpatations & the possible side effects?

Thank you so much xx

[jayjay10000]

Hi there, first of all I like you a warm welcome to this forum and thank you for posting. I also been suffering from palpation all day and my blood pressure spike to 186/118, heart rate 157bpm. Iam on holiday at the moment in Benidorm. Went to urgent care, and they gave me some medication to bring my blood pressure down, after 1 hour blood pressure 152/95. Some medication you take gives you heart palpation, so it's best to see your GP again and talk to them about what's been going on. Take care.

[Shiney1959 in reply to jayjay10000]

Hi Jay JayYou are having an awful time. That's all you need when you are on holiday. I hope you are feeling better & things get sorted.

Thank you for your reply. I think I'm going to see the pharmacist tomorrow. I'm not going to take the steroids.

Take care & enjoy the rest of your holiday. Keep me posted.

Sheena

[jayjay10000 in reply to Shiney1959]

Hi Sheena, managed to get back from Benidorm late on Saturday. My Anxiety was so bad on the flight home kept on coming on. Sunday after dinner started feeling unwell again, my Anxiety just comes on out of the blue. I wasn't even thinking of anything bad at the time. Monday was just terrible, I was out at the Metro centre Gateshead getting my lunch after I had finished I waited for about 10mins before settling back towards my friends car. [ yellow car park] I got up started walking then suddenly started feeling light headed. Legs like jelly, shortness of breath, tingling from head to toe. Full on panic attack. The thing is I don't know what to do, the last thing on your mind is to stop sit down somewhere and do breathing techniques. It's happing to many times now and I don't know why,. Iam waking up sometimes feeling lightheaded and my head being tight. I just want to go back how I use to be, out going. Be able to do DIY around the house, gardening, lifting,going for.long walks, climbing stairs. When I try to do any of these things my blood pressure spikes really high. HR goes fast around 157bpm yo about 167bpm. It was never like this until January 24th 2023. 3 or 4 times though out 2022. How are you now. Take care

[Shiney1959 in reply to jayjay10000]

Hi Jay, glad you got back OK. It is so scary for you. People don't understand when it doesn't effect them. It has had a massive impact on your life & you are so young. I hope you enjoyed your holiday though.How

[Shiney1959 in reply to Shiney1959]

How are you feeling now? Is there anything they can do?I'm OK. Feeling better than I was, thank god.

Thinking of you. Take care of yourself.

Sheena

[jayjay10000 in reply to Shiney1959]

Hi sheena thanks for getting back to me, iam waiting for my talking therapist appointment to come through, hopefully I can get some help from them. It's all been down hill for me since the end of January 2023 with my health really starting with high blood pressure had to goto ED at Darlington hospital by ambulance because started to get chest pains and found out my blood pressure was 220/120. Started taking blood pressure tablets, in the March had an echo done, that's when the hospital told me I had a root dilation 40mm and ascending 37mm. My Anxiety iam experiencing is definitely stared when I got told about my heart. I get heart palpitations daily, fast heart, dull chest pains, jelly legs, tingling all over my body, trembling body, lightheaded. I don't like going out on my own anymore and when I try to do things around the house iam getting blood pressure spike and feeling dizzy. I can't even go on long walks anymore. On Saturday I was playing music on my keyboard reordering video footage to send to my pals and after finishing the second song started experiencing tightness of the chest and shortness of breath, it started at 130pm and went on until 330pm. I was at home on my own and I didn't know what to do. It was so scary. I can't even get answers from my own Gp why this is happening to me. Every day I think that iam going to die. Take care

[MyHF]

hi. I too read posts everyday but don’t post or reply very often.

I have cardiomyopathy and very slight heart failure.

A few months back I had something called acute anterior uveitis for which the optician prescribed me Prednisolone eye drops. I posted on here at the time about it as they were definitely causing me palpitations and shortness of breath. Plenty people on here said they use the same thing with no effect.

I contacted my gp who told me there was no chance that eye drops could cause side effects like that. So they checked me over and everything was fine other than a slightly high heart rate. I continued the 6 week course as I was told I could lose my eye sight if not.

Once the 6 weeks course was up, my palpitations and shortness of breath vanished!

[Shiney1959 in reply to MyHF]

Thank you so much for your reply. It is really appreciated as sometimes we aren't sure what path to take.My palpatations are horrendous at the moment & I don't want them to get any worse.

Take care of yourself & I hope we speak again soon

[Mentdent]

I’ve been taking prednisone for ten years. Yes it does have side effects but they are easy to manage. I can’t cope without the stuff. As an anti inflammatory it’s hard to beat.

[BabsJ]

I too have had polymyalger and was on prednisolone for 2 years. It affected my heart with racing and palpitations some months as I dropped down the amount I was taking plus I put on a lot of weight which didn't help my breathing either. I came off them in August 2022 but went back on them again last year but not for so long but still caused problems as I dropped the dose. I couldn't get much help from my Doctor or the cardiologist if you have a good Doctor or cardiologist talk to them. Hope you get sorted and I know how painful polymyalger is

[Shiney1959 in reply to BabsJ]

Thank you Babs. My problems have been going on for a while now. After so many blood tests, that have all come back OK, I was beginning to think I was going mad. I have high ferritin levels & they can't work out why. They have prescribed the prednisolone to see if it helps. I'm more worried about my heart so have decided to give them a miss.Thank you for your help

Sheena

[BabsJ in reply to Shiney1959]

Hope it all works out for you

[Juanton]

Hi, I was diagnosed with polymyalgia in 2019 and was told that prednisolone was the only treatment for it. It did indeed give me very quick relief from the pain and joint stiffness, but it proved very hard to wean off and I suffered a range of side effects (some of which were long-lasting).

All I can say is that if it is one, you have to choose between debilitating pain and the rapid relief that pref brings… so if you take the pred, talk to your gp and try to be on the meds for the shortest possible time and taper off carefully. I can’t comment on how pred impacts on heart issues as I didn’t have these (that I was aware) at the time. Good luck!

[Shiney1959 in reply to Juanton]

Thank you Juanton. I hope your pain & situation have improved. Its so hard make the right decision. Take careSheena

[Exflex]

polymialga and its big sister GCA are both autoimmune disorders. There’s a fantastic helpful forum called PMRGCAUK here on health unlocked. I recommend you join the group.

[Shiney1959 in reply to Exflex]

Thank you for that. I'll be on the case

[Qualipop]

I've only been given pred a couple of times for suspected temporal arteritis. I had n heart problems at the time but two days was as much as I could manage. It gave me unbearable blinding headaches. Steroids are well known for gaining weight.

[Shiney1959 in reply to Qualipop]

Sounds like you made the right decision. Thank you & take care

[Qualipop in reply to Shiney1959]

Best of luck with your decision. It's a hard thing to live with.