Prednisolone side effects

Hi all. New to the forum and new to crohns. Im 29 and I got Diagnosed with crohns about a week ago. I've been given prednisolone tablets 8x5mg per day and since I've started taking them my eyesight seems to be getting worse and worse daily and I've never had any problems with my eyes before. Also I can't stop eating and I've been really dehydrated, I've been needing to drink 9-10 litres of water a day. Is this normal in these meds. Any help will do. Thanks dean

Hi Dean and Welcome!
Prednisone does a lot of really great things for a flare, unfortunately it comes with a lot of side effects as well, some more serious than others. Be sure to check out the prednisone/entocort sub-forum (http://www.crohnsforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=80) and the forum's wiki to find out more information on prednisone.
Do you know what medication your doctor is planning on putting you on next?

Yeah the steroids have worked wonders in all other depatments and He's planing on putting me on azathioprine. He's all ready gave them to me but has told me to wait until blood test results come back. He's told me to start working my way down on them next week.

Hello and welcome to the forum

Just to confirm is your doc aware of the problem with your eyes? The appetite is certainly a pred side effect - I gained about 2-3 stone on this once. What dosage are you to start on for the Aza? Have you been made aware of the weekly blood tests that will initially be required? Also are you on a calcium supplement? If not ask your doc to get this sorted and this is something you should be on whilst taking the pred to help protect your bones.

Wishing you all the best and keep us updated on how you get on.

AB
xx

I'm going to be put on 25 mg I think 1 per day. I think the dehydration is probably down to eating to much. I haven't spoke to my doctor about my eyes yet. I'll see if I can get an appointment in the week and see what he suggests. Ive got loads more questions id like to ask him anyway. Thanks for the warm welcome and for the advice.

That's alright hun, I wouldn't be surprised if your Aza dose does increase above 25mg a day - it tends to be calculated based on your weight and most tend to end up on 75mg at least. Just to check are you on that calcium supplement?

No not on no Calcium or anything like that. The only other thing is I had my first iron infusion on Thursday, the doctor said I also have Anaemia pretty bad too. I've got to go back in 2 weeks to have another one done. If I have questions I don't know who to ask. It just seems to me as if the docs are just trying to pass me about.

Hiya.
Steriods are brilliant to try and calm things down before other meds are brought into the frame.On the eating front I went from 9st 6lbs to 12 st in a matter of months after being put on steriods.My advice try eating little but often and yes it does make you feel really thirsty be worth telling the doctor when you see him also what you said here.

It can raise blood pressure have you had that checked? that could cause some issues with the eyes its just a thought good indication of that is if you start having swelling on the ankles (thats how they found out about the blood pressure with me).

what you could find after the Iron infusion the long term plan will be vitamin b12 injections.Iron tablets and folic acid tablets.On the Question front I find it best to write them down and either hand it to the main consultant or his registrar.The more junior doctors mean well but they generally have to ask the more senior doctors for the answers and this can often mean either a long delay or no answer at all.

I've been on a ridiculously high dose of steroids since being diagnosed and it HAS NOT been fun at all... Right now I'm on 50mg a day and have been as high as 80mg. My side effects usually include really bad back and chest acne, weight gain, insomnia and the dreaded moonface.... When I first started I definitely noticed that I needed a bunch more water. It's because your body retains a lot more water when you take steroids. Be sure to let your doctor know if you see any irregular swelling, especially around your ankles. Because you retain a lot more water, it tends to cause parts of your body to swell up and gravity brings it down to your ankles... (At least I'm pretty sure that's how it works... Someone please correct me if I'm wrong)

Anyways, when I first started I got super bloated around my upper belly because of all the water I drank and it eventually made me really nauseous and I ended up throwing up a bunch of water one morning. I never experienced increased appetite, in fact I had the opposite... But everyone reacts to prednisone really differently and the side effects are so vast and varied that it seems like any symptoms you're experiencing could be caused by it...

I really hope you can get off the steroids as soon as possible! It's no fun being stuck on them for a year and a half like I have been.

Unfortunately, azathioprine takes forever to start working, so your course of 'roids could take up to 2 or 3 months... I know it probably seems hectic since you were just diagnosed and you probably have a ton of questions that you don't know where or who to ask, but I promise it gets better! Hopefully the aza will work and you'll be fine and dandy after that. In the meantime, you're certainly in the right place if you have questions! Everyone on crohn's forum is more than happy to help and many of us have gone through exactly what you're going through right now, so ask away!

I know this might sound stupid, but how would I know if I was going to have another flair up. Will my joints start aching again, will my ankles start swelling up again, will I have blood in my poo, or is it something you can't prepare for.

A flare isn't really something that's quantifiable or easily defined. Any sudden return or worsening of symptoms can be considered a flare. And you can have particularly bad flares where your symptoms get absolutely terrible out of nowhere or you can have mild flares where your symptoms just get a little bit worse. But, in my experience they usually come on out of nowhere. And when you do get them, most doctors will prescribe steroids to help quickly reduce the major symptoms. I mean, you might be able to tell that one is coming if you start to get bad cramps or if you see a return of some of your telltale symptoms.

Crohn's is totally different for just about everyone... Everyone has different symptoms and it effects everyone's body differently. In my case, I don't get diarrhea or have to spend hours on the toilet like a lot of people do... I just get nausea and really bad cramping. A lot of Crohn's is trial and error, figuring out what works best for you... Learning what foods cause you to flare or agitate your illness and learning what lifestyle changes need to be made so you can cope and most importantly, finding a medication regiment that controls your disease. Most of this can be learned with help from doctors and dietitians, but a lot of it you kind of have to figure out on your own, since Crohn's is so individualized.

Thanks for all of the advice and help everyone. I'll do my best to keep you updated, thanks again

Hi im back to bore you all again with some more side affect questions. I'm still on the prednisolone tablets. I've been on them for just over a month now and I'm slowly coming off them, I'm down to 6x5mg a day, but I'm starting to get really bad spots over my face and forehead. Is this normal?
Sorry to nag again

What kind of spots? can you describe them?

There red spots a bit like acne but without the yellow heads. There's probably about 15-20 big ish ones and god knows how many I can see brewing up under my skin. I've not suffered from acne for about 15 years. I don't know weather to put it down to a side affect or just put it down to my body being run down. And I think it would look a bit stupid if I went to the doctors over a few spots

That's steroid acne... I get it really bad all over my chest and back. Its similar to regular acne, but its a lot harder to get rid of and it hardly ever comes to a head so they stick around longer. I don't really know if there's any way to get rid of it. I've had it the entire time that I've been on prednisone and I've just come to ignore it... It sucks when you have to take your shirt off though :/ I'm really self conscious about my prednisone acne... The good news is, though, that when you come off the roids, the acne will go away pretty quickly!

It's definitely a side effect of the prednisone... I never had a problem with acne, ever. Even in my teen years the only acne I would get would be an occasional zit on my face. Never on my back and chest! But every time I go on the preds, BAM! it comes back and I get horrible acne all over the place! Its kind of crazy how fast it returns, actually. and with a vengeance every time!