Does anyone have worse symptoms with different brands of Prednisolone?

[cisy]

I have been trying to decrease my dosage from 40mg since last September. Managed to get to 20mg by Xmas then had a flare in January. I'm now down to 15mg and was about to decrease again but last week I woke up with pain and swelling in my shoulders legs knees and face . I couldn't understand why until I realised I was taking the same brand of tablets that I'd had to begin with and again in the January flare. I had a new prescription of a different brand so took them the next day and within 24hrs I was virtually pain free.

[Bcol]

Morning Cisy, I've only had one make of Pred myself, but I'm sure others, including PMRpro have mentioned similar problems.

[cisy in reply to Bcol]

Thanks Bcol

[Cross-stitcher]

Hi cisy, I have had several different brands of prednisolone over the past 2 years, except for the 2.5mg ones which are always the same brand. I suggest you look at the Patient Information Leaflet in each box to see the exact composition - it can be the "fillers" they use to make up the tablets which can cause problems. Failing that, ask you local friendly pharmacist - they can be a mine of useful information when it comes to medicines - better than GP's.

[Koalajane]

I have found that one particular brand of 5mg tablets does not work so well. My usual accord suits me well

[PMRpro Ambassador]

It happened to me with 5mg enteric coated - a large prescription was filled with loose tablets, they had always been in blister packs before. The 2.5mg tablets dispensed at the same time were fine, the 5mg ones did nothing. I contacted the pharmacy and they claimed no-one else had said anything, For me it led to a massive flare and a switch to methyl prednisolone that was also not effective at relieving the PMR symptoms even at a much higher dose (I had moved to Italy and you don't get prednisolone here).

I think it is something to do with the fillers that are used to make the bulk of the tablets. But it certainly happens in other drugs - one form of hydroxychoroquine used in lupus poses problems for a lot of patients.

You can ask the GP to specify what brand you want

[cisy in reply to PMRpro]

Just wish I had realised sooner. I've missed an awful lot of 2019 as I had them for most of it.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to cisy]

Even if you had realised, your doctor/pharmacist might have just scoffed. As it is you have plenty of evidence to back up your claim.

[MrsNails]

I’ve had a dodgy box of 5mg Pred & just felt awful for no reason - so l changed to a different box/brand & was fine within a few days. The problem is Medics scoff at such comments - you can speak to your Pharmacy & tell them you’ve had issues with a particular brand & could they ensure you don’t get them in future.

[cisy in reply to MrsNails]

Yes thank you I'm going to for when I next need a prescription

[Hidden]

Well my question to you would be are the pills different mgs/dosing or are they all the same mgs/dosing but just different brands of Prednisolone? I've been taking Prednisolone for over 15 years and never had an issue with different "brands" just different dosing (of which I itself causes less or more side effects).

[MrsNails in reply to Hidden]

I think everyone is referring to same dose just a different brand, some people can be sensitive to various active ingredients & there are times when batches of drugs have been withdrawn because of dosing errors. If we as a Community did not report any variances we had noticed to each other & then ultimately a reported via the Yellow Card System errors would not be picked up.

[cisy in reply to Hidden]

Yes all are 5mg tablets.

[jinasc]

Enteric coated pred - wash the dye off before taking. Quite often the dye is the problem.