Since December 19, 2007 prednisone has been a steady medication in my life. I was started on it for the pyoderma gangrenosum I developed in November of 2007 when it was finally diagnosed correctly. Now you might be wondering why I am so happy to be off of prednisone. Well, the main reason is the sheer number of side effects which can be seen here and here.
Luckily I did not suffer all of the side effects. For some reason I do not seem to get the increased appetite side effect. I am not sure why but I have heard some people say they were so hungry on prednisone that they would eat Styrofoam. That is some serious hunger!!! I also did not gain weight on prednisone. I am not sure if the weight gain side effect comes because people are eating more or if it is just a side effect. I did get to enjoy some of prednisone’s other side effects. It affected my mood incredibly. I was depressed and anxious on it – especially at the highest dose of 80 mg per day. I have definately been slow to heal. I still have patches of shingles that are not healed – including the infected patch on my back. I have also had increased fatigue and weak muscles. There are other side effects I have had to deal with but I don’t want to bore everyone!
The other good thing about getting off the prednisone is that I get to go off of 2 other medications I was on to deal with the side effects. To deal with the emotional/mental side effects I have had to take clonazepam. I did have to wean off of this drug as the withdrawal looked a little scary. I can also stop taking pariet which I needed to deal with the stomach upset caused by prednisone.
Finally, to be off prednisone marks a huge victory in my battle with ulcerative colitis. The fact that I am off of it with no return of symptoms means that I am finally in remission. While the prednisone certainly helped get the symptoms under control it alone does not put colitis in remission. It is likely due to the imuran I have been taking since the beginning of January. As an immuno-suppressant, imuran works to depress the immune system so that it is no longer attacking my colon. Imuran is a drug given to transplant patients to stop them from rejecting the new organ. There are some serious side effects (including the risk of cancer – rare but it is there) however, given the choice between ulcerative colitis, losing my colon and taking imuran – I chose imuran. I am so looking forward to my health continuing to improve. For the first time in 3 years I am free of ulcerative colitis symptoms.
June 3, 2008 at 3:34 am
What Chris so conveniently fails to discuss is the massive doses of morphine that she required for pain. One doctor said she was on a dosage high enough to bering down a horse. The morphine led to side effects from hell. Hallucinations, crying jags, paranoia, depression, totally uncharacteristic behaviours, anxiety X 10, no ability to make intelligent decisions, irrational thoughts, attention seeking. Add to this the prednisone and all the other drugs, and life with the Thomas family was a whole lot o fun for many long weeks.
I’m glad my lover is back. It was very hard to watch her suffer the way that she did.
June 3, 2008 at 6:23 pm
Yey! No drugs, how cool is that! Congrats Chris!
June 4, 2008 at 2:11 am
Stumbled across your blog–I suffered from UC for awhile, and had my colon removed nearly a year ago, then had my ostomy reversed and got a j-pouch in the fall. It feels so wonderful to be healthy again. Congrats for going into remission, and to be off the nasty prednisone–I know I hated that stuff, it made me very irritable, not to mention the moonface. Take care of yourself!
June 4, 2008 at 4:53 am
Chris didn’t mention the morphine because the post was about prednisone!!! Sheesh!
August 24, 2008 at 10:34 pm
[...] was ‘laid off’ from my job just before I was scheduled to go back after a very long and serious illness. A little less than a week before I was to go back I received a registered letter that advised me [...]
September 10, 2008 at 11:46 pm
thanks for the information, My Brother has PG and I have seen it first hand (NOT PRETTY) he has been taking shots of Embrel for a year and is now all cleared up. I was looking for sights to do a report for college and Came across yor story ! thanks for sharing ! Glad your feeling better and you and your mate can get back to life
Cindy
September 13, 2008 at 11:02 pm
[...] many years to December 2007. Yes, the year of the plague. I was put on whopping doses of prednisone to deal with my pyoderma gangrenosum and colitis. One of the major side effects of steroids is hair [...]
October 28, 2008 at 10:00 pm
prednisone can be naaasty stuff for sure. I have re accuring bells palsy, and my neurologist just recently put me on prednizone again. This time though he gave me to high of a dose for my sensative brain….and it put me into steriod induced phycosis. CRAZY STUFF. im still comming out of it, and all though i can remember my days now, im still in a deep deep depression from it. an im a lil light headed still, screwy vision…ect. haha.
glad to hear that you are finally free from this, and it gives me hope that i too can feel good someday.