renal crisis

[Shaza123]

just wondering if anyone can advise me. I’ve been coming down my steroids and I’m now on 8 mg been doing half a mil every two weeks . I’ve been having sickness and dihorea all week of and on with stomach aches and feeling rough. It’s probably a bug but a friend who is a nurse told me to be careful as it could be adrenal crisis any thoughts guys

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Could be either, or a combination of both… so I wouldn’t be reducing for a while giving adrenals a chance to get their act together. They will be struggling with a bug anyway…

Hope you soon feel better - and plenty of TLC.

[Shaza123 in reply to DorsetLady]

Thank you

[PMRpro Ambassador]

As DL says, could be either. At this level I would switch to 1/2mg every month which will give your adrenals a better chance to wake up. But until you are better altogether - no more reduction.

According to research by Imperial College London, 8mg should be loads to cover adrenal insufficiency - they say 2-3mg should be plenty. However, we know people start to struggle at much higher doses. If it hasn't cleared after a week to 10 days, speak to your doctor.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to PMRpro]

Oh - a PS, could you correct the title? It's come up as renal not adrenal which is a bit confusing!!

[Shaza123 in reply to PMRpro]

Thank you

[SnazzyD]

Can you say what is going on in a bit more detail? There is a lot of Norovirus in the UK at the moment. This is characterised by acute vomiting for some hours, muscle aches with some fever. It is usually worst for a couple of days, especially the first 12 hours. My daughter and partner have been feeling generally rough, with abdominal cramps and vaguely nauseated for the rest of the week.

Adrenal crisis can also give you acute diarrhoea and cramps as I know from my own experience. If you give yourself a few extra mg and then rest and you feel much better it might give you the answer. Of course you could have a bug which then causes you to be in cortisol deficit because 8mg can be borderline for some people.

You could call 111 for advice.

[Shaza123 in reply to SnazzyD]

Thank you

[piglette]

It seems there is a sickness bug on the rampage at the moment. At 8mg your adrenals should not be too affected. As the others suggest reduce half a mg a month rather than fortnightly, but I would sit tight on the reducing until you feel better.

[Shaza123 in reply to piglette]

Will do thank you