steroid stories?

[mopinko]

so, i have had a couple of courses of prednisone in the past that didn't seem to do anything for me. but having teased out what was fibro and what was lupus, and having found some good treatments for the fibro, with this lupus flare, prednisone does seem to be helping. i have had some annoying side effects, but it is going ok.
i have noticed something odd, tho, and wonder what other oddball side effects people have had. ok, i hope this does not affect anyone's favorable opinion of me, if you have one. but this is the health forum, so i think people will understand. i am someone who never had any trouble following ben franklin's dictum to fart proudly. but since taking this med, i am nearly unable to do my patriotic duty. i am dying of curiosity about the possible pathway of this reaction.
anyone got a clue, or a crazy side effect story to share?

[WestHoustonDem]

1. With me it was the munchies. I hadn't been able to keep

any food down and as soon as I started on pred, I inhaled all of the food in my kitchen in about an hour. Since I took it for Crohn's, reducing farts wasn't something I would have complained about.

[mopinko]

2. oh, i'm not complaining. no one else is either.

just curious.
my kid has crohn's, and we were very happy to see her indulging the munchies. she was a teenie lil weenie, and we are very happy that she had achieved a pretty normal height and weight.
the munchies had me in the grasp for the first couple weeks. they snuck right up on me, too. about the third day of uncontrolled snacking, and asking myself why i was so hungry, i did the head slap. but as we ramped up the dose, the nausea edged out the munchies, and i am pretty back to normal. i am bracing for the ramp down, cuz i'm sure i will pass through that same spot. just hoping to feel well, get to the gym, and turn it into muscle.
having meds that keep bad stuff under control is sure the hell not the same thing as being healthy. close, but not the same.

[Warpy]

3. If inflammatory bowel is part of the disease pattern, and with your

profile it generally is, then prednisone will help that, too, which is why you aren't clearing your nether throat as loudly and as often. The gas is simply being reabsorbed into your blood stream the way it is in normal people.

[mopinko]

4. hmmm. you could be right.

i have had intestinal symptoms of various sorts, and have a dx of diverticulitis. i stopped eating seeds and nuts several years ago, and have not had the kind of severe pain i had for a while. i have had 2 colonoscospies, tho, and no finding like that. a mild case makes sense of a lot of stuff.
jeez, i always thought i would live to 100. most of my ancestors lived to very ripe old age. now i wonder if i want to. oy. i am working hard to make sure that i skid into the finish line, tho.
thanks again, warpy.

[Apinionated]

5. I've had IV steroids for MS

And the talk talk talk talks and the munch munch munches.

I warn folks I will be talkative, try to isolate myself and eat popcorn, which has volume and takes a little time to eat. I get a big water, eat the popcorn and talk up a storm. After a day, it passes. Unlike gas, for some!

[mopinko]

6. i'm having moments of motor mouth, too

a little rattled nerves, too. looking forward to ramping down.

[Ms. Toad]

7. With my daughter...

It was beyond munchies (she put 10 lbs on her 35 lb frame in a week). Hair growth halfway down her forehead. Exponential enhancement of whatever mood she was in. Didn't get back to normal for around a year after she finished her 15 day course (followed by a 50 day taper). During the post medication period she tried to crawl out the window of a car moving at 40+ mph because she didn't want to leave the babysitter's house. Thankfully over time I've forgotten the other side effects.

[mopinko]

8. roid rage

it is jangling my nerves some, as well. i get it now about what happens to these athletes on steroids. the only thing i don't get is why there is not better intervention. i mean, when a guy goes from 100 lb weakling, to mr buff, and goes from jekyll to hyde, and nobody seems to put 2 and 2 together, :wtf:

[Ms. Toad]

9. The thing that surprised me

(...well, surprised me after I did the research to find out what the doctor didn't bother to tell me before I allowed him to put her on steroids...but that's another story) was how long after she was off steroids that the rage lasted. It was close to a year before she was back to normal.

[REP]

10. My Worst Side-Effect Was Diabetes

I was on a heavy course for my asthma, and was drinking 3 to 5 gallons of water a day by the second day. By the fourth day, I could barely see. Calls to my then-doctor went pretty much unheeded, and by the time I was seen in an emergency appointment (by another doctor), my blood sugar was 660.

Due to my bad kidneys, I'd always been been regularly screened for diabetes, and was always not diabetic or anywhere close to being diabetic. Thanks to over-aggressive steroid therapy, I now have a life-long disease that pretty much sucks. Within weeks of being taken off the steroids and ever since, I've maintained normal blood sugar levels - normal for a non-diabetic - and despite that, I have major diabetes complications, such as diabetic neuropathy, diabetic nephropathy (in addition to my primary kidney disease), repeated bouts of cellulitis, etc, etc.

Pretty crazy, huh? But at least I rarely am put on steroids anymore - it's just too risky.

[mopinko]

11. wow

holy cow is all i can say.

[nashville_brook]

12. steroids work wonders for me

wish they weren't so dang dangerous. i don't have bad side effects either. as a matter of fact, when i was hospitalized with the infection in my spine and my liver reacted to the antibiotics (toxic hep), steroids were used to get my liver levels back down. it took a while, but damn, it was good to get over the liver sickness.


i think an earlier poster hit the nail on the head with your issue, tho.

[Catherine Vincent]

13. What are the side effects from taking methyprednisone (4mg)?

I keep a prescription available when I have a gout flareup. That is the only medication that works for me (besides a shot). The doctors always tell me not to take them all the time but they never say why.

[REP]

14. Look It Up at Rxlist.com

All steroids have the same side-effects, though. Colchicine also treats gout and isn't quite as dangerous.

[Catherine Vincent]

15. Thanks. I just did.

Good lord, if I knew all the possible side effects, I probably wouldn't have taken them. :scared:


SIDE EFFECTS

Fluid and Electrolyte Disturbances
Sodium retention
Fluid retention
Congestive heart failure in susceptible patients
Potassium loss
Hypokalemic alkalosis
Hypertension

Musculoskeletal
Muscle weakness
Steroid myopathy
Loss of muscle mass
Osteoporosis
Vertebral compression fractures
Aseptic necrosis of femoral and humeral heads
Pathologic fracture of long bones

Gastrointestinal
Peptic ulcer with possible perforation and hemorrhage
Pancreatitis
Abdominal distention
Ulcerative esophagitis

Dermatologic
Impaired wound healing
Thin fragile skin
Petechiae and ecchymoses
Facial erythema
Increased sweating
May suppress reactions to skin tests

Neurological
Convulsions
Increased intracranial pressure with papilledema (pseudotumor cerebri) usually after treatment
Vertigo
Headache

Endocrine
Menstrual irregularities
Development of Cushingoid state
Suppression of growth in children
Secondary adrenocortical and pituitary unresponsiveness, particularly in times of stress, as in trauma, surgery, or illness
Decreased carbohydrate tolerance
Manifestations of latent diabetes mellitus
Increased requirements for insulin or oral hypoglycemic agents in diabetics

Ophthalmic
Posterior subcapsular cataracts
Increased intraocular pressure
Glaucoma
Exophthalmos

Metabolic
Negative nitrogen balance due to protein catabolism

[REP]

16. 4mg Is a Relatively Small Dose

I became diabetic on 60mg/day for 6 days 50mg for 5 days etc (I manifested symptoms at day six). I had taken Medrol DosePaks before without major problems.

[mopinko]

17. no one gets them all

very few of these side effects happen at all at low levels, let alone short duration. you should look up a few other drugs, just to compare. i mean, tylenol can kill you under the right circumstances.