Any here take a prescription steroid for illness?

[euphrosyne_rose]

I was just wondering if anyone on here takes Prednisone or any other steroid b/c I wanted to get some other people's opinions/experiences on it. Recently after a long battle with stomach troubles, I was diagnosed with ideopathic inflammatory bowel disease which according to my new doctor, basically means I could fall into either the Crohn's or Ulcerative Colitis category. He said over time I may fall completely into one or the other but right now my symptoms and issues suggest both. After months of trying different medications, he decided that since most of them were in the same family of ingredients that he wanted to try me on a low dose steroid called Entocort. I've been on it for over a week and so far, it has really helped me ALOT.

According to him, this certain medication is a low dose and doesn't present half of the usual side effects. He even told me I should have no troubles taking it and I read about it online. The biggest side effect was headaches and it said to immediately report to your doctor if you experienced sudden weight gain or other off the wall symptoms. Now, I know that prescription steroids usually cause people to gain weight and I'm a little worried about this, even though supposedly it's not a problem with this medication. I've always been slender/petite (though I do have problem areas like everyone else) and usually I stay at a pretty regular weight. Around the time I was having the tests done to determine if I had Crohn's, I started exercising more. I do some type of cardio at least 3x a week which is either a treadmill or practicing tennis and once a week I do weight/strength training with a trainer. Right before I started taking the Entocort, I had noticed that I had lost a few inches in my bust, waist, hips and thighs and was happy about it but I've also noticed that I am eating a bit more and seem to be craving things like pizza. Since I've only been on it for about a week, I'm curious to know if this is b/c my metabolism has been jumpstarted or if it's the medicine. I also have been feeling a bit more bloated as well.

If anyone has any experience with this they can share, I'd really appreciate it. So far as I know, my doctor only plans to keep me on this Entocort for the next month or two and then hopefully he can slowly introduce me into a treatment that doesn't include steroids. Any insight is welcome!

 

[sillylilacs]

Hello, so I can't really give you professional advice since I'm not a doctor nor am I a pharmacist. However I do work in a pharmacy XD

Entocort is usually an 8 week course, so you don't have to worry about taking it chronically.

In terms of sudden weight gain, you probably shouldn't freak out over that. Usually when a drug is brought onto the market, companies are required to say what was the absolute worst symptoms. Though keep in mind that in all of the clinical trials done, only a small amount of people will have those symptoms. This also has to do with the dosage the doctor prescribed. Assuming that you've started to exercise 1+ months before you started on Entocort, the cravings and increase in food intake is probably due to the metabolism jump. I would not worry too much about the weight thing, as long as you're eating right and exercising, everything should be fine.

And I don't know if you've encountered the information already, but avoid grapefruit/grapefruit juice. The chemicals/molecules in grapefruit actually will increase the effectiveness of Entocort, and thus it's like you're overdosing on what the doctor wants.

If you wanted more reading information, I would not recommend webmd. It's filled with too much fluff. I recomment rxlist.com or drugs.com. Both sites will actually have clinical information as well. Also, drugs.com have a pretty cool tool where you can enter in information about what you take and check to see if there are drug interactions =)

Hope I kind of helped! =)

 

[obscuria]

I've just ended my course of treatment with Prednisone in combination with Imuran for an inflammatory disease I have.

This is what I can tell you from my experience, granted this varies from person to person and keeping in mind I was taking it with another drug, so the side effects may have been one or the other, both, my disease, and any interaction between them all. Within the first weeks of taking it, I noticed a difference in my inflammation issues, however it came with lots of heavy side effects. The worst of it seems to be the overwhelming fatigue I felt and unwavering insomnia, other symptoms included forgetfulness, weight loss though I am told that it's generally weight gain that happens with prednisone alone, and what was essentially chronic nausea and occassional vomitting.

 

[pumpkincat210]

I've taken prednisone before and I gained a lot of weight in the week I took it, 20 pounds! My best friend however took it recently and actually got more lean muscle. So it does different things to different people..and don't worry, I lost all of the weight fairly easily.

 

[1165Cheryl]

Hi,

I've been on Prednisone for a few years now and my main side affect is a puffy swollen chin & neck. I wish I could stop it but for me the benefits out weight the negative. I have multiple disorders and take this for my Lupus. The medication helps my pain a little and helps my energy level. I use to be on a higher dose but over time lowered it to one that still helped but didnt put me at as much risk. Being on this kind of medication long term can cause harm so the lower the dose you can handle the better you are in the long run. I'd rather cause a little harm and get the benefits now to make my life/pain easier to handle then to be off it and not be able to do anything....thats no way to live life either.

Like others have mentioned each person is different and I know some that had real bad side affects and it wasnt worth it for them to be on it. Then I know others like me that experience little side affects...