OT - bad cold

Never tried prednisone, however do not underestimate the value of that inhaler - that's what did the trick for me when Amoxyl and something even "better" didn't do it :-)

Hanne in London

i'm glad to hear your on the mend. isnt prednisone a steriod tho? iirc that is what they gave ds when his hearing was stuffed up when he had meningitis. he had to take it for a month and it then took around two months to wean him off of it. ok, thot i'd best go check out exactly what it was so i didnt sound like a big fat know it all and then be wrong. heres the wikipedia link so you can read bout it yourself.

to alarm you but steriods just scare me a bit....makes me think of athletes who take'em and the later heart probs they get. ok, so they take heaps and you only had one shot but still worrys me a bit.just glad u'r better now.hugz, jeanne

I think there's a difference between anabolic steriods the athletes take and the ones prescribed to knock out inflammations. Steroids are often a lifesaver when trying to knock down inflammatory responses in the body. I've taken them many times for allergies that have gotten out of control. I think you're sounding a unnecessary alarm here Jeanne. With the pills, you take 7 one day, 6 the next, etc. KJ

Oh and to piggyback my message. I've been reading that one should be careful about accepting Wikipedia as the absolute truth. The pages can be edited by anyone. No ill will here, just hated for anyone to be terribly worried about taking short term steroids to knock out inflammatory response. KJ

Oh, yeah, I don't take it lightly. I KNOW it killed my mom. Made her quality of life a little better the last 10 years. Worth it? I can't answer that. She got around some. That was important to her. She got to dance some. That was REAL important to her.

When you take the pills, you can't just "stop". Your body has to be weaned off of them.

Jeanne, why would you be worried about sounding like a "big fat know it all"? Doesn't bother any of the rest of us. We do it all the time.

Cindy

okie dokie. j.

okie dokie. j.

well.... seems not everyone reads what i say with the knowledge/understanding that i only speak from my own experience, i have no education in whatever, other than life. or perhaps i'm just paraniod from that life experience. oddly enough i dont read folks here ever as big know it alls just working from what they've experienced and i take that with the knowledge that i should use what they say as it applys to me. not everyone is capable of that it seems. just covering my bum i guess....after recent events. j.

(Here I go sounding like a big fat know it all)

No, Jeanne's absolutely right. Prednisone IS a steroid. Different class than anabolic (I think) but a steroid none the less.

Some people take prednisone on a daily basis. When their emphysema, arthritis flair or whatever gets a little better, they must be slowly weaned off the drug.

The 7-6-5, etc routine that you referred to is called a Med-Pak. Used for allergies, Poison Ivy, like that. Short term.

My mom truly did not heal well after bypass surgery because of all the prednisone she had taken over the years. She would get infection in the incision and then would go into renal failure because of the antibiotics. They would stop the antibiotics and her kidneys would start working and the infection would come back. This went on for over 3 months.

DH got prednisone shots for hayfever and they helped so much. But the doctor would only give him one a year and balked at that one. He really did not want to give it to him.

If it had been me, I would have found another doctor that would have been a little more amenable to the drug because it really worked. Nothing else does because they all make him so sleepy.

Only you and your doctor can decide what's best for you in particular.

Cindy

exactly my point.... you are speaking from personal experience. as was i...just worry'd bout the prednisone as ds had it and i was speaking from that experience. no, you are not sounding at all like a big fat know it all. these things have different effects on each person so it just pays to learn all you can about it so you can decide what is right for you. in the end it is your own decision what you want to do medically. btdt...the dr was wrong and i was right that time...was my body involved in one decision and no way could the dr possibly know what i was feeling inside at the time regardless of the fact i told him...he still made the inane remark , well its up to you...if things go wrong you gotta live with it. doh...who else is gonna live with it? sorry but i'm glad 'that' dr wasnt my regular dr. cuz he got that one soooooo wrong...wont elaborate on that issue. jeanne

I knew I should have hit the delete button before the send button.....sigh. I figured it would end up this way. I've been very glad to judiciously use the steroids when needed. The word "steroid" seems to be inflammatory in and of itself. It's just a drug that can help a lot of people. I'm out. KJ

Anytime I have severe allergy, very bad bronchitis, or a "so-called" asthma attack, Prednisone is the only thing that works for me. Anytime you have bronchial problems, it is one of the best things you can take. I also took it long term - over 2 months - many years ago for acute bronchitis, it took about an additional 6 weeks to get me off of it. I would do it again in a heartbeat. Prednisone can be used for lots of things. I had a very severe case of poison ivy - as in very allergic - had running blisters all over both legs, several spots on my face, and a few spots on both arms - went to the emergency room and they gave me a prednisone shot, 4 prednisone pills, and a prescription for the dose pack. By that night, the blisters were almost dried up, by the next morning, they were completely dried up, and by the next day, they were all gone. The word "steroid" scares a lot of people, but they can be quite useful. I'm not a doctor, and I don't play one on TV, lol, I'm just sharing my own very good experiences with Prednisone.

Sherry Starr

i dont know squat bout steroids other than my ds had to take them for a few weeks then be weaned off of them. then all the noise bout athletes who take'em and the heart probs they can cause. they all just scare the bejeesus outta me. i just dont like meds full stop and avoid them 'for me' at all costs. probly something going back to my childhood that i dont remember at all, lol. so dont let anything i gotta say mean a thing cuz its all just me being paranoid. sorry if i upset ya, KJ. hugz, jeanne

No problem. The anabolic steroids are the ones that get all the publicity from use by athletes. This isn't the same stuff.

This is a really good article about the difference between the two and the uses of each. KJ

Oh, no no no! Everything you said was true as well! It helped my mom so much and I can't remember when I felt this good. I don't have a bad connotation for the word "steroid". I don't equate it with illegal or illicit use.

It's a good drug and should be used prudently. I don't think you inferred anything different.

Cindy

Not me! I'm a firm believer in Better Living Through Chemistry!

Cindy

Prednisone scares a lot of people, me included. That said, I've had Prednisone injections for inflammation and it worked wonders. Side effects for me were minimal. YMMV

The very word "steroid" has bad connotations for lots of people. I really think each situation requires consultation with the doctor you trust. I have a friend with RA who would not be mobile at all if it weren't for Prednisone.

A vet used to Prednisone to help one of my dogs who had "hot spots" that drove him crazy, and it worked but it affected the dog's bladder. On the other hand, Prednisone truly saved the life of my 'Dorable Dora when she reacted badly to her kitten shots. I really thought she was a goner, she was nearly in a coma when I got her back to the vet's office, but the shot pulled her right out of it.

Sounds like your doctor and you are a good team, and I am really glad you're feeling better! That galloping crud (a cold, sort of....or allergies....or sinus infection...maybe the flu?) is driving us nuts in Tucson right now, and I'm praying I don't get it!

Prednisone is some nasty stuff, but it works. You are right it is a steroid. I have severe asthma, chronic bronchitis and MS. It is used to treat all three. It make me sicker than h--l. For asthma and bronchitis it open the lung nodules and lets you breath easier. For MS, it used to bring down swelling in the brain that is sometimes caused by MS.

I have been on Prednisone for all three reasons. It takes forever to get off the stuff. In the beginning July I had 4 infusions of it and was sicker than a dog but it did bring the swelling down. It was like having chemotherapy. The idea is the same. I finally got off it around the middle of August. Nasty stuff. I will only use it as a last resort.

Michele