Hot flushes on Prednisone | Arthritis Information

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Just a question. I know some of you have posted about waking up with hot flushes every few hours during the night. I have this too and I am wondering if it has anything to do with my Prednisone schedule.   I take my med in divided doses (10 mg about 7 a.m. with my breakfast and the rest-now 8 1/2 mg with evening meal about 6 p.m.).

 
Do you think it would help to take my second dose earlier, i.e. with an afternoon snack?
 
The other thing I take is Niacin, which I know can cause a significant hot flash. However, if I take it with my dinner, I avoid this reaction. I am only taking 100 mg of Niacin to help lower my cholesteral (which was perfect last time they checked!
 
Or is the PMR causing the hot flushes at night????
 
Thanks.
This is going to be a really useless post   - because the answer is YES!!!! Any one of the three may be causing your flushes. I had them with untreated PMR, they improved for a while at some point and then came back and I know they are a side-effect of niacin! Some people complain that their sweats started after being put on pred and it is a listed side-effect. The more likely effect of taking your pred in split doses is poor sleeping patterns and that is the main reason for saying the whole dose should be taken in the morning, plus it is believed to reduce some of the other longterm effects as well as it better mimics the way your body produces cortisol naturally. Some people take their pred in a split dose because they have less morning stiffness problems that way.
 
So - you pays your money and you takes your choice!!!! Sorry to have been so helpful
 
Eileen

Hi Nanatjj i take my pred in a morning and still have terrible hot flushes. I think it may be due to the illness as well though because i was having them before i started taking the pred.

Thanks MrsE and Lynsey,

I forgot my Niacin last night and still had the flushes, so it does not seem that this med is the culprit. Since reducing from 19 to just 18 1/2 a few days ago, I have more stiffness getting up during the night and it the a.m. So I dont think I will change my divided dose. I think my rheumy is doing this to try and decrease a.m. stiffness. Which leaves PMR as a big contender for causing this problem. Oh well, one more thing to adjust to.
Nan,
I get the hot flushes as well. They mostly happen during the daytime. If I"m in the car. it's "open the window quick!" I take 11 mg of prednisone in the morning and 2 mg. at night to avoid the a.m. stiffness. I'm 62 and didn't have any hot flashes before. I see my rheumy today and it's on my list to talk to her about. Is it the PMR or the prednisone?

Best wishes,
JannieHi Jannie, let us know what your rheumy thinks. I never had hot flashes with menopause and considered myself lucky at the time. Little did I know that it would haunt me later! I guess I do get hot during the day also, but it does not seem as noticeable. My husband would probably disagree since I like the a/c on lower than he does.
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