Hi everyone. This week I have been having increasing pain and swelling, so I finally broke down and called the RD to ask for something stronger than Advil to get me through till my follow-up appt. next Wednesday. I was expecting a stronger NSAID but he prescribed Prednisone 5 mg twice a day. I asked about side effects but the nurse said I shouldn't have any as this is a low dose. I have to say this stuff is amazing! I am leary of taking it because I've heard so many bad things about it, but wow! After only 1 pill I woke up this morning with much less pain. I actually went for a walk on my lunch hour! Yesterday I could barely hobble to the car from my office. Is this the way it usually works? It also seemed to have a diuretic effect on me. I was up every 2 hours last night, I must have lost 3 lbs of H2O...is that normal? I thought it was supposed to make you retain water, but maybe that's at higher doses? I'd be grateful for any comments or suggestions, it seems like many of you here have experience with this med.
Thanks so much and best wishes to everyone in this great community,
Andrea
It can be a wonder drug for some people. Best advice I can give, stay on the lower dose possible for the SHORTEST amount of time possible. After just a few weeks it can have your adrenal glads confused and than they won't want to produce it themselves! Dear Andrea, I brought that article back about Prednisone and hope it helps you. Yes, it does work instantly and makes you feel good. (something we are all looking for!!) I'm trying to get off of it and am feeling really tired for the last two days when I reduced from 5mgs to 2-1/2 , so I took 1mg. additional today. LyndaGlad to hear you are feeling better Andrea. Your doctor is right; the dose is very low and you likely will be off of it before long and shouldn't worry about side effects. Don't be overly concerned about that at this point. You responding in this manner is a very good sign.
There's another thread going right now (which you've proable seen by now) that discusses this subject and this link is included and is very helpful: http://www.gihealth.com/html/education/drugs/prednisone.html
Glad to hear you are feeling so good. Short courses of predisone are great for us.....but don't agree to stay (even on a low dose) long term.