I was given 20 mg of Prednisone for 10 days for a rash and joint ...

I have done alot and I mean alot of research on Prednisone and I do not understand why it is being prescribed. OK, it has been proven to reduce inflammation but other than that it is useless. The list of side effects is a mile-long, but most doctors don't go into that. As far as tapering, I think it is the best way to get off this poision.

The same thing just happened to me tonite. I am tapering off my prednisone, went from 60mg to 40 to 20mg.
I was diagnosed w/vocal cord nodules and loss of voice. Sinusitis/pharyngitus. I think the initial dose of 60mg for 4 days was quite extreme and this doctor gave me not a single warning of what was to come.
Are they laughing in the back ground?? ARE they trying to kill us? I took one pill this morning (10mg) and was fine. As soon as I took the one before bed I started feeling numbness in my legs and pain in my spine.
I couldn't sleep and got up to go to the bathroom and had excruciating pain and swelling in my knees. I could not walk, it was like polio. I fell to the ground and could not get to the phone. I was horrified!! I dragged my butt to the phone and called my neighbor but could not get down the stairs to unlock the door to let him in. I tried dragging my butt to stairs and started getting the sharp pains in my hands and wrists-all systems had shut off. I was crying and scared and never exprerienced anything like this in my life. All for voice loss and a couple of vocal cord nodules??
These should all have their licenses revoked for putting us through this and no warning. I dragged my butt to the stairs to let my neighbor in and we called an ambulance. They came and checked my stats, heart rate fine, blood pressure fine, heart skan fine. They asked what i wanted them to do. i said I can't walk or move my limbs. They said stats were fine and they had never heard of a reactions like this to prednisone that I must have bad knees or something. They left. I have never had bad bones or knees in my life. And from what i am hearing this is not going away after stopping the medication either. People are still having symptoms of leg weakness and numbness for months after. I am so scared and don't know what to do. I am still up at 6:41 am cause every time I lay down chest pain and limbs go numb then get excruciatingly painful. I called my jerko doctor who prescribed it and he seemed to not give a rat's butt. He told me to stop taking it. IT SAYS ALL OVER THE INTERNET IF YOU STOP ABRUBTLY YOU COULD DIE HELLO?? AND HE'S A FRIGGIN DOCTOR???? I DONT WANNA DIE. I don't know what to do. I have 7 pills left. supposed to take two a day for 3 more days. can someone please help me? i am hearing that it is only going to get worse as I'm tapering and even worse when i stop. But I feel like i have polio and am afraid to walk it hurts and feels like my bones will break. when i can walk again i am walking all crooked like i have severe arthritis. how will i go to work on monday? God Bless all of you who are going through this with me, it helps to not be alone. But what will we do? Are we doomed to these side effects for a long time or what? Thanks for listening.

I was given prednisone to help clear up an acute case of sinusitus, the antibiotics alone could not 'OPEN THE SINUS PASSAGES" the prednisone did provide that reduction in inflammation so they could could work. However, I was on 60 mg for 14 days and on the 7th day I woke with terrible knee pain and swelling, I got out of bed and fell down, I commando crawled to the bathroom for aleve, and took it w/ orange juice, within 15-20 minutes I felt immense relief. Two days later it happened again, I took the aleve but no help, I then drank OJ thinking perhaps it was the high potassium content that somehow helped. It worked again. I never thought it was the prednisone b/c it is an anti-inflammatory, why would my knees be swollen? I also know that it is prescribed for arthritis, again my line of thought was the same, not the prednisone. I was looking up ways to help get rid of the water I am still retaining when I came across your posts. For some reason the potassium helps my knee pain {and ankle} pain, it has happened a total of 5 times, but apparently it actually thwarts the return of normal adrenal function. which is the swelling, moonface, 15 lb weight gain, etc and I am experiencing sweating, headaches etc. I'm calling my MD tomorrow am and will let you know his advice.

Hi .. I have just been prescribed 25mg Prednisone (2 per day for 5 days, 1 1/2 next 5 days, 1 for next 5 days, 1/2 for last 5 days) for itching arms that have been driving me crazy for months now. I took my first 2 this morning and have been wondering why my legs are aching like crazy all afternoon. After reading posts on this website, I am also wondering WHY the doctor did NOT TELL ME about all these side effects??? There wasn't even an 'information leaflet' that came with the medication which would be very handy in helping people to make 'informed' choices about which medications they take! I am tempted to just not take any more, but it sounds like I may be doing more harm than good in stopping abruptly? HELP!!!! Any advice you could give me would be helpful . . Deb.

I feel for all of you. I just started taking prednisone 20 mg. last night, and luckily, I haven't experienced any side effects yet. You have raised my concern though......not only about the knee pain, but also stopping abruptly. I'm only supposed to take 20 mg. for 10 days (no tapering), and then stop. WOW, is this going to really hurt me by stopping so suddenly? Now I'm getting a little scared. I'm also a little worried because my doctor gave me the prednisone because I have bronchiectasis and emphysema, and I came down with a nasty cold/flu. I tried antibiotics but it didn't help the infection in my lungs (and I still had a little pain left in my ear and face from a sinus infection caused by this cold)......but now I'm ONLY taking prednisone....NO ANTIBIOTICS. This worries me because I know prednisone can make infections WORSE. I'm confused why my doctor didn't prescribe another antibiotic WITH the prednisone. YIKES!!!!

Kappy

Yeah, my mom experience something worse, she was prescribed prednisone 20 mg.... she's been having the swalowing in the face and neck, felt like she's gaining weight, blury vision, knees pain. To night we had to take her to the drs becasue her face got numb and her whole left side too, she just wanted to scream and cry. When we went to the dr's they told us it was the drug.
What kind of doctor will do that?.... why will they give my mother that drug over a simple COLD!!! What shoukld i do? should i call her stupid doctor and let her have it? HELP please

I was prescribed Prednisone today 20 MG X 2 daily for five days for my nerves that are inflammed, but i was also prescribed IBUprofen 800MG. I was about to take my prednisone a few minutes ago and i read these posts so i dont think i am going to start and get a second opinion from my family doctor. I will however take my IBUprofen because it will help with the inflammation as well. I went to visit my chiropractor and his xrays concurred with my doctor and they completely refused me to take predisone and ibuprofen.

My Sister was reading the pamflet that was given to me by my pharmacist, and the pamflet clearly says dont take prednisone if you are taking ibuprofen; so this is a very scary thought, i am glad i read all these posts before taking this medication.

I urge everyone to read about prednisone before attempting to take it.

I need some advice on this Prednisone issue. I was just prescribed Prednisone 10MG. I am supposed to take 2 a day for 5 days and then 1 a day for 5 more days. This was prescribed to kick out a sinus / nasal infection. A few days prior, I was prescribed Naproxen 500 MG to be taken twice a day for an inflamed knee due to injury. My ENT said that I dont need to take the Naproxen since the Prednisone will not only clear up the sinus infection, but heal the knee as well. Of course after reading all of these postings, I am totally freaked out, yet, this sinus infection has developed from an acute situation to a chronic one. Any feedback would be most appreciated. Thanks.

I have had severe asthma my entire life. Even after leaving the hospital after a particularly bad attack, the MOST prednisone/methylprednisolone dosage I have EVER been on is a 50mg taper. It is usually a 4mg/blister pack. I would seriously call the doctors office and ask WHY the dosage is SO high or see if they have a mix of a short term/quick acting and long term steroid injection they could give you. My weight fluctuates a good 20 pounds on and off the steroid rounds. (which is also very harmful) I wish these doctors would get to the SOURCE of these problems (GERD, asthma, sinusitis, pharyngitis, RA joint issues) rather than taking the quick fix and killing our immune systems. Maybe I should go back to med school and be a pioneer in patient advocacy. I hope everyone on here gets relief.... Thx BB Dallas, TX

On the original question, I have read that you can't stop COLD TURKEY with this stuff, it can throw your body into shock...So I would be careful coming off... talk to your doctor about your concerns as well...
For my story....
I was prescribe Prednisone on Monday March 31, 2008, and I have taken it 3x's so far... It is for CIDP, Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropahty... I was just diagnosed... I am only 24, so this is all new to me, I am on 10mg of Prednisone a day... I don't know how long I will be on this medication either... I am just hoping that someone out there can help prepare me for whatever future side-effects I will have...(if any)-here's to hope!
On a more positvie note for the Prednisone, I can do more, I can walk better, have more energy, and it has really helped me in just 3 days... I couldn't believe how quickly it kicked in... Before the meds, I could barely get around, my legs would tire quickly, and I was having a ton of other problems as well... I am just praying that I will stay on the 10mg only... I don't want it increased!!!

prednisone is NOT like this for everyone - ive used it for inflammatory eczemaon on my face at doses around 20-30mg, tapered. and it worked great. no weight gain. no mood swings. no moon face. im sorry for everyone that it delivers adverse affects too, and its the nature of forums such as these that negatives are the drivers behind a lot of postings. but i have to put this counterbalance in here - its worked fine for me.

For some people such as myself who suffers from chronic severe asthma, prednisone is a life saver. Without this drug I would have died a long time ago. It is very true that the drug has horrible side effects; I myself have experienced mood swings, terrible painful muscle cramps, joint pain, acid reflux and terrilble hot flashes and night sweets.
However you are supposed to have your doses lowered gradually before coming off and your doctor should have done that. My doctor always gives me a prescription with no refills with directions on the dosage to be taken each day i'm on prednisone.
I make sure I take calcium supplements and priolec when I'm on the drug to protect my joints and stomach.
Be careful of long term use because it can cause joint problems. I have a friend who was no the drug for years for an acne problem. He had two hip replacements, all before he was 30 years old and now sometime has to use a walker to get around.

Hey you all. Look, as much as Prednisone sucks, it's the best stuff out there for inflammation. I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis a few months ago... and for me, it's either take the Pred or get a perforated colon and die. The Pred effects suck, yes, I've had many of them. But the point is that you're given Pred b/c the benefits outweigh the costs; they should, anyway. Some of you sound like you just have awful doctors; in which case, I advise you to FIND A NEW DOCTOR THAT YOU CAN TRUST. Your health is way too important, expensive or not! BUT, keep in mind that doctors don't tell you everything right off the bat b/c there is no reason in scaring you if they don't need you. There are SO many possible effects to Pred but not everyone has those effects; it affects everyone individually so the doctors can't really know how it will affect you until the effects start and you get pissed off b/c of it. So, we need to cut them some slack. They don't know our individual bodies; only we know our own bodies. The doctors have the initial medical knowledge but we should always trust our bodily instincts first... that being said, I'll emphasize the importance again of finding/having a doctor you can TRUST. I just found this site b/c I randomly started having severe knee pain today and was wondering if it's from the Pred. I think it is. Lymph nodes in my neck are swollen too. But I'll deal. The Pred is worth it for me!

Oh, and one more thing, I agree with the person above and whoever else said this; YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO TAPER OFF OF PREDNISONE. OTHERWISE, YOU COULD GO INTO ADRENAL SHOCK.

If your doctor didn't taper you off... you possibly need to find a new doctor. Because that's sketchy.