Prednisone

[bramblef]

If this has been prescribed for you- how do you get your stomach to handle it?
I had to discontinue it per the doc as I couldn't eat for 6 days while i was on it.

[Ra3chel]

Take it with food, and talk to your doctor and pharmacist about how to mitigate whatever specific side effects you're dealing with.

That said: Prednisone is awful. Prescribing it is typically a matter of balancing the potential consequences of not doing so with potential side effects.

[CMdeux]

Prednisone = evil.  Agreed.

Prednisone also = life-saving. 

Ergo, prednisone really, really, REALLY sucks.

My DH has this problem with it-- he finds that he basically has to eat like a woman with morning sickness while he's on it.  Sips of not-too-cold water with nibbles of starchy stuff pretty much continuously or he gets pretty sick from it.   

I'd definitely talk to the doc about this one, though, as people with anaphylaxis Hx are pretty likely to need additional courses of oral steroids down the line. 

[krasota]

I tolerate Medrol (methylprednisolone) better.  Is that an option?  Prednisone turns me into a raging b**** with severe joint pain.  Bizarre, since medrol isn't all that different.  Sometimes I'm ravenous, sometimes I'm nauseated.

[GoingNuts]

Pred makes me so hungry Icould gnaw off one of my own limbs.  My mom was the same.

It really upset DS's stomach tough, unless he took it on a really full stomach.  Buoy, diditebermake him edgy!   

[Mezzo]

Prednisone = evil.  Agreed.

Prednisone also = life-saving. 

Ergo, prednisone really, really, REALLY sucks.

My DH has this problem with it-- he finds that he basically has to eat like a woman with morning sickness while he's on it.  Sips of not-too-cold water with nibbles of starchy stuff pretty much continuously or he gets pretty sick from it.   

I'd definitely talk to the doc about this one, though, as people with anaphylaxis Hx are pretty likely to need additional courses of oral steroids down the line.

CM, does it mess with his blood sugar? I have a co-worker on it now, and she's on a blood sugar rollercoaster.

[CMdeux]

Yes.  That is a known side-effect, though-- it wasn't a quirky idiosyncratic thing.  It was terrible, though.

  He's not insulin-dependent, so we had almost no real way to bring his sugars UNDER 300, even with every oral medication we had available.  (Yikes.)

Really, on steroids, unless you have a way to use physical activity to bring sugars down, you're probably going to need some insulin, at least in the short term.  Once hospitalized, that's exactly what happened.   

[Janelle205]

I know that this post is old, but in case someone else comes looking for advice.

You could say that I have a fair amount of experience with the pred.  I've done dozens of short courses for asthma, and I've been prednisone dependent on a daily dose for just under a year now.

I have pretty significant stomach issues.  I have significantly less issues with prednisone caused nausea, vomiting, and heartburn when I use the Orapred liquid, which is what I currently use for my daily dose.  If you're having a decent amount of stomach upset, it may be worth asking for the liquid.  One thing to keep in mind, however, if you don't have insurance, is that the liquid is significantly more expensive without insurance.  A months worth of pills pre-insurance was about 5 dollars for me, but a months worth of liquid was 50. 

Other than that, you have to make sure that you eat when you take it, even if you don't feel well - I always try to have at least a large snack, if not a meal, with my pred dose.  Usually something bready like a sandwich or crackers.  Nothing with too much liquid, since the pred seems to pump up the reflux.  I get pretty bad joint and bone pain with it on and off - my doctor recommended nutritional shakes, which help, as well as exercise, though you have to force yourself to do it when you hurt that badly. 

I've been having a pretty upset stomach from it lately - as long as I force myself to eat something the instant that I start to get the 'I'm going to hurl' feeling, I'm doing pretty well.  And you know, I wouldn't be taking it if the alternative wouldn't screw me up worse...I hear that breathing is important or something like that.