Taking prednisone for a short period of time can cause side effects like changes in appetite and mood, sweating, and trouble sleeping. People taking it long term can experience weight gain, high blood pressure, cataracts, and osteoporosis. Thinner skin and getting sick more often are also common complaints.
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. Contact your doctor if you experience prednisone withdrawal symptoms as you are tapering off the drug.
Steroids, especially in doses over 30 milligrams per day, can affect your mood. Some people can feel depressed, some extremely “up” without any apparent reason. Just being aware that steroids can do this sometimes makes it less of a problem. Sometimes, this side effect requires that the steroid dosage be decreased.
Prednisone side effects are common and can include insomnia, abnormal hair growth, fatigue, thinning of the skin, constipation, and more. 1 While some are manageable, others can be intolerable or even permanent.
You can reduce the risk of certain side effects like insomnia by taking the drug earlier in the day. Other side effects like weight gain, mood swings, and osteoporosis may be reduced with lifestyle changes like diet, exercise, and improved sleep habits.
Fluid retention is one of prednisone's most famous side effects. “'Moon face' is common, which is swelling in the face that can occur after you've been on steroids for a long time,” Dr. Ford notes. “You can also get swelling in the legs and midsection.”
Most short-term prednisone side effects, like headaches, nausea, and weight gain, go away once the dose is lowered or the steroid is stopped altogether. Other potential side effects—like vision problems and osteoporosis —may be permanent.
This medicine may cause changes in mood or behavior for some patients. Tell your doctor right away if you have depression, mood swings, a false or unusual sense of well-being, trouble with sleeping, or personality changes while taking this medicine.
How Long Will Withdrawal Symptoms Last? It's normal to feel some mild symptoms for about a week or two as you taper off prednisone.
A short course of prednisone or methylprednisolone will almost certainly make you feel better. Steroids boost your energy level, alleviate pain and nausea, block allergies, reduce swelling, shrink nasal polyps, alleviate asthma, and can even restore hearing in some patients with sudden deafness.
Treatment with steroids may cause changes in mood – you may feel very high or very low. This may be more common in people with a previous history of mood disturbance.
Prednisone has a tendency to raise the level of glucose, or sugar, in the blood, which can cause increased body fat or diabetes in some people. It is important to avoid "simple" carbohydrates and concentrated sweets, such as cakes, pies, cookies, jams, honey, chips, breads, candy and other highly processed foods.
If you take things slowly and taper off the prednisone, your adrenal glands can catch up and start making normal cortisol levels. This could be just a few weeks before you're at a safe level, or it could be months. Tapering the steroids under the supervision of your doctor is the safest way to go.
How to tell if the drug is working: You should experience less pain and swelling. There are also other signs that show that prednisone is effective, depending on the condition being treated. Talk with your doctor if you have questions about whether this medication is working.
On the other hand, psychological symptoms can persist for up to 2 months. If the psychological withdrawal symptoms are severe, your doctor may decide to taper you off prednisone more slowly. You may also receive blood tests to test your cortisol levels during this process.
To avoid withdrawal after long-term use, prednisone should be reduced gradually according to a schedule set by your healthcare provider. Don't try to stop or taper prednisone without your healthcare provider's knowledge or advice.
Side effects can range from mild to severe, and they may worsen over time, especially with higher doses of the medication. Side effects may include: Personality/mood changes. Insomnia.
Can You Detox from Prednisone at Home or Not? Detoxing from prednisone naturally at home is not typically recommended. This is due to the uncomfortable physical and psychological withdrawal symptoms that should be monitored by a medical professional.
But every now and then, steroid-based drugs like prednisone might cause side effects like brain fog, anxiety, and sleeplessness, says Dr. Blazer.
PREDNISONE (PRED ni sone) treats many conditions such as asthma, allergic reactions, arthritis, inflammatory bowel diseases, adrenal, and blood or bone marrow disorders. It works by decreasing inflammation, slowing down an overactive immune system, or replacing cortisol normally made in the body.
by Drugs.com
The elimination half life of prednisone is around 3 to 4 hours. This is the time it takes for your body to reduce the plasma levels by half. It usually takes around 5.5 x half-life for a drug to be completely eliminated from your system. This is (5.5 x 3) 16.5 hours to (5.5 x 4) 22 hours for Prednisone.
The fear of using corticosteroids is so common that it has its own name: corticophobia. For topical steroids, this fear stems from well-known and severe adverse effects like Cushing syndrome and permanent skin atrophy. However, these effects are rare when topical corticosteroids are used properly.