taking prednisone

[Crwbin1]

Hi, sorry another question.

Being on 25 mg daily now the chemist said to take all the tablets at the same time in the morning . As that was the the best way for tablets to work.

I tried that and had the most horrendous reaction. Later in the afternoon, felt I had a “rush “ and felt immediately extremely hot, sweaty, feeling as I was going to pass out, was on the loo and had instant diarrhoea (sorry to much info) and my husband had to help me walk to the sofa as my legs just wouldn’t work. Literally seemed to fall apart for a long while . Eventually got myself back together again later in afternoon.

It scared me so much I split the prednisone into 3 lots, morning, lunch, tea. I want to know what’s best to take the tablets and am prepared to give another try if that is what every else is doing but to be honest it scared me. What are you thoughts/recommendations?

[piglette]

A side effect of pred is horrible, hot sweats. I take my tablets at 2am in the morning with a piece of hard cheese. I hope the splitting into three works for you. It may be worth talking to your doctor if the symptoms continue though.

[Darcy2000 in reply to piglette]

Hi Piglette

And you actually can get back to sleep .My sleep at the best of times is poor, as much as the motnings currently are pretty tough…sleep is also important

[piglette in reply to Darcy2000]

My sleep is terrible since starting steroids, I used to be able to get to sleep in seven seconds! I have discovered the BBC World Service though.

[Darcy2000 in reply to piglette]

I guess its a toss up on what your priority is Sleep or pain reduction … I choose the latter

[piglette in reply to Darcy2000]

In my case the two seemed to be mutually exclusive. Steroids definitely upset my sleeping pattern right from the beginning.

[Crwbin1 in reply to Darcy2000]

My sleep is horrendous…wide awake in the middle of the night. Luckily I don’t seem to have nightmares in the periods I am able to get a few zzzz’s

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Usual advice is as pharmacist suggests in one dose early am… then it has most potency to work on your illness.

It might just be your body getting used to the medication…. Has it been better since you split dose? Completely or partially?

Perhaps in a few days try it in 2 doses - say 15mg am, 10mg pm…. gauge what happens, and if okay after another days then try as one dose.

Obviously if one dose doesn’t work for you, then it doesn’t - and you must feel as comfortable as you can with it… but 2 dose is better than 3 doses - and one dose best.

As piglette says if problem continues then you need to speak to GP.

[Crwbin1 in reply to DorsetLady]

It’s been better when split in three apart from feeling dizzy sometimes, but then I am on quite a few other meds so could have a clash somewhere. But I will try a two dose approach and see how I go. As want to get best help from the pred. Thank you for the help.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to Crwbin1]

Yes the problem could well be other meds… a combination of two is usually fairly manageable, but add in more and it can be difficult… Hope you can find a resolution.

[Crwbin1 in reply to DorsetLady]

Thank you

[Hidden]

A variation on DL suggestion; I currently take 11mgs at 7am with brekkie and 10mgs with lunch at 1230h. I get less of a buzz than with one dose in am and manage to sleep for2-3 hours x2 per night. Vision still blurs over the middle of the day and migraines also a prob at this dose; however no pmr symptoms.

[Crwbin1 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you for the info, think as you and Moro suggest I will take as two doses and try that out.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

It is possible that it was coincidence that caused the violent reaction - had you been in contact with anyone with norovirus just before? In the GP practice maybe? 25mg is a fairly high dose so it might have been too much for you.

How are the symptoms with the 3x daily dosing? Twice daily might be better as Sillydogsmum suggests. Perhaps you could try adding 1mg at a time to the morning dose while reducing the teatime dose by 1mg at a time? That will adjust the dose slowly to let your body get used to it.

[Crwbin1 in reply to PMRpro]

Taking it three times a day seems to be ok…sometimes feel dizzy but then I am quite a lot of other meds so that could be part of the problem. Will try the two doses for the day and see how I go.

[Lclmlbls in reply to Crwbin1]

There is a website where you can check drug interactions,

drugs.com

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to Lclmlbls]

Have re-attached link - yours doesn’t work from here, only from email - [you need to check it turns blue] as below -

drugs.com

Just a note for others, it’s easy to check up to 3 drugs, but if you want to check 4 or more then you need to create an account. No issue I guess.

[Pixix in reply to DorsetLady]

Fun! Will have a look at this, thanks. I’ve just started a drug to try & control my tremors, & have to Titrate up to 8 tablets twice a day! As I’m already taking so many for other th8ngs I’m not too thrilled. So far the side effects of fatigue (as if I need that!) & nausea & nightmares are naff, but it could be interaction…S x

[Sharitone in reply to Pixix]

I really hope someone comes up with an anti-nightmare drug soon!

[Pixix in reply to Sharitone]

me, too…I murdered my ex Managing Director in my sleep the other night, then next night I had lizards crawling up my trousers, lots of them, then they burst out through the skin on my thighs, as they’d gone inside my legs!! Quite nasty, & I remember it all vividly!!

[Sharitone in reply to Pixix]

Oh, poor you, I can't compete with that...though the bit about the MD might have been fun!

[Pixix in reply to Sharitone]

Ha ha…but then they would have locked me up!!

[Crwbin1]

thank you .will try it.

[SnazzyD]

Pred used to make me feel drunk, groggy, dizzy and uncoordinated once it ‘came in’ and it lasted a couple of hours. For this reason I took it at night to sleep through the worst. I still had short nights because the stimulant effect kicked in at the crack of dawn. I always had diarrhoea in the mornings too. This effect reduced with dose. Your other meds may also play a part too, so it might be worth talking to a pharmacist about interactions.

[Grammy80]

I'm glad the split of 3 times a day is working for you. We are all so different! I, too, take a handful of pills morning and evening, 25 to be exact; can't do without any of them...plus TCZ weekly. When we are taking cocktails like that...we are bound to have some sort of reaction. I sure hope the success of your present regimen continues. Our body seems to adjust and absorb...the best to you.💞