PredniSONE and appetite

Hi All,

I was diagnosed with dermatologists when I was 14 years old and put on very high dosage of prednisone to get my disease under control (40 mg a day at the beginning). My muscle enzymes were out of control (CPK was almost 8,500 when it should be less than 215) and I was barely mobile, huge amounts of weight loss, alopecia, Raynaud's, etc. That was 11 years ago and I am now almost 100% better. Prednisone saved my life, but the side-effects were TERRIBLE! Especially for a girl going through puberty. Kids at school don't understand you're sick, and they can be extremely cruel. Luckily for me a large number of my family members are in the medical profession all over the world and my parents were able to pool knowledge to find the best treatment for me without all the horrible side effects. An uncle in Germany suggested I take a Prednisone alternative widely available in Europe called Diflazacort. This medicine is not available in the states apparently because the FDA thought it was exactly like Prednisone so was unnecessary. I'm sure this is some pharmaceutical company lobbying to preserve Prednisone's monopoly on inflammatory diseases, but regardless it makes finding Diflazacort difficult for Americans. This is a HUGE shame since this medicine gave me ALL of the benefits of Prednisone with NONE of the side effects. My mood swings, water retention, increased appetite, hazy brain, thinning skin, etc etc etc ALL stopped with Diflazacort. This wasn't only true for me either. A family friend had been diagnosed with Crohn's at the time and he was put on Diflazacort from the beginning of his treatment after seeing how I reacted to it and NEVER had any of the negative side effects I had to deal with. Really this drug was like a miracle for me. Prednisone prevented my sure death, but Diflazacort gave me my life back in its entirety. I've now been off of any steroid for 7 years and my muscles are fully back to normal. Some of the fat deposits Predinose caused still linger, but to most people's eyes I'm totally back to normal. I wish I could find everyone having problems with Prednisone side-effects and tell them about Diflazacort. Even though it isn't available in the states (although I heard recently they are trying to get it approved again since a number of studies showed Diflazacort is much more effective treating Crohn's than Prednisone is) you can get it on the internet or if you have doctor friends abroad as I did. I'm always wary of buying drugs over the internet since there's no control so I would suggest contacting doctors in Europe or Asia directly or through your doctor here in the states. Anyways, I wanted everyone to know that some people do get better and I wish you all the best of luck!

Hi All,

I was diagnosed with dermatologists when I was 14 years old and put on very high dosage of prednisone to get my disease under control (40 mg a day at the beginning). My muscle enzymes were out of control (CPK was almost 8,500 when it should be s no control so I would suggest contacting doctors in Europe or Asia directly or through your doctor here in the states. Anyways, I wanted everyone to know that some people do get better and I wish you all the best of luck!

hi everyone, i'm a 36 y.o. male and have been on and off of prednisone for 25 yrs. my experience has always been more positive than negative with taking this drug. it has helped me to breath better and has made me to feel extra healthy and even physically stronger. but i have my suspicions about this drug also. it has given me a false since of good health and i feel like i want to keep taking it just to feel better. i have only taken the drug after an asthma attack for about 5-7 days. early on the only side effect was increased appetite and occasional insomnia. but the last time i took this drug the doctor increased the milligrams and a VERY UNUSUAL side effect occurred that never happened before. I HAD HALLUCINATIONS! i have never had these side effects before and on the leaflet of possible side effects that came from the pharmacist for the very first time i saw hallucinations listed as a possible side effect. the hallucinations were damn near demonic in nature. the experience went like this... i woke up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and on my way to the bathroom i passed my dresser mirror and in the mirror was writing on the mirror in a mist! just like it would be when you get out of the shower and take your finger and write on the mirror. THERE WERE LEGIBLE WORDS ON MY MIRROR! mind you this is in my bedroom and the shower was off! at that point i refused to read what i saw in the mirror! it was weird enough what i saw i didn't need to read it. i refused to be fearful at that point cause i realized i was hallucinating and not getting a haunting. when i woke up later i went back to the mirror and of course no writing in the mirror. IF THERE IS ANYONE WHO HAS EXPERIENCED THIS PLEASE TELL ME YOUR STORY PERSONALLY! MY EMAIL IS ******! i would like to know that i'm not alone in this. to make it easier for me to see your response please type prednisone in the subject box on the email cause i receive a ton of emails and spam. and i would really like to hear other stories and experiences of taking this drug with very weird side effects!

I have had trouble with eczema/psoriasis for several years and it has spread to most of my body. Hands, arms, elbows, back, chest and stomach, hips, back-side of my thighs, knees, bottoms of my feet, scalp, inside my ears, forehead, what haven't I mentioned? So far, Prednisone is the only medication I can take that clears it up. Trouble is, the doc won't let me take it long enough to completely clear the rash before I'm tapered off. After reading some of the other posts, I've got to say that I've never noticed any adverse reaction. My appetite is up a little, but my energy level is also up and I burn off any extra calories. I sleep better (no itching) and for longer periods, wake feeling better, have a better outlook for the day and am ready to go. I'm a salesman, so my mental attitude is important, and my wife and family all agree that I'm less moody and in a generally better frame of mind while taking Prednisone. I've noticed no stomach or bowel distress except for being a little less regular than normal. But no constipation and no diarrhea. I'm 61 so a few muscular aches and pains and joint stiffness are to be expected, but I've noticed no unusual incidents. While I don't advocate taking large doses (define large doses???) for long periods, I've read that taking Prednisone on an every-other-day basis can be effective while greatly reducing the risk of side-effects. I think Prednisone has been a real "miracle drug" for me and just wish there was something as effective without the side-effects.

Hi

I just started taking 20mg of Prednisone for a shoulder injury. So far I have all but loss my appetite, which sounds strange to me since my doctor told me to expect to gain weight very quickly. I have also loss my need to sleep. I was up from Saturday 11:15 am morning the first day I began Prednisone and wasn't able to get to sleep until Sunday night around 10:00pm. I'm sweating like I'm constantly being rained on, it is so darn annoying. I also started to lose my voice last night and then again today, is that normal with is drug? I'm so full of energy all I do is clean our house, work out in my flower beds, etc. I'm kinda of scare of this drug and I'm glad I will be off of it next Tuesday unless my shoulder isn't better when I start physical therapy tomorrow. I wish you all the best while you are taking this drug.

Keep us posted on how you are doing.

Marlene

Hi All - I have been off prednisone for one week and I am not doing as well as I thought I would be at this stage. My symptoms are not flaring, which is a very good thing but I am so tired and feeling very depressed and low energy. I thought I'd feel great once I was off the evil prednisone but so far I am feeling almost as bad as when I was on it. My moon face has not started to go away, which sucks, but I guess I have to be patient. I am so tired of this situation as it feels never ending. Part of the problem is I have continued to work throughout my ordeal, and it's been very hard at times to carry on like a normal person who is not sick. I have been sick since last November (with an autoimmune disorder) and I had really hoped by this time that I'd be on my way to being better :( Prednisone saved my life but the side effects are horrendous, as are the after affects of it. Good luck to all who are taking it. I share your pain and frustration.

hi all. thanks for writing your comments here. it has helped me today, another HORRIBLE day of prednisone hell. i have been seriously ill for 8 months been told ever other week I'm likely going to die from lung disease (i'm 35) and after a painful lung biopsy have been told my lung problems are almost all reversible... after a year on high dose prednisone. i was on 40mg a day for a month a while back and was so out of control from rage and crying and insomnia and panic/suicidality, ravenous appetite, that they lowered me to 30. then after biopsy they said i should be on 100mg to cure me, we settled at 60mg. it's been 24 days. The moon face started about one week in. i've gained 8 lbs. i am an emotional wreck. i have at least one rage filled attack per day where i am screaming and want to kill somebody or destroy something. some days i am so filled with hopelessness and worry i just want to die. my body changes (after just losing 30 lbs and being a work out fanatic my shortness of breath makes it impossible to walk up 2 flights of stairs without resting) face changes, acne, excess body hair (oh my god please make it stop i'm like a chia pet and i'm so afraid it is going to get worse) double chin, puffy eyes and cheeks, absolutely uncontrollable emotions and mood swings, inability to be logical or reasonable. i don't want to leave the house, i'm panicked and scared all the time. i never sleep. ambian gives me minimal relief (just started taking it) i feel like i'm losing everything, except my lung functioning is returning and i'm not going to die from this illness (they assure me THIS week) i understand light at the end of the tunnel, but living like this is unbearable most days, almost impossible the rest of the time. am i alone with the severity of this? or are all the others like me too busy hiding the sharps and crying in a corner to write on this board? thanks for listening :)

figures, forgot to mention what HELPS. no eating after 8 (7pm is better) no salt, no sugar, exercise, even just a walk every day, anything physical, i walk like a grandma on the treadmill but i still do it, sometimes it is the only thing that stops my crying. no alcohol, support and understanding from loved ones, it's not you, its the drugs. good luck.
figures, forgot to mention what HELPS. no eating after 8 (7pm is better) no salt, no sugar, exercise, even just a walk every day, anything physical, i walk like a grandma on the treadmill but i still do it, sometimes it is the only thing that stops my crying. no alcohol, support and understanding from loved ones, it's not you, its the drugs. good luck.

Hi. I was diagnosed yesterday with Bells Palsy, (the entire right side of my face is completely paralyzed) and given prednisone, a tapering dosage. I started my first dose of only 20 mgs last night and went to 60 mgs today, will keep on that dose tomorrow as well as one more day, taper down to 40 mg for two days, then 20 mgs for two days. My heart feels like it's going to beat out of my chest! I can feel it it's beating so hard and I can also hear it when lying down .Very freaky. My blood pressure today was 164/107. My normal bp is 110/70. I take medication for high blood pressure but it's not doing much good. I am also a diabetic and my sugar is whack! Had to increase my Metformin. I'm assuming since no one has died from taking this HORRIFIC medicine, we'll all live through it but at times, I feel like I am going to have a frigging massive panic attack! I have to calm myself down, listen to music, meditate. That does help some but not enough .I will be sooooooooo glad when I'm done taking this SH*T! Another thing I've noticed is I am bone weary weak, like I've run the Boston Marathon, competed in the 1000 meter butterfly medley and then played 3 sets of tennis on top of that! GOOD GRIEF, HE INVENTED THIS CRAPOLA?

I am glad that I found this website! I have been trying to find out how long it takes for my moon face to go away. I was prescribed 60mgs daily of Prednisone while 35 weeks pregnant for 3 weeks. When pregnant, I developed a condition called Thyromocypenia (my white blood cells die off during my pregnancies). In order for my OB to not have to put me under again for a repeat c-section, she referred me to a hematologist who put me on this drug. I asked him about side effects and he stated that the most common is increased appetite, which did not affect me. Even though I was pregnant at the time, my appetite did not change, but what did change was my face after I stopped taking the Prednisone. While in the hospital after the birth of my son, they did taper the dosage for 3 days and at the point of discharge, I was completely off the drug. I left the hospital on a Wednesday and overnight my face had swollen so strangely that I went back to the hospital on Friday. I had no idea that there was such a thing as this moon face syndrome. The nurse that attended to me in the emergency room told me about it. She said that she had taken Prednisone before for asthma and it took her face 3 weeks to return to normal.

I just had my son on 5/4, and my face has been swollen exactly a week today. I can see where some areas are reducing, but it is still not back to normal. My face did not swell at all during my pregnancy and I only gained 18lbs, so this was really startling for me to have been through 9 months looking great and after giving birth sitting up with a pie face, swollen nose, swollen lips, a swollen neck, and swollen shoulders. I also experienced a couple of migraines that nearly took me out. I hope to never have to take this drug again!

On Prednisone for Asthma (have an infection) I have taken Prednisone before and the only side effect was increased appetite (which I could do with out as I am already overweight) this time however I have the worse heartburn I can literly feel my insides burning from the back of my throat down to the bottom of my stomach. I have also been experiencing increase sweating -fun wow. I feel bad for those of you who have to take this ongoing.

I started taking Prednisone in late November for inflammation of my lungs, a complication of influenza A. I started at 50 mg daily, then went to 75, then was hospitalized and went to 160 intravenously. After about a week, I was reduced to 120 then 75 by mouth a few days later. After 15 days in the hospital, I was released only to come back two days later with internal bleeding. I was released two days later and my doctor knocked several days off my withdrawal plan. About midway through all this, I started having a constant mild headache. After my second release, the headache started to get worse. The headache became debilitating and I spent some time in the ER where codeine helped. (I'm allergic to morphine which would have been their choice). The codeine helped for a day or two, but when I got to 60mg of codeine with no effect I gave up on the pills. My doctor gave me some sort of anti-inflammatory shot which helped.

I've been off Prednisone now for over a week and still have a constant headache, but most of the time it's not bad and only moderate at times. On average I see a gradual improvement.

I have had increased appetite and energy (in the beginning) followed by face and neck swelling, headache, nausea, blurred vision, internal bleeding and large muscle weakness.

I know that I needed something to stop my lung inflammation, but the cure has been worse than the disease at this point.

After bith my childrens births I have experienced a enigmatic skin disease / disorder which has been unclassified by dermatologists and specialists. First I experienced blisters on my torso, which crusted over and followed with severe urticaria-like wheels all over my body. Doctors placed me on Prednisone 5mg tablets ( 40mg daily) for 4 months, in which time the symptoms subsided , but the side -effects for this Mother was terrible!!! I experienced a 12kg weight-gain, uncontrollable appetite, excessive sweating, dizziness , shortness of breath and extreme hairloss. My skin thinned and OI bruised very quickly. No diagnosis could be made. After the induced -birth of my second child now, I have the same episode and had been placed on Prednisone for the second time just to cope with the swelling.

I am currently in my 7th week of using 10mg - 15mg daily with an anti-histamine. I hate the re-occuring side-effects and am very scared of all the long-term damage. Does anyone have any idea how to boost your own natural immune-defence system while being bombarded witha immuno-suppressant like Prednisone??!!!!

I believe that your own body ws made to heal itself or be healed by natural means... but how and what?? I am desperate, and have been following a anti-candida like diet ( no yeast + sugars + preserved foods) Thus far I have not been able to kick the symptoms. Any help out there would be much appreciated. Have someone experienced the same sort of symptoms???