Brands > Prednicot

As a patient with severe pan-ulcerative colitis, my experiences with Prednisone can best be described as a Love/Hate relationship. Extremely high dosages of Prednisone was the most effective treament for controling my flares. However, it's a drug that you are NOT supposed to take for long periods of time. Unfortunately, every time my doctor attempted to ween me off of it & lowered my dosage, I ended up with a serious flare that usually put me in the hospital. I've taken Prednisone both intravenously & orally.

While my doctors informed me of the urgency of getting off prednisone ASAP, I kept pushing the limits in my desire to avoid life-altering surgery at all costs. In the end I became a poster-boy for Prednisone side-effects. I temporarily became diabetic (the drug can really mess with your blood sugar levels), my vision deteriorated & I developed cataracts at the age of 23, my muscles atrophied, my skin thinned & I developed skin tears & permanent stretch marks, I had full-blown "moon-face", my appetite was voracious (so I gained weight, but that wasn't too bad or what caused the stretch marks), I couldn't sleep at night--yet I was always exhausted, my bone density diminished over time, I developed several infections, I occasionally had mood swings, I got migraines pretty frequently, I had persistent joint pain, & my teeth became pretty sensitive. Eventually when I decided to come off the drug (because I needed surgery), I had to be weened off of it extremely slowly because by body's adrenal glands had stopped functioning properly. I'm sure I left out some other side-effects, but i'm sure you get the point.

The bottom line is that while this drug is WONDERFUL at treating a wide range of afflictions, it should only be used for a short period of time. If you need to use this drug for an extended period of time, it's really not worth it & you need to find an alternative medication or just have surgery. I was foolish and relied on the drug too heavily for far too long & I now regret not giving in sooner avoiding these awful side-effects, which became just as bad as the disease the drug was treating.

Proceed with caution.