Hi I am 31, have been put on prednisone for a pinched nerve in my...

Hi,
I was in the ER on Sunday night because I have had chronic idiopathic urticaria (really bad hives) since April. I think it was due to allergy testing I had in late March where they found NO allergies, but I did react to the histamine. Apparently if you have an autoimmune disorder ( I had epstein barr virus), your system can be imbalanced and can't fight off things, like a histamine. So I went back to the allergist when the hives became resistant to antihistamines like Benadryl and they put me on Singulair (I have asthma thanks to second hand smoke from two smoking fiends for parents). I had an allergic reaction to the singulair and at the ER with my face swollen to twice its size, I was given 150 mg of prednisone. It was my worst nightmare come true because my mother (one of the smoking fiends) had to go on prednisone when the 40+ years of smoking gave her COPD, emphysema, blah, blah and she gained 100 POUNDS. So I had the 150 sunday night, 50 mg on Monday and then cut it to 10 mg on Tuesday. Did I mention the hives and allergic reaction were very resistant? So I went up to 24 mgs on Wednesday and then went to a HOMEOPATH today and haven't had a hive in 36 hours. That may not seem like a lot but it is AMAZING. I also learned that there are H1 and H2 histamine blockers. When combined, they are much more effective against uritcaria, so try a Zantac or Tagamet with a Zyrtec, Alavert, or Benadryl. That really helped me a lot.

As for the prednisone, anyone on it for longer than a week will have complications. See a homeopath, I don't care what you believe in, if it gets you off the evil drug, it's worth it. Also, there's a book, "Coping with Prednisone"--I only saw it on Amazon and ordered it for my mother, but one person said it helped her to lose weight WHILE TAKING PREDNISONE. I was the told the side-effects from taking it short-term (a week or less) will wear off in two weeks. I am not stepping on a scale right now and just keep drinking a lot of water and staying away from gluten, wheat, dairy and just eating protein, veggies and brown rice or oatmeal.

Research and do what you can do to get off the prednisone if you can. And pray, pray to God to get you through this.