Professional strength symptoms and conditions

I have polymyalgia and the rheumatologist put me on 15 mg prednisone a day for one month then 12 1/2 mg 2 weeks then 10 for two weeks and now 7 1/2 for a month then down to 5 mg next month til next doctor visit. The only side effect I feel I am experiencing is not being able to loss weight. I have not gained any in the 3 month on the meds, but have been really watching my weight and can't seem to lose any. I do at times get a hot flash, not at night but in the daytime, but compared to the pain and stiffness from the polymyalgia.. I'm a happy camper. Before I couldn't get in or out of the tub or car the pain was so bad! Mornings were unbearable. I am 150 pound 54 year old female.
Does anyone else feel good about this drug and have had success with it. My doctor wants me off it in a year.

I am a 33 yr old male with Cystic Fibrosis. I started prednisone in 2006 and as of 2009 i have never been off of it.This drug has destroyed my body. I was under weight when i started, at 130 lbs. I am 5'9'' so i admit that was thin,but know i am at 170 lbs. This has had an effect on my relationship with my girlfriend since i met here when i started taking it. It may actually help me breathe better,but I am not sure. I have decided to stop it myself. I will do so slowly,but i am sick of the way i look and feel. This may sound silly to some but i just hate being in this state. I look like a pregnant woman playing a trumpet. I wonder how long it will take me to look like me again? Good luck to all of you. BK.

Hi everyone well yesterday i started to to take Prednisone 2 hour later my heart is racing along with high blood pressure , so ill try to calm my self down blood pressure kind off got back to normal but heart still beating rapid, today i woke up my blood pressure was fine but my heart still pounding do ya know how long it t takes for my heart to go back to normal , and im sorry to hear about everybodys different reactions to this stupid pill hope everybody gets better.

Hi I am a 44 year old asthma patient. I have had asthma since the age 2 and have been on & off prednisone since that time. As a child until age 20 I was on predinsone daily. My question is has anyone experienced nerve problems due to long time use? I do have muscle weakness and spasms, but I am interested in if anyone has had nerve problems. Please email me at ****** and refer to prednisone.

I had my left lung fill with fluid and collapse after radiation treatment for Breast Cancer. The lung was drained with Thorocentesis and I was hospitalized for a week and put on prednisone - 40 mg reduced to zero in 1 week. I experienced symptoms of heart attack as reaction to reduction from prednisone. When it was determined by enzyme testing in hospital that heart not damaged I was sent home with prescription of prednisone starting at 60 -10 days, to 40- 5 days, to 30 - 10 days, to 20-10 days. The cumulative effect of these doses was all the side effects mentioned by others, loss of emotional and physical balance, stability, swelling, moon face, insomnia, depression, crying, stomach pain, constipation, etc. I dropped myself to 20mg for 9 days but on the 8th day had recurrence of lung pain and feared possible fluid build up through tissues damage/leak caused by radiation - they are calling it pleurisy or pleural effusion. (It was also determined that I must be on constant oxygen and sleep on oxygen as my breathing capacity is below 88 off of oxygen.) Dr. found not enough fluid to drain without risk to damaging my diaphragm so upped the prednisone again to 30 for 14 days. Using pain and shortness of breath as a measure of lung condition I must not dampen pain now but suffer it to monitor my lung so as to avoid trips for constant X-rays. I continue to suffer from prednisone and it has disabled me so that my normal life cannot be resumed in any way. I want to get off of it, but after reading these reports, I am very worried - supposedly the steroid is allowing my radiated lung to heal, but if that is not happening I think the steroids are possibly more life threatening than the lung - in any case, what life? What other choices do I have to survive the damage done to me by radiation?

I have taken, for the first time in my life for poison oak, prednisone- 60 mg for 3 days, 30 mg for 1 day, and 20 for 1 day. A week after the dose ended, I took another dose of it. As soon as that was over, the symptoms began with extreme low energy and dizziness, and eyes not feeling to well. I have been like this for a week, and would like to know how long this will last? And what can I do to speed up the process?

Hi my name is Jessica an I was diagnosed with Chrohn's on 3/4/08. I started with the Entcort for two weeks and that did nothing for all the pain and suffering that I had been going through since November. The put me on Prednisone at 40mg a day. I have been on it for about 3 weeks. After 3 day I noticed the moon face because I had lost so much weight because of being so sick for so long. I still hardly eat and am still losing weight. I can't sleep more then 3 hours at a time unless I take something to strong enough to help me fall asleep and if I sleep for more then 5 hours I will be up for the next 20 before I can even try to lay down. I have OCD which I have never had and cant stop cleaning when I feel up to it (kinda like this side affect). I have been haveing awful leg cramps and walking into stuff all the time. I forget what Im doing or were Im going. BUT the WORST PART is the ACNE... I am an Esthetician and I never had anything like this. I mean I have breakouts during the normal times ect... But this is bad an everyday there are more of them. I use really good stuff on my face to begin with an the things I would use on a client are not the same for treating acne that is caused from this drug so those things are not helping either. Right now my makeup covers it ok, but Im going to be on Prednisone for 3 more months before they will start weening me off and then going on 6-MP drug. I cant go 3 more months if this is going to get worst. PLEASE IS THERE ANYONE WHO KNOWS WHAT TO USE TO CONTROL THIS ACNE ????

My mother was put on Prednisone 3 weeks ago because of severe muscle pain (15 mg at first and increased to 60 mg). After she starting taking it she began to have weakness in her muscles/joints and was unable to walk by the end of the week. She also had severe water retention and could not catch her breath. Most of all she was very weak all the time and could not seem to sleep at all. She wound up in the hospital and was classified with a type of Congestive Heart Failure due to the excessive dosage given by a pain doctor. She had to be admitted to a Rehabilitation Center where they have now cut her down to 10 mg a day and she is trying to take Physical Therapy to walk again. She is fighting with depression and overwhelming feelings of anxiety. She still cannot sleep and wonders if she will ever by back to normal again. Just a month ago she was living a normal life and because of the pain, was given this medication. I wonder if the benefits outweigh the horrible side effects she has experienced. After reading some of the responses above I see others are having similar side effects.
Any encouragement from someone with a positive long term outcome would be beneficial at this time to her. She feels very helpless in her situation.