Have read so much about fatigue on here and I must have been lucky up until now because I didn't know what it was all about but boy it's hit me now. Started tapering from 5mg about 3 to 4 weeks ago and nearly at 4.5mg and feeling overwhelming tiredness. No energy or motivation to do anything.
Does anyone else find that their digestion is also affected at this stage. Discomfort and constant wind coming up.
Long awaited appointment with spinal surgeon this week who told me the only option for the compression problem I have is surgery.
Should I be considering surgery feeling like this? He did say I was more at risk of infection because of the steroids. Didn't make a big thing about it just mentioned it in the list of 'risks'. Feel pretty rubbish at the moment.....thanks for reading
I am at 4 mgs now and can certainly sympathize with the overwhelming tiredness. I am waiting for surgery on my Achilles' tendon and my surgeon doesn't want to operate until I am off prednisone. I am going to try to convince him to do it when I get down to 3 or 2 because I want to get back to work and don't want to tack another 6 or however many weeks on to my leave. Lots have people on this forum have had surgery while taking prednisone. I am sure they will be along later to advise. Good luck with your decision!
I had a hip op recently and my surgeon wanted me off steroids due to slow healing and possible infection. In the end I negotiated 5mg with him!
Wow. You are going through a lot! You made it through the hip surgery okay? And those are the same reasons my surgeon used for not wanting to do it.
I think most doctors are worried about the side effects of steroids. At 5mg it is quite a small dose, but I suppose I sympathise as they want a perfect situation if possible.
I often think a lot of medics should be sent out on an ambo or to front line/3rd world situations - then they might get it that perfection isn't always an option!
In all fairness a lot of them actually do do a year in Africa or such place. I assume they do not get sued so often out there. They actually have courses on being sued now, I blame the US!
Why not? Everything is our fault, right?
It depends how much you can afford to pay your lawyer!
Re infection risk, is a dose under 5mg really going to increase it that much? I’ve seen people have hip and knee ops on much higher. It’s not my call but I’d love to see their evidence. I’d say pushing someone down just to satisfy that concern risks adrenal crisis from the op. Anyway, nothing is black and white and it is a case of weighing it up, like what are the effects of you not having the op, instead of focusing on the usual suspects who are innocent at the moment.
Surgeons do not want to take risks and want to reduce them to a minimum. It is easy for us to say that say 5mg is quite a small dose, but at the end of the day steroids are known to slow down healing and so infection is more likely to happen. If this happens it means a revision hip which is extremely traumatic for the patient and a more difficult op for the surgeon who is always worried about being sued. So the less risks for them the better. A hip replacement is a major operation and is very open to infection as the hip is dislocated and then the top is sawn off so the replacement can be inserted. There is a lot of drilling and banging going on too! If a surgeon has had a problem in the past they are more likely to be fussy.
Yes - but they don't demand the secretion of cortisol be stopped do they? 5mg is a physiological dose - less pred won't mean less corticosteroid. The lack of healing with pred is because it may suppress the inflammatory processes involved in healing - but so does cortisol to some extent.
I think if you talked to your average orthopod they would not know that steroids suppressed the adrenal glands. All they see is a drug that could cause problems to their operation.
I take your point but sometimes it has to be balanced with the effects of being immobile and in pain, which can also affect outcome. The system makes it difficult for surgeons to be pragmatic these days.
I must admit for elective surgery they are now putting off hip and knee ops, particularly if people smoke or are obese or just saying people can take pain killers or do pain management. I suppose it is difficult to imagine someone else’s pain. It also annoys me people on TV who say if people are overweight they should eat less and exercise more. I often wonder if they were taking drugs, of which there are many, that cause weight gain and also if they had pain with movement, whether they would think differently.
Thankyou for your reply. I am not working now so I suppose I am lucky in that respect. Best of luck with your surgeon