Taking medication

[Susanmod]

Hi

I'm currently on 12.5. I've spent the whole night vomiting with a bug and don't know what to do abt taking meds - pred, aspirin and omeprazole. I darent eat anything as been throwing up with water. Help! When shd I take them as I couldn't eat.

[SheffieldJane]

Poor you Susanmod, when I got this kind of bug, I just took Pred with Omeprazole as soon as I could. These vomiting bugs are usually of short duration. I don't remember any particular ill effects. I remember thinking that I must have absorbed more than I thought. The Omeprazole should protect your stomach. Is the aspirin a small dose to thin your blood/ protect you heart? If so that should be ok too. If you think you've lost part of the Pred dose you could always try a bit more. It won't hurt you temporarily.

Get well soon!

[Susanmod in reply to SheffieldJane]

Thanks! Judy scared to even have a drink of water.

[SheffieldJane in reply to Susanmod]

Are you in the UK? Perhaps you should ring 111 and get their advice. I would be more worried about serious de- hydration at the moment.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

I agree with SJ - if you can't keep anything down you really are at risk of dehydration.

Once you do feel slightly better - the pred only has to stay down an hour to have been absorbed. I wouldn't take the aspirin - it is no longer recommended for GCA so won't matter and one day without it won't make much difference for anything else (nosey me - why do you take it?)

[SnazzyD in reply to PMRpro]

Where is the aspirin/GCA info? My Rheumy told me to take it because those with GCA are more likely to have a stroke. I didn’t because I felt it was bonkers, especially with bleeding tendency of Pred.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to SnazzyD]

It has been removed from the latest guidelines for GCA - which we are STILL waiting to have published. There is a link to the slide show on it that Dasgupta did at the Scottish meeting last year on this page:

pmrandgca.org.uk/research-a...

There's a bit about TB in the middle - god knows why! But I think the aspirin bit is mentioned.

PS - I think the entire role of aspirin is under question. But Dasgupta says the risks of bleeding outweighs any possible benefit.

[Hidden in reply to PMRpro]

It has been removed (aspirin) from diabetes protocol...says my GP. After 17years of taking it I did a big sigh and tut.

[yogabonnie]

Do they have alkaseltzer in England? That has aspirin in it and will settle your stomach if you can get it down!. I think a bug like that will be fairly short-lived but perhaps take the prednisone right after the last episode. (I think my PMR began after a bike/car accident followed a week later by just this kind of virus bug nastiness) Good Luck!

[HeronNS]

I had a short duration bug of this kind last winter. I didn't worry about medication, but was at about 2 or 3 mg at the time. Kept water beside me and sipped occasionally until I was ready to drink a tulsi or ginger tea. Eventually I developed a headache and this went away when I remembered I should have a dose of pred. I don't think, despite what PMRpro said, that I absorbed much, if any, of first morning dose, missed the next morning (forgot to take it) and had pred the evening of that second day. Headache went away. Oddly enough I had no PMR pain during this incident, only the headache. (Incidentally afterwards I suddenly found I was able to taper more effectively. This was good while it lasted, but later in the year a mistake caused me to flare.)

[JJackdaw]

Drink water that has been boiled and hopefully that’ll do the trick.

[SheffieldJane]

Oh yes I remember giving my children boiled tepid water - blood temperature when they were sick. It seemed to stay down and sachets of electrolytes is it? Sugar and salt solutions ( flavoured) for de- hydration.

How are you today?

[Susanmod in reply to SheffieldJane]

Survived it! Just left with really bad backache.

[newgirl73]

Hopefully you are feeling much better, but I still pass on two things that have helped me over time.

- keep a glass of coke on the side near you while you are vomiting. Stir with a spoon to remove fizz. Sip only, very often. Whatever is in it apart from rotting your teeth has the right rebalancing agents for dehydration1 I try to keep some Dioralyte in too.

-I got caught out on a cruise, and excursion to the Russian border in a jet boat. Thought I was being adventurous, but as have a dilated cardiomyopathy not that clever! Result a massive migraine. Asked staff for sachets of sugar and salt from the restaurant and put one sachet each together in a glass of water, and sipped it regularly even though the vomiting continued. I did emerge from my cabin after 24 hours with a sore head but a bit wiser. I was a nurse so this not just guess work!

[30048]

I hate to repeat myself but my doctor told me to go to the ER if I had the stomach flu to get a shot in case I was not absorbing the prednisone. I did and the ‘flu’ ended.