Methylprednisolone symptoms and conditions

I'm a 56 year old male. I'm taking pred as a trial therapy for CIDP, which can be described as MS "lite". The treatment has been three days of one gram per day methylprednisolone infusion, followed, for the rest of the month, by 20 mg prednisone a day. Then another three days of infusions, etc. It's called "pulse treatment." Side effects have been a bit of insomnia, mainly during the three-day period of infusions, feeling a little hyper, slightly hoarse voice, huge appetite. I seem to be able to control these rather well, and haven't gained weight, so far. I'm told I look a little flushed, but don't have a Barry Bonds face, noy yet anyway. The two side effects that have been problematic: Flatulence. Ever read Confederacy of Dunces? I feel like Ignatius O'Reilly. The most problematic has been the urge to pee, which is most intense a couple of days after the infusions are complete. It's really intense for two or three days, then subsides a bit, but still makes me get up in the middle of the night, something that I've only rarely experienced before. Tests for urinary tract infection are negative. Will do this treatment for a few more months and then get spinal tap and EMG test to see if there's an improvement. Haven't noticed any so far, but that's expected.

Hi everybody. I just happened to stumble upon this website. Today is my birthday and I'm home because of a new medication regime to counter act my terrible side effect from Bactrim. Last Saturday I went to the Emergency Room and found out I had a bladder infection, so the Doc prescribes this crap to me. I thought I was having a heat rash from being out in the sun too long (oh by the way, exposure to sun for a longtime is a big NO NO when on Bactrim). It started on a Sunday afternoon, fine little clustered prickly bumps all over my chest. THEN it began to spread on my back. THEN to my FACE! My shoulders, upper arms, forearms, back of my hands, thighs and knees....etc,etc, LOL EXCEPT for my pubic area, thank God! All of this progressed from Sunday night and finally ended up all over my body by Wednesday. The itching was unbearable. I tried everything from the Caladryl, Benedryl, Cortaid, Dermaplast, and absolutely nothing relieved me for more than 10 minutes. I finally went back to the ER when I realized I wasn't getting any better from my intial infection, because now I was running a temp of 100.3 degrees AND my lymph nodes in my groin had swollen to the size of walnuts. Talk about painful! After all that time taking that "poison." Okay, after for hours of waiting in the Lobby, being stared at while scratching and suffering the whole time, I finally went back into ED only to receive my first and most PAINFUL cortisone shot ever in the history of mankind., which did nothing for me but make my leg go numb. I also received Zantac (an acid reflux/heartburn med, I mean, WTF) and some Hydrocortisone pills? or something of that nature and I was on my way with four new prescriptions. Methylprednisolone (steroids! can we say weight gain and hirsutism) Hydroxyzine for itching (works a little, but still itching like hell), Ciprofloxacin I guess to knock out the rest of my infection, and Cimetidine aka Tagamet, which I don't know why heartburn medication is prescribed for me for a rash. Oh well, thats about it. All I've been able to do since is sleep, take meds, sleep, wake up, take meds etc. No new side effects..yet. What an ordeal, from taking one med for one problem to taking 4 new ones for this horrible rash. If you're ever in the southeastern region of N.C. don't ever go to South Eastern Regional Medical Center unless you feel as you're about to die (which if you do go, hell, you might just finish killing you) Sorry this was so long, but this was a very traumatic experience for me.

I have been weaning off Prednisone for sometime, from 50mg down to 5mg in two week steps, 5mg at a time. I've had quite a few of the physical side effects of Prednisone, though none so severe that I would have considered not taking the drug, as it is helping the neuropathy that it was described for. When I hit the 5mg dose, I really seemed to be having trouble with my mental state. I seemed to switch back and forth from knowing what was going on to wondering if I was starting to go insane or losing touch with reality. Hard one to explain. It seems to occur later in the day when I am fairly tired. Back on 10 mg for the last three days and seem to be tired but not so mentally confused. Don't know if this is all from the Prednisone, though. Has anyone out there had any seemingly similar mental things happen on this drug. Thanks in advance for answering if you have had these experiences, they are scary and am hoping that it is the drug and not something else.

As a Doctor myself I think drugs are NEVER the answer except in EMERGENT issues in Heroic life saving... YOU however and all individuals are and should be MORE accountable for your own health and STOP DEMANDING the Drugs and look to LIFESTYLE changes in DIET and EXERCISE to achieve the GOALS so necessary for quality and quantity of life.... The tools are at your fingertips ... The almighty internet ... And your OWN imaginative mentation is your TRUE limitation... So TAKE control of yourself and BE accountable .... Sorry so blunt but MORE tough love and Educating people is whats needed.... NOT more drugs....

MDG

I was prescribed the 4mg methylprednisolone pack along with 50 mg tramadol for acute tendinitis in my wrist. I took the first 3 days of the prednisone and only 2 doses of the tramadol over the three days. For a total of 60 mg of prednisone.

The first day I had hot flashes and insomnia but attributed it to the tramadol because I had never taken it before and had taken the prednisone several years ago for poison ivy with no adverse reactions. I didn't take the tramadol the second night and then took it again last night along with my daily dose of prednisone. I had extreme difficulty falling asleep, heart burn, hot flashes; and tossed and turned all night trying to fall asleep. At around 2am, I began to have difficulty breathing, tightening in my chest, confusion, and racing thoughts. It felt as though my throat was closing up on me. My anxiety progressed to the point that I was pacing back and forth. I woke my husband up and told him to prepare to take me to the ER. After calling my insurance's 24 hour help line, it was recommended that I go to the ER. I had an x-ray, blood work, urine drug screen, and echocardiogram. Luckily, everything was negative. The ER doctor told me that I likely had a reaction to the prednisone and commented that some people will experience these symptoms when taking it. He stated that he had a similar reaction when he took it and it felt like he was climbing the walls, which is an accurate description of my experience that night. He recommended that I either stop taking it altogether or call my primary care provider and cut it down. He prescribed me xanax and administered some to me at the ER which greatly helped. The next day I stopped taking the pred but am still having dizziness, chest tightness, hot flashes, and mental dullness. I have decided to never take this medication again. Fortunately, I don't have any of the physical sx that some have experienced, and my heart goes out to you. I think the mental symptoms were traumatic enough for me and can't imagine having both as I would be a basket case. I have mood swings, some melancholia, and am very fatigued.

I think it is imperative to research any medication that is prescribed to you before you take it. Many providers will say that side effects are rare, but my experience is that side effects are more common than rare. My prayers go out to those of you who are going through what I am going through. I hope that it clears our systems quickly because this is no way to live. I'd rather put up with the pain of tendinitis or carpel tunnel than to have these symptoms.

I was prescribed a 6 day pack of 4mg Methylprednisolone (Medrol) at the ER for an allergic reaction I was having to a gel that I used on my sking. The Medrol worked great at stopping the allergic reaction. My swelling, pain, and rash began to rapidly clear up. Unfortunately I began to have many side effects. On day 5 I was unable to get out of bed I was so tired and dizzy. I had a headache and mental confusion and unclear thinking. I called my primary care provider on a Sunday to ask if it is okay to stop taking the steroid. She said it was and that it was unlikely the medrol was causing my symptoms. She told me I had a virus. I told her the symptoms I was having were listed as side effects on the drug info sheet but she did not believe me. IA few days later I made an appointment to see a doctor, not the same one who took my phone call. This doctor said all of my symptoms were from the Medrol. She knew because of personal experience she saw in her mother who was also taking steroids. She told me medrol can cause a manic response or a depressive, the latter is what I was having. As part of my exam she wanted me to have blood work but said I should wait at least 2 weeks to allow the drug to get out of my system. It is now 19 days since my appointment and I am still having side effects: nausea, complete lack of appetite, dizzy, and tired all the time. I put a call in to my doctor today and am waiting to hear back. I am sorry that I took this medication, will never take again. How long will it take for this med to get completely out of my system so that I feel normal again?
A friend told me her mother had a manic episode on steroids. When I was younger I took steroids for a brief period and had much milder side effects.

I was put on Avelox 6 days ago along with methylprednisolone for a severe sore throat, chest congestion, and cough. Since taking the medication, I have had episodes of anxiety, panic (hard to catch my breath which leads to the feeling of panic), restlessness, trouble sleeping at night, nausea, and problems with my memory (I have had numerous episodes where my mind blanks and I forget what I was going to do or what I was in the middle of doing). My emotions have been all over the place since taking this. I have had episodes where my body just feels very strange. I also have had bursts of pain in my left hip. I am only 41 and have never had this happen before. I was attributing it to my illness because I was very sick at first but now the illness is gone (except for a little congestion that is left) and I am stilling having side effects. It didn't occur to me until today that it could be the medication because I've never had any bad side effects from medication except getting sick to my stomach with codeine. I decided to research Avelox and now am convinced about its side effects. I won't be taking my last pill and will call the doctor tomorrow.

I wonder if mixing Avelox and methylprednisolone caused any effects? Haven't researched that yet.

I was given 20 mg of Prednisone for 10 days for a rash and joint pain.
The pain went away and I felt great the rash got a little better. Two days ago I took my last pill. I woke up that night and my knees gave out. By morning I was great! Next night I woke with knee problem again had to slide down the stairs to the living room. I got to wondering if the knee thing could be associated with the Prednisone. I got on line and read all this terrible stuff. I am so Horrified! Today I am in pain like my body is bruised and my face is swollen a little. I have acid reflux as well. Non of this is typical for me. My knee thing is ok again, but I am just appalled! I have no MED insurance. I hope this isn't the beginning of worse things I am not taking that drug now. The Dr. didn't say I needed to taper...

I hope I have not damaged myself by taking this drug! My heart goes out to all of you! My question is - Why are the Dr.'s prescribing this terrible drug?

hi, Finished a 6 day pack of Prednisone and am so very tired. I feel a bit sick and have hot/cold flashes. More than the normal for my age. I do not feel energetic. I don't know if it is the winter and gray sky doing it to me, but I don't think so. I feel so blah. Could this be from the Prednisone?
Thank you in advance for your help.

DO NOT TAKE THIS MED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!
I have been on this for 5 days and I feel horrible. My doctor prescribed fifteen (YES 15) days of this crap to me for sinusitis. The first couple of days I felt...ODD. Then I started having some tingling sensations and felt groggy. Thinking my doctor knew what he was doing, I plowed on to day 5. Today was the worst. Disorientation, lethargy, headache, tingling under my skin. I will NOT continue this and I am heading into the doctor tomorrow. After reading this and other sites....I have no idea why this would be prescribed for such a relatively minor problem. There are OTHER less threatening antibiotics in the arsenal to try first. I had no idea what I was getting into, but only if I could go back and say NO...... I just hope I haven't done permanent damage.
Robert - 12-31-2007

In January I was diagnosed with polymyalgia rheumatica and temporal arteritis (giant cell arteritis). I was put on 60 mg prednisone and an array of other meds to help with pain, inflammation, water retention, and stomach problems from everything. I've lost some vision from the TA. I've experienced the weight gain, the moon face, stomach problems, depression, fatigue, muscle weakness, lack of memory and concentration, and generally feel miserable. The brain fog is awful! I don't trust myself doing much of anything these days!

When I was first put on the prednisone it completely took away all my TA and PMR symptoms. I could walk and get up and down again, didn't have the headaches, and didn't hurt all over.
My doctor tried to taper my dosage about 6 weeks ago and all my symptoms returned and increased as I went down on the prednisone. He upped me back to 60. That time the symptoms didn't go away. They lessened but were still there.

He's trying to taper again, and I'm down to 30 mg now and feel worse and worse. My sed rate has been normal, so the doctor thinks it's from the prednisone. Does it mimic all the TA and PMR symptoms? I also am having a lot of hand and feet cramping.

Does anyone else have these two illnesses? I would be interested in your experience. I want off these meds! Anyone found an alternative approach that's helped?

God bless!

It's sad to say but i'm almost glad to read the side effects ,I almost lost my mind sleeping 2 hours a night and in combination with Methylprednisolone I had wild mood swings almost to the point of selling my business I'll finish the meds now that I know whats going on and I can deal with it ,if I need this type of medication again I think I'll ask for different meds.

Methylprednisolone 4 mg pack was prescribed for nerver pain in my back. After the first day I was very tired. By day 2 the fatigue was so bad that I missed two days of work. I'm very pale and my heart rate is between 96 and 103 while laying down. I did finish the pack. There is some relieve of the nerver pain. Not sure if the medicine helped or if the vists to the chiropractor helped. 2 day after finished the pack I'm still extremely fatigued and am unable to complete a full days work.

I had a severe poison ivy/sumac reaction and slowly the swelling in my face reached the point of affecting my breathing, so I had an emergency treatment with Prednisone. This was my first experience with this drug. (I am not one to use allopathic medicine unless it's an emergency.) The first dose was shots, then I was put on a "med pak" of methylprednisolone, to be used for 5 or 6 days, tapering down the dosages day by day. By the third day, I began to find the side effects increasingly intense. I had had a mild headache, some chest pressure, funny bone aches, stomach/liver aches, as well as sensations of spacy-ness, floating feelings, difficulty focusing my eyes at times, and my attention, etc.; but the chest pressure was what worried me most. It was all on the left side. I eventually called the doctor because the pressure and discomfort was beginning to become severe each time I took a pill. He agreed to let me stop the prednisone. I had about 2 days left of tapering to one a day, but couldn't stand to take anymore. It was beginning to feel like a life or death situation! (My rash is flaring a little now, but not seriously. I am using alternative remedies as well, and things don't seem to be reversing to where they were, thankfully.) I had missed quite a bit of work, and did not feel like myself. Yesterday was my 2nd day off the pills, and I stayed home to work on flushing my system of the prednisone. I felt like I was going through withdrawal. Today I feel much more like myself. I know now that a lot of the "sickness" I was feeling wasn't just an allergic reaction to a plant--I was sick from the medicine as well. In fact, I think it was more the medicine than the poison ivy that kept me out of work. I appreciate the use of something like prednisone in emergency cases...it may have saved my life...but from now on, I'm going to do whatever I can to avoid having to ever use this drug again. It was clearly very damaging to my body. I hope I was able to eradicate it enough, and was not on it long enough to cause any permanent damage. I have not noticed any more pain in my chest since stopping the medicine. (I may, however, insist that my doctor run some tests to make sure there isn't damage, although the damage might not be something they could easily measure at this point. I have no history of heart problems, and a stress test a few years back came out great.) I would seriously encourage anyone who has to use prednisone more than a few days to look for alternatives, or insist (to your doctor) on alternatives (that hopefully won't be worse). This drug is VERY, VERY toxic and dangerous!! I'm very aware of how my body responds to what I put in it. A lot of people aren't as in touch with their body's responses, and may start on a roller coaster of treatments as things come up, not realizing that the problem may have to do with their medicine. I believe this is the case with a lot of the elderly who frequently end up taking pills to remedy the symptoms created by other pills! Good luck to everyone, and God bless us all!!!

Four days ago i had all four wisdom teeth removed after nearly two decades of constant migrains and other related pain.
While my quality of life has yet to show dramatic improvement due to the fact that i'm still recovering, i am hopeful.
The dentist prescribed two meds for me to take while recovering from the minor sugery. Meprozine and Methylpred (also know as methylprednisolone). The first two days have been a blur but i can remember sudden exhaustion and irritation at the least little thing. Now entering day five, still on both meds and a sudden drench in sweat for no reason sent up a red flag through the haze. I looked up both meds and the side effects. They are eerily familar in the mood swing department so i can't be sure where one side effect ends and the other starts.
I have felt weak, drained, lost memory, snaped and yelled over nothing and gotten upset to the point of begging my kids for a quiet moment and the frustration seems to just build.
Just a few moments ago i woke drenched in sweat on just the right side of my body.
I will be calling the doc's office first thing in the morning to discuss the option of a different pain managment. This is just not working or even worth it.

I am taking methylprednisolone on the 6 day course, am on day two. I am also taking Panlor pain medicine. The combination of these two has produced a very interesting and for me a very pleasing side effect. When I am layed down to sleep, but not quite asleep, I get a somewhat mild euphoria. Then followed by hypnogogic pre-dreamstate imagery that is sexual in nature. Then when actually asleep and dreaming the dreams have been incredibly vivid and intense, in one case a nightmare that resulted in my physically yelling and waking up, which is highly uncommon for me. For me nightmares or intense dreams are a good thing, I am a sometimes lucid dreamer and I enjoy such experiences. I am hoping that these side effects continue. Other than that I get a mildly upset stomach because I do not follow the directions and drink a full glass of water. I should note that this side effect is not present on the Panlor alone, only in combination with the corticosteroid. I was given the steroid to reduce inflamation of my sciatic nerve, and so far it does not seem to have helped, but its only day 2. I might also add that I have been happier, more likely to laugh, although I am not typically depressed or anything, I assume this is a more latent form of the euphoria some people experience.

My son took Methylprednisolone pack for 2 weeks, from having 4 wisedom teeth extracted. It has now been a month. His face is swollen and also has severe rash on his chest, back and shoulders.
At the same time he has been taking sulfamethoxazole and Hydrocodone for pain. But take the antibiotic ampicillin for his acne prescribed by his dermatologist.

I'm taking Methylprednisolone to combat the rash that developed from my Poison Oak exposure. My dosage is 6, the first day, five the 2nd, 4 the 3rd, etc for 6 days. I am having a hard time concentrating. I feel like my mind is racing, and my body is full of nervous energy. I have no pain, and the rash is fading fast.

My spouse was just prescribed this 6-day treatment and I am concerned. It has been prescribed just 10 days after receiving an epidural by injection. The injection has offered no relief, but instead promoted a new problem in an area that did not bother him before. Now the treating physician has prescribed methylprednisolone and I am concerned about the steroid involved in addition to the one just recently injected. Please advise me if you have any reputable sources to make inquiry. Thank you.