What medicines to be cautious of....

[pollymarierose]

I am seeing my rheumatologist in 5 days, for the first time since my diagnosis for PMR and possibly GCA. I know prednisone will most likely become a part of my life again, but I had terrible side effects 20 years ago. So, if the doctor were to try anything else like Alendronic Acid (scarey!), are there any other drugs I should be warned about?

Even though I mentioned bad side effects of prednisone 20 years ago, I am hopeful that because we, as patients, are more educated 20 years later, bad side effects can be avoided.

[Mary63]

What side effects did you note 20 years ago?

[pollymarierose in reply to Mary63]

Weight gain (to be expected), hot flashes all of the time, horrible acne, moon face, insomnia and manic mood swings. I had wondered if the side effects of the treatment (for chrons) was worth it. But never once did they start to decrease my dose until the doctors found out it was making the symptoms of my chron's worse.

[Mary63 in reply to pollymarierose]

What dose were you on for Crohns?

[pollymarierose in reply to Mary63]

I started on 60mg. Then 2 months later I went to 40 and that's where they left me for a year. Then it took 1 year to wean me completely off.

[Mary63 in reply to pollymarierose]

If you have PMR you will be on much lower dose with consequently fewer side effects. If you do have GCA you will need doses similar to those you were on for Crohns but will reduce fairly quickly (10% ish reduction each time), so you should not feel nearly as bad as you did before.

[pollymarierose in reply to Mary63]

Thank you Mary63. That's encouraging!