Tummy upset

[Pippah45]

Hello lovely people. How likely is it that Prednisolone is causing the diarrhoea now that I am on 7 a day and didn't have any problem in the beginning on 60 odd? It varies in severity but the last few weeks it hasn't been great - starting with a 24 hour bug of Vomiting as well. I have diverticulitis as well so it isn't anything new to me really! TIA

[SnazzyD]

Do you mean you had a 24 hour vomiting bug and the diarrhoea is still going? Being on 7 a day (34mg?), a moderately high dose means you’ll be immunosuppressed. It’s is possible you have a secondary infection or can’t shake off the first. I’d get medical advice. You say you have diverticulitis so it’s nothing new, so what is it about this episode that makes you wonder what’s going on?

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to SnazzyD]

No - according to a post a couple of months ago she was trying 7 to 6.5mg

[SnazzyD in reply to PMRpro]

Oops, advice still the same

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Have you spoken to your GP? Any change of bowel habit should be taken seriously.

It could be post-infectious IBS, OH used to develop it starting with a stomach upset and then it persisted for some time after. He'd had it for ages before a new doctor at the local hospital announced he had an absolutely classical case! You say it started with a bout of vomiting - possibly norovirus?????

mindsethealth.com/matter/po....

[Pippah45]

Yes I gave up on the drop of dose so 7mg a day. I doubt it was norovirus as it wasn't too bad just vomited a couple of times and some the other end. It was a friend who suggested Pred might be to blame but that doesn't ring true to me. I will get checked out. Thank you and Happy Christmas to all.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Pippah45]

It can be very mild. But any GI upset can set it off - don't think OH ever had norovirus.

[123-go]

Pippah45, it may be that the diverticulitis is flaring. As Snazzy and PMRpro have said you should seek medical advice; only a couple more days before surgeries are closed and your symptoms should be reported.I would imagine you're well-versed in what to eat and what to avoid but have you changed your diet at all?

[Pippah45 in reply to 123-go]

Thank you. No I haven't changed my diet although I have cut down on Veg that often exacerbates things.

[Kendrew]

My sister has diverticulitis and my father did too...both also have been on pred for PMR/GCA at same time and discovered their diverticulitis episodes always lasted longer and were more severe whist unwell with the PMR/GCA. I would say that it's not really usual for pred to cause severe stomach problems of the kind you're experiencing, but diverticulitis is another inflammatory condition that could possibly be influenced to some degree by the autoimmune disease you have. That being said, if your diarrhoea is persisting and not beginning to improve then as already suggested, its probably sensible to seek some medical advice.

[Jayveedee]

I’ve had an upset stomach for two weeks and waiting for results from blood test and sample. I’ve been on Prednisolone for three months so hadn’t actually connected the two things, but I’ll be happy if it is just a side effect and not another condition to cope with!

[JA200]

I'm very interested on what you say. I have recently tried reducing from 4.5 mg to 4mg prednisolone and on both occasions I have had an upset stomach and felt generally unwell for a few days. On both occasions it seemed to improve when I went back up to 5mg. I too have diverticulosis. It's hard to know whether it was something in my diet or the steroid dose. Really hard to pin point the cause of diarrhoea.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to JA200]

When it happens going down at that level it could well be adrenal wobbles.

[JA200 in reply to PMRpro]

What do you suggest one should do if it is an adrenal wobble? Keep trying to reduce the prednisolone?

[Purplegloss in reply to JA200]

Not on Adcal are you? I had to come off it because of sickness and diarrhoea, it was really awful at the time, not safe to go anywhere!

[JA200 in reply to Purplegloss]

Yes, I do take Adcal.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to JA200]

No - slow down the reductions. The only thing that makes the adrenals function again is them getting the message that more corticosteroid in the form of the natural version cortisol is required and them starting up to produce it again. That takes time - so once you are at the sort of dose that will trigger that, you need to let your body have that time, reducing in as small steps as possible and not too often so your body has time to adjust.

[PMRCanada]

Hmmmm….don’t think it would be the pred causing an upset stomach, unless you are taking uncoated pred without food. Could certainly be a “bug” of some sort, or a flare of diverticulitis. Has your diet changed at all?

I take pred and have diverticulitis but discovered I was taking too much magnesium (and the wrong kind), which was causing upset stomach and diarrhea. Since lowering my magnesium intake I’ve not had a problem since. My gastro Dr. mentioned foods high in dairy/fat (chocolate, etc) can trigger diverticulitis.

Hope you can solve the puzzle and get some relief soon!

[Pippah45 in reply to PMRCanada]

Thank you for all the replies and sorry I haven't been around for a while. PMRCanada strangely enough I thought about Magnesium last night when I was taking some - I think my last lot was a different formula to the previous one. Another forum suggested using psyllium husk and that has been helping too. I gather psyllium works for both ailments of the gut. At least I am safe to be out and about now!