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Has anybody had longterm side effects of predisone? My father has been taking small amounts of predisone for over 10 years. He is now declining very fast, due to joint and back pain. He cannot get off of the medication because his quality of life gets worse. I don't give him 3 more years with the way things are degrading.
They've been stuffing me with that medicine since I was two and heavily when I was a tad bit older. I blew up when I was a kid, and it's hard getting weight off no matter how much I exercise and change my eating habits. Prednisone also keeps my eczema at bay, and when it leaves my system, my skin breaks out from head to toe. It seems like I will never be rid of the need for steroids
Sorry to hear that Seeking. That is exactly what happens to his skin as well. Now his skin is like tissue paper and he bruises very easily, although that could be due to his age as well.
Sorry to hear that Seeking. That is exactly what happens to his skin as well. Now his skin is like tissue paper and he bruises very easily, although that could be due to his age as well.
I'm trying not to rely heavily on it. I find that when I exercise and eat very healthy my skin and asthma does not bother me so much, but it still does every once in a while, that's when I'll take it if all other natural remedies do not help.
I used it off and on for about 4 years for what my doctors thought was severe eczema, and later used it during cancer treatment. I can probably attribute close to 100 pounds of weight gain on prednisone or other steroids (40 in the years preceeding my diagnosis, and 60 during cancer treatment itself). Luckily, my "eczema" was really a side effect of cancer so I no longer have to take it... but the weight has been very slow to come off.
Other side effects included difficulty sleeping, easily bruising, aggression, and tooth grinding.
Have you or he talked to his doctor about alternative treatments? I was always told that prednisone is NOT a long term solution, and my doctors would only give it to me when my symptoms were truly unbearable (ie when I had dyshidrosis covering my hands and couldn't bend my fingers because of the swelling) or during chemo.
He has had doctors prescribe alternative solutions but he always goes back to the prednisone. He is to the point now where he is set in his ways and is resolved to the fact that he won't be around much longer. They also have him on Hydrocodone due to the severe pain. He has deteriorated from doing all his own yardwork two years ago to being pretty much bedridden or stuck in a chair. Now he hardly ever leaves the house. Sad to see.
Did your dad opt for the low dosage in hopes of preventing any damage to his body? His joint and back pain would likely greatly improve if he were taking a larger dose, which would give him better quality of life. These were choices I had to make when I began prednisone. The total body pain was dramatically gone within a week. Turns out I could maintain on taking the prednisone on alternate days, which kept me from weigh gain. Yes, it has damaged my body, but, it's a choice I had to make.
You don't say your dad's age, but, he may prefer an improved quality of life than the current misery.
My Dad has had back and joint pain for years and was prescribed prednisone in early 2000. I never thought about him increasing the dosage. Yes he takes small doses hoping it would not damage his organs. He is 76 years old. Sometimes I think he is overmedicated, but he is very sensitive about discussing it. He has many pills he takes daily and I don't know what some of them are. He is very set in his ways and won't discuss some things. One other thing, his body seems to be losing its firmness. It is almost like gravity is pulling him down. Everything is getting lower.
Congrats on being cancer free Char. Awesome!!!
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