Prednisolone streroids have given me odd side effects/withdrawal symptoms.?

Question

Puffy face, water retention, insomnia, anxiousness, fever, but the worst thing is the really sore knees. Anyone else had these side effects/withdrawal symptoms and did you think that the pros outweighed the cons? They've have cleared up my Crohn's which was the reason I was taking them but I'm reducing my intake to only 6 a day before coming off them completely. I'm worried my knees might get worse.

Answer 1

it sounds like you have had bad side affects from the drug, you should go back to your doctor tell him/her of your side affects and they should change the dosage or the type of steroid that you are on, normaly around a week after you stop taking them the side affects should ease up alot or have completely gone the only lasting affect you could get is if you have taken them for a very long time.
If you want to ease the pain in your knees try heat or cool pads they may help but they may not. if you have spoken tp your doctor they should of already told you to stop taking them as they are an anti-inflamitry

Answer 2

You should never, ever come off steroids without medical supervision and you should never, ever stop steroids abruptly - you should always reduce them gradually - hence the need for medical supervision. All the symptoms you describe are the side effects of steroid usage, however it may be a case of put up with the steroids or the Crohns. But as an acute attack of Crohns seems to be over you seem to only have to take the steroids on those occasions, which is good news. Still, the same above advice applies otherwise your body can go into a type of withdrawal crisis if you reduce steroids too quickly.

Answer 3

You don't say how many you are taking in a day, so it's difficult to ascertain just how much of a cut down you've started on.

Prednisolone, as I'm sure you're already aware, should never be stopped suddenly. Hence, the withdrawal symptoms that you speak of.

My advice would be to see your GP to see just how many you should stop taking at any one time, and for how long before you cut down your daily dose again.

I was taking Prednisolone for about 5 years before I started to be weaned off them, and they played havoc with my glucose control (I'm diabetic, but was taking the Prednisolone for something unrelated). When I was reducing the Prednisolone, I seemed to be continually lowering the amount of insulin that I was taking. This is precisely for the reason that Prednisolone inhibits the effects of insulin.

The only side effect that you have, that I noticed in myself was water retention (oedema) in my feet and ankles. This resulted in me having to take another tablet to counter this effect. (Sorry, I can't recall the name of the tablet of the top of my head.)

As for the pros and cons, I firmly believe that it was an advantage for me to take the Prednisolone ... otherwise, I might have ended up with one less foot. I had a condition called Pyoderma gangrenosum that came on overnight, but within days my whole foot had turned black. I was admitted to hospital for just over 13 weeks because of that.

I do hope and pray that the side-effects that you are experiencing are short-term.

Do it properly, and ask for your GPs advice on coming off them.