View Full Version : My Experience with Prednisone Last Week...
A week ago Sunday I ended up in the ER (see previous post) from some unknown allergic reaction that caused my throat to start closing up. They gave me lots of medicine there in an IV form, and then sent me home with a prescription for 40mg Prednisone a day for five days. So I dutifully followed doctors orders and found that Prednisone was a miracle drug! My chronic knee pain all but disappeared, my energy level went WAY up, my mood was lifted; I started feeling almost giddy. I felt ten years younger and more like myself, if that makes any sense! Work went really great! And I got a lot accomplished at home- I worked on my jewelry business, played my guitar, I exercised! I cleaned out the garden! I didn't sleep so great however... come to find out, I was probably getting a little hypomanic; I didn't really read the insert of side effects that came from the pharmacy because the print was too tiny and too crowded on the page to be able to follow so I just went about my business last week and enjoyed the ride.
Oh boy, now I am paying for it. I didn't know one could crash so hard after finishing a Prednisone prescription. My muscles ache so bad (I guess because I was running around almost manically last week with working and then getting back into my walking and stretching routine last week because I had so much energy to burn). I also started experiencing horrible leg cramps the other night that had me hopping around my room three separate times in the middle of the night, cursing up a storm because they hurt so bad and wouldn't stop. I worked five morning shifts in a row last week and yesterday was the first day I didn't take it, having finished the course of the prescription. I got increasingly irritable at work (we were extremely short-staffed and extremely busy and customers were rude - normally I take all that in stride but it was real hard and stressful). I had plans to actually go out an do something fun with friends last night that I never see anymore (I am pretty much a hermit these days and isolate a lot due to my schedule) but after trying to nap after work and pretty much failing at that (too jittery), I made dinner and let myself lay down for "just a few minutes before I get ready to go out" - well, it was all over after that. I literally could not get off my bed....for hours. Not really sleeping though, just absolutely crashed out in a weird mental and physical zone that I haven't been in in a long time.
I did manage to crawl over to the computer last night and research more of the side effects of this wonder drug - it can mess with people who have a bi-polar... I had been diagnosed with bi-polar 2 many years ago but now that I have pretty much changed my entire lifestyle to one of self-care I don't even take medication for it anymore. But it all makes sense now; I just wish I would have known going into it. I know I'll be all right, but my body feels pretty awful right now. I have the day off at least, but I can feel it is going to be a struggle to get going. My muscles are so sore I can hardly go up and down the stairs this morning. I am so, so tired, even though I just slept for about 8 hours (minus some more leg cramp activity in the middle of the night).
This too shall pass, I hope, but hopefully by tomorrow when I have to go back to work.
They could have put you on a prednisone taper ... Big dose up front to deal with life threatening reaction, the a taper over 5 days so you could avoid many of these side effects.
I'm a psych nurse. We have had admissions because of predisone induced mania .... its not a good med for someone with bipolar, but when your throat is closing, we just deal with keeping you alive at first.
Side effects are difficult sometimes.
Thank you Tammy. I really had no idea about any of this. I don't even really think of myself as being bi-polar anyway anymore, because it hasn't caused me any grief in a long, long time. Just knowing that this is what I am dealing with and that I am not going crazy makes me feel a little better, at any rate. Do you have any idea how long I may expect this to last?
I am up and about, albeit slowly this morning. I had to take three 200mg Advil because of the muscle aches and stiffness. I have managed to go about doing some laundry and cleaning just so I don't waste the day away. I already had to stop and lie down for a nap and its not even 11am.
Surely the dose-pack included a taper? If they just gave you bottle of them and didn't tell you about tapering..........well that's just plain negligent. Even if it was in the fine print, the doctor/nurse/pharmacist should have stressed how important it is to taper. Sorry!
(If you problem coming off it continues, I would maybe get a small tapering RX for it.
pinkytoe
11-10-13, 11:18am
predisone induced mania
It has taken me many years to understand that this may have been what happened to me about 15 years ago. After taking a prescription of prednisone, I awoke one morning feeling odd. Sort of out-of-body and detached. I began to feel very anxious as if I had drank ten cups of coffee - a really horribe sensation. I went to a doc in a box because I didn't know what was going on. They immediately put me on Xanax and some other sedative I don't recall. It made the symptoms even worse and trying to get off those after two weeks was another nightmare. Long story short...in the space of two weeks, I lost 15 pounds and had my world turned upside down. Thinking I had gone crazy, I even went to a therapist. Needldess to say, I don't go anything steroidal.
DD had an allergic reaction to something when she was about 10. At mealtime, she would start laughing hysterically and wouldn't be able to stop. Also had a SIL who was on them for a short time and she got severely depressed.
Steroids are serious stuff.
No, to my recollection they didn't say anything at all about the Prednisone at the ER. My mom was with me and we went right after to the pharmacy to pick it up and no one said anything. No taper-off pack either.
I guess I'll call the doctor tomorrow and mention it if I am still feeling weird. I have such a desire to crawl into bed all day but that feels like I would be giving into to it. At least I have managed to accomplish something I wanted to do today while at home. I am supposed to go play guitar this afternoon at an informal song circle at a restaurant but the idea of having to get cleaned up to go out of the house, much less perform, seems a little insurmountable. But doing that might be exactly what I need to do in order to not succumb to total lethargy.
Gardenarian
11-10-13, 1:14pm
I took Prednisone and felt like it gave me super powers! I was on a high dose - 140mg per day tapering down over three weeks. Boy, I got a lot done, I slept 2 hours per night, lost 10 pounds I couldn't afford to lose. I also read an entire series of books of which I have no memory whatsoever.
I got a bad cold/flu shortly after going off of it so any weird feelings were probably absorbed by that.
I sure understand how steroids work for athletes. What a crazy drug that is. I read that it suppresses your immune system for 6 months after taking it.
Even animals have these effects. I've had two creatures that had to be on pred long-term, and they acted five years younger, happy, active, even the cat said "What cancer? I laugh at cancer!"
But it only works until it doesn't. And the aftereffects (for us anyway) were just sad.
With pug-man, I tapered him for almost six weeks, and it wasn't as bad.
I learned from them that it would have to be something life-threatening to go near them, and I would taper myself for a good long time. Messy.
So sorry that happened to you, SiouxZ
iris lilies
11-10-13, 1:36pm
Oh gosh, I think of Pred as the miracle drug for dogs, it is prescribed for so many things. I remember that it kept my beloved first bulldog's cancerous growths from swelling and growing, for a while anyway. I think eventually it did make her tired, though.
Ugh...I just slept for three hours...
Gardenarian, I totally know what you mean! I DID have super-powers for five days, albeit it was a bit weird feeling at times. A bit racy, a bit dizzy-ish. I felt like a better me, the way I wish I could feel all the time! The best thing was that my knee pain was pretty gone and that made work a lot easier. My addictive brain even started telling me that I should find a way to get more of it so I could keep on feeling this way. But then I remembered how it has made my mom feel - she's been on it off and on for a rheumatoid arthritis-type condition. It has taken her ten months of stepping down from her high dose (ten months!)
This sure is not a drug to fool around with, I am finding out. It is late afternoon now and I feel like everything has moved down to a slow crawl; I'm moving in quick sand. I don't even dare go out because I think people would just look at me weird, I feel that out of it.
I hope by 6am tomorrow I will have moved through the worst of it.
sweetana3
11-10-13, 4:22pm
I once begged for some prednisone and even considered getting an RX from vet for cat for me to use. I had hives so bad that nothing else mattered. Doctors said they could not figure out what caused them. (turns out something in new house or in North Carolina). One prednisone pill and the hives disappeared. I should have saved the first RX and doled it out a little at a time.
Makes me sound like a drug abuser but one pill make life bearable again.
It takes a few days (to maybe a week tops) to get back to your normal levels.
Lots of docs don't use the dose pack. They just order several days at a high dose.
Some info -
Short term prednisone (a few days or weeks) can be tapered down in about 4 days without problems.
Long term is where the taper has to be slow to avoid a problem with adrenals.
Short term side effects are emotional, mostly. And poor sleep. And elevated mood which is the bipolar connection.
Long term side effects are diabetes and life threatening infections. And eventual shutdown of natural prednisone production. We make about 10 mg a day naturally, if I remember right.
Steroids that athletes use are not the same as prednisone.
Did you find yourself eating more than usual? Dh had prednisone as part of a chemo regimen years ago, and he was hungry all the time. He'd even want a steak dinner in the middle of the night.
I've been on prednisone packs, but they were always the five days tapering packs. Hope you feel better!
Tussiemussies
11-10-13, 8:24pm
So sorry SQ that this has happened to you. It sounds so very horrible to go through, surprised no one at all told you about tapering off, or the side effects. Hope you feel better ASAP. Chris
iris lilies
11-10-13, 8:46pm
Did you find yourself eating more than usual? Dh had prednisone as part of a chemo regimen years ago, and he was hungry all the time. He'd even want a steak dinner in the middle of the night.
I've been on prednisone packs, but they were always the five days tapering packs. Hope you feel better!
My dogs always get fat on pred. And they drink tons of water. And pee all the time.
My son has been on this for 10 years.Tammy is right on. Son's adrenal glands don't function properly that is why he is on this medication. His condition is called Addison's.We are aware of the long term issues,but he has no choice. He is on low dosage,17.5mg a day I think,just enough to replace what his body should be making but isn't.
How are you feeling now, SiouzQ?
reader99
11-26-13, 10:51am
The descriptions of steroid induced mania and the subsequent crash sound a lot like what happens with methamphetamines.
The descriptions of steroid induced mania and the subsequent crash sound a lot like what happens with methamphetamines.
......or when I drink caffeine..... :~)
Just coming to this a little late...how are you feeling SQ? Pred is a wonder drug and it saves a lot of lives. BUT...getting off it can be sheer he**. Tapering is better than cold turkey, but it is still really really hard. You will feel fine eventually. Try drinking some strong coffee. Boost your fluids, eat fresh fruit. Don't be scared, you'll be fine.
I had to take 50,000 MG of Pred a day for about 2 months when I went through a stem cell transplant. Talk about out-of-body weird! I lay in bed shaking like a rattle, couldn't hold up a book my hands were trembling so hard. Being on it was awful and tapering off it was awful. But I'm alive and well today, so it worked out.
Let us know how you are doing.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5 Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions Inc. All rights reserved.