Water is essential; a target of two litres of water should be aimed for per day, more if the body sweats a lot during exercise.
Steroids can cause a temporary increase in blood sugar levels. Look out for increased thirst and wanting to go to the toilet more often than usual.
Steroids may increase your risk of developing ulcers or gastrointestinal bleeding, especially if you take these medications along with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen or aspirin. If at all possible, don't combine steroids with NSAIDs.
Choose lean meats, poultry and fish. Avoid fried foods and foods with extra oil, butter, margarine, mayonnaise and the like. Eat foods rich in calcium. Prednisone may alter your body's ability to use calcium.
Another way to control fluid retention is to make sure you eat enough potassium rich foods, about 4,700 milligrams daily. Potassium helps to decrease sodium levels and also increases urine production which helps flush out extra fluids. Lean protein can also help promote weigh loss for patients on prednisone.
Drink Plenty of Water
Water is essential; a target of two litres of water should be aimed for per day, more if the body sweats a lot during exercise.
Yes. Prednisone is one of several medications known to cause weight gain. This is usually more likely to happen with long-term use or higher doses.
Things to avoid (or cut back on) while taking prednisone include: Caffeine: Caffeine can add to the unwanted stimulant effects of prednisone. Combining caffeine with steroids can keep you awake at night or make you feel jittery and anxious.
The higher the dose and the longer the duration of treatment, the more likely you are to put on weight. You can control fluid retention by eating a diet low in sodium and eating more foods that contain potassium such as bananas, apricots, and dates.
Your doctor may advise you to take drugs called bisphosphonates, or calcium and vitamin D supplements, along with the steroids to help prevent this. Regular exercise, especially things that involve your bones carrying the weight of your body, such as walking, can also help to reduce the risk of getting osteoporosis.
If symptoms such as abdominal pain, fever or unusual digestive problems (diarrhea, constipation) occur during corticosteroid therapy, notify your physician.
Acne, rosacea and infectious diseases such as a fungal skin infection can even be made worse by steroid medications. This is why it's important to have an exact diagnosis before using steroids.
Since steroids cause your body to retain more water, it's also common to experience urinary frequency, says Kaplan. Just knowing that this can potentially happen — and that it will soon pass — can help. “It's not something to worry about,” she says. “It's not a long-lasting symptom; it will improve within a few days.”
Talk to your doctor right away if you have more than one of these symptoms while you are using this medicine: blurred vision, dizziness or fainting, a fast, irregular, or pounding heartbeat, increased thirst or urination, irritability, or unusual tiredness or weakness.
It's normally best to take steroid tablets with or soon after a meal – usually breakfast – because this can stop them irritating your stomach.
Also, increase your intake of low-fat foods that have high calcium levels. Some of these include corn, sardines, almonds, broccoli, milk, yogurt, cheese, tofu, cooked soybeans, boiled white beans, and salmon.
Stomach upset
Prednisone may cause gastrointestinal symptoms when you take it on an empty stomach. What you can do: This one is pretty simple: Take your dose with food.
This depends on your health problem or condition. You may only need a short course of prednisolone for up to 1 week. You may need to take it for longer, even for many years or the rest of your life.
Neurologic effects such as sleep disturbance, psychosis, and delirium are commonly cited adverse effects (AEs) of corticosteroids.
It's best to take steroid tablets in the morning with breakfast. This is to try and lower the risk of the medication disturbing your sleep. Taking it with a meal can also prevent stomach irritation.
A gradual reduction in prednisone dosage gives your adrenal glands time to resume their usual function. The amount of time it takes to taper off prednisone depends on the disease being treated, the dose and duration of use, and other medical considerations. A full recovery can take a week to several months.
This means as soon as you start taking steroids they will start working immediately in the body and you can see remarkable changes within 2-3 days. Steroids have natural versions available these days which tend to mimic these compounds without the side effects.