Prednisolone question?

Question

My doctor has just put me on a course of a steroid called prednisolone for a recent asthma attack. I have never been keen on the idea of steroids for medical applications (especially after seeing the recent Greg Valentino documentary) but, out of interest, I read the supplied leaflet and started my course as instructed and came up with the following questions. A)it says that this stuff is used to promote cortisone. Isnt this the enzyme responsible for muscle breakdown? B)There comes with the leaflet a section on warnings including allergic reactions, drowsyness, internal bleeding, addiction, cramps, blurred vision, mood swings and so on. I know that this stuff has been prescribed and isnt one of those lame bodybuilding drugs you buy off the street but is this stuff really safe for me to use?

Answer 1

Prednisiolone is a very effective and usefull drug for exacerbaions of asthma and other conditions.

I have given it to many, many people.

It has a very good saftey record when used in short courses like you have been given. Most concern is for people who need to be on this medication for a long term.

Answer 2

Prednisolone is (usually) a pack of pre packaged medication that comes pre dosed and all set up for taking. It is not usually something they give long term unless there is either ruhamatoid arthritus or COPD.

If he gave it to you for one specific attack, you might just need your bronchial tubes opened and to ease any internal swelling this is the most prescribed medication. It doesn't hurt you on a short term cycle but it could over an extended period of time. The drawbacks of the side effects have to be small compared to the seriousness of the disease if it is degenerative without it, that it is treating in order to continually prescribe something that is harmfull.

That is why for asthma... it is often given, always as a one phase pre measured dose and always given at an interval to both introduce it into the bloodstream and wean it out both gradually,

You should have to take it on a gradual decline... where the dose starts high and decreases gradually until there is none left. Yiu should not have refills and it will work with little to no long term effects. It isin't the best thig in the world... but it won't kill you either...

Answer 3

Any long term dosage of steriods of any kind can cause certain side effects. Steriods are used as an anti inflammatory. Which is part of the problem with people with asthma. There bronicalar tubes become in flammed and which is one of the reasons for the congestion or tightening of the chest.

It is safe to use only under the guidance of a medical professional. Your doctor has placed you a dosage that he feels is safe enough for you to use to help control your asthma.

One of the main common side effects of people taking that sort of steriod is up set stomach or dirariha. Just make sure that you eat something before taking the med.

Answer 4

I can't comment on your current physical fitness because I, obviously, don't know you. However, your doctor takes into account your current and past medical history when prescribing medication. If he/she thought there was a clear danger of major side effects from this drug, then they would not have prescribed it (at least not without a great deal of discretion) and would have chosen something more suited to you.

Every medicine has a possibility of adverse side effects - it's the drug manufacturer's legal obligation to make you, the consumer, aware of the ones they have encountered in their trials. Heck, even the leaflet in a pack of paracetemol (Tylenol) says that the drug could cause headache! How bizarre is that??

Answer 5

The term "steroid" is applied to a number of hormones, which have the same chemical shape but widely different actions, so for example testosterone (male sex hormone) and oestrogen (female hormone) are both steroid hormones but have wildly different effects.

Doctors tend to mean cortisone type treatments when they say steroids and the side effects are NOT the same as those for anabolic steroids (which are essentially testosterone related).

Short courses of steroids are commonly used to treat asthma - they save lives and stop people ending up in hospital. Short courses are not usualyl associated with problems but if you were to continue for many weeks they could cause difficulty. On balance you are far more likely to die from the asthma than this treatment in the short term

Answer 6

I used to take prednisolone and I was on the eight tablets a day my doctor told me that I had to decrease them slowly I went from 8 to 6 to 4 to 2 and then stopped them I have not heard of anyone coming staright of them like that. As for side effects Iused to get very bad muscle cramps in my legs so the doctor gave me Quinine for this. Hope this is of some help and that you feel better soon

Answer 7

I was on prednisone twice - generaly, it's ok to use as a immediate treatment, helps you get over serious symptoms fast - but, it's good just for certain (shorter, the better) period of time ( to give another type of medication time to kick in). So you should be gradually switching from prednisone to another kind of medication. Longer you would use it, more it starts affecting you (I had severly increased appetite, water retention, my skin was getting really bad, ...), I was on it for about 5 mo, but those symptoms go quickly away when you stop using it. So, just make sure that your doctor doesn't want you to stay on it for too long.

Answer 8

All drugs have side effects.
When used , for the right indication-like in your case , Prednisolone is a fantastic drug!
use it even if You are not expieriencing symptoms right now, it has been prescribed to PREVENT an attack aof Asthma.

I have an autoimmune disease and as much as I don't like the side effects, I know that the medication makes a difference in my condition.

Not everybody expieriences all the side effects at once or ever...

Answer 9

It is safe and effective. At high doses, it can cause all of the symptoms you mentioned, but like I askl my patients-would you rather have heartburn from the prednisone, or die from the bronchial inflammation? Physicans will keep you at the lowest dose to keep you stable, while tapering it. (It must be tapered, so it won't affect your adrenal glands). The consequences of not taking it are worse, so don't worry. I was on 500 mg per day at one point after my renal transplant, and did have increased appetite, mood swings, nightmares, and acne from it-but the option was to be on dialysis from a failed kidney.....it's not a hard decision then.

Answer 10

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