PredniSONE and severity

PREDNISONE.... a word that is unknown to the naive and despised by the the knowledgeable. Before i begin i want to tell you that prednisone for lack of better word F***ed me up. So heres my story with the pill. About a year ago i was officially diagnosed with Minimal Change Disease, now remember i am eighteen at the time, and was prescribed prednisone to cure the disease. Now being unaware of the severity of the drug and disease i casually continued life while taking 80mg per day of prednisone. Well this was good and all because it did in fact put me in remission, but the side effects were starting go surface. My face ballooned up "moon face", started experiencing random series of depression, became insomniatic, and unfortunately gained several pounds. Well this was not the end of side effects as for me. I continued with the medication and after 6 weeks of 80 mg i began my 5 week course of 60mg. Then after that i started 4 weeks on 40 mg and began tapering 5 mg every 2-3 weeks afterwards. Toward the middle of 60 mg the drug started taking its toll on my body as my skin lost its elasticity so i started getting gruesome strecht marks all over my body. I also became constipated for whatever reason most probably prednisone was at fault. I became very frightened actually terrified so i started to research about the drug in hopes of finding ways to avoid some side effects. In doing my research i found out very disturbing information regarding prednisone. Along with all the side effects that i mentioned above, prednisone also causes cateracts, glacoma, diabetes via insulin resistance, and osteoporosis. Now these i consider as the more severe permanent side effects as the list unfortunately is much longer. Finding out about the side effects i became extremely paranoid and started a very strict diet to hopefully avoid some permenat side effects. I admit reading about the information on prednisone created my paranoia and/or possible phycosis which ultimately led to my stress which led to my severe depression. Now this wasn't any old type of depression, i was sersiouly in need of some help. Everyone around me could tell something was wrong and really i dont blame then for in fact i felt as if my soul had died, the very essence of my being. Now magin if you can someone taking away your youth from you, sucking the very life out of you... thats exactly how i felt. To add along with the depression my grades became a wreck in college as i dropped several classes, lost a friend, developed problems with my parents as they tired to help me, and disrespected family relatives with my uncontrollable mood swings. A few weeks in of dieting and exercising i lost a lot of weight (15-20 pounds). As far as side effects non had changed i still had to deal with all that was mentioned above especially with the fragile skin that was a real burden as i had even a few stretch marks on my face from sleeping on my side. At this point of my long and what seemed to be a never ending journey i become exteremly weak. My body had no energy to run on as i refused to eat and when i did eat it was either foods that are considered free foods or protein nothing else. Everything at this time had been taken away from me including smoking marijuana (marijuana drops blood sugar as this would cause me to start feeling faint and lightheaded), alcohol (same as marijuana drops blood sugar), and the fact that i was not comfortable in my own skin (literally). I was driving myself insane. Everyday i was behind the computer searching for more and more. I was obsessed and became my worst nightmare. Oh by the way half in the medication therapy i showed 1+ grams of protein in my urine which my doctor possibly thought it could have been a relapse. This news i did not take lightly i had lost it and was prepared of comiting suicide. I cant lie, i really did not want to live anymore i just wanted to end this and suicide seemed like a very real and convienent possibility. If it had not been for my parents talking to me giving me a 3 hour speech and lecture i do not know what i would have done. Suicide at that point became out of the question because i could not do this to my family. So i went and purchased urine dip sticks to monitor the protein. The doctor had given me a 2 week window or chance to get back into remission or else he was going to prescribe me cytotoxic agents aka chemo therapy drugs. This was horrible news to me. So as i monitored my protein i found out of a very interesting trend. I noticed that my protein levels in the afternoon were in fact positive for protein and were usually up and down as far as how much but in the mornings i noticed i was always negative. Now this give me a huge bit of hope because when in researching about MCD months earlier i found out that there is a coniditon called orthostatic proteinuria which affects mostly young adolecent males and is a condition described as for some unknown reason there is protein loss in the afternoon when the person is upright and active then when they are supine or laying down the kidneys do not allow any portein loss. This condition is in fact harmless. I was very happy from then news and i told my doctor, he was somewhat doubting, but i don't blame him he is looking out for my best interest, but sure enough after the 2 weeks had past i went in again for my appointment after testing and i was negative for protein as i had expected. We began tapering after that point and i continusouly monitored my own tests at home and eventually i got off the steroid, actually today is that day after a 9 month period of heartache and distress. You know people say that they went to hell and back in a hard moment in life, well i went to hell stayed there for 9 months then came back. I feel so everyone who as ever needed to take steroids for long periods of time, i know its tough but believe it as it is indeed a potent drug and in most cases a miracle drug. It gave me a second chance at life and no matter how hard it was or how much pain it put me through i cannot complain for it did in fact cure me and thats why i can never hold any grudges. So thats my story i kno its not pretty but what can i say it is indeed mine whether i like it or not.

I am a 25 year old, who was perfectly healthy prior to recently when I was diagnosed with Nephritic Syndrome and Minimal Change Disease and possibly FSGS (kidney diseases) I was put on 60 mg of Prednisone for 1 month then I was lowered to 40 mg for one month and I am then dropping to 30 mg. I am also taking Fosamax for my bones and a Vitamin D pill because my last lab test showed low vitamin D levels.

I am dizzy constantly and can not live a normal life, I can not drive or do any activities that I had previously done. My chest is so tight and constricted all of the time, my heart rate is so fast and pounds at my chest. I have no energy to do anything, I can barely open a door at times. I am beginning to grow unwanted hair on my face. My abdomen is always bloated. I have pain in my rib cage, and shoulders. I feel very sore throughout my entire body. I do not really sleep at night, so I look very tired all the time.

I have actually lost weight, I have no appetite at all. I am down 10-15lbs.

Now for the Pro- my Kidney Diseases are currently in remission and this has happened much faster than the Nephrologist had thought.

I am very anxious to getting my life back to normal and getting off the Prednisone.

Has any one else experienced increased heart rate, chest tightness, or rib pain?

I wish everyone the best in their roads to recovery!!

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.

I HAVE BEEN ON PREDNISONE FOR OVER A YEAR TO TREAT MG. I STARTED ON A MASSIVE DOSE (120MG), BUT NOW, THANKFULLY, I AM DOWN TO 15MG EVERY OTHER DAY. I GAINED THIRTY-FIVE POUNDS, AND HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO TAKE IT OFF YET. MY FACE IS NEARLY TWICE THE SIZE IT USED TO BE. IT SUCKS BECAUSE I AM ONLY TWENTY-TWO YEARS OLD AND NO ONE RECOGNIZES ME ANYMORE. I'M SICK OF IGNORANT PEOPLE AND THEIR STUPID COMMENTS-I'M TIRED OF HAVING TO EXPLAIN MY SITUATION TO EVERYONE. PEOPLE SUCK...I SHOULD BE DOWN TO 5MG EVERY OTHER DAY, SOON. MY DOC SAYS THE SIDE EFFECTS SHOULD START TO GO AWAY SOON-BUT I DON'T BELIEVE HIM. HE NEVER TOLD ME ABOUT THE RIDICULOUS SIDE EFFECTS OF THIS DRUG, SO I DON'T TRUST ANYTHING HE SAYS. IF HE HAD JUST TOLD ME ABOUT THE SEVERITY OF THE DRUG, MAYBE I WOULD HAVE CHOSEN THE ALTERNATIVE TREATMENT, BECAUSE, AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED, THE SIDE EFFECTS OF THIS DRUG FAR OUTWAY THE BENEFITS. NO ONE UNDERSTANDS HOW I FEEL BECAUSE NO ONE HAS HAD TO GO THROUGH WHAT I HAVE HAD TO GO THROUGH. IF ANYONE WANTS TO CONTACT ME, FEEL FREE... I'M NOT AS CRAZY AS I SOUND.