PatientsLikeMe : Prednisone Treatment Report

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What is Prednisone?

Prednisone is a synthetic corticosteroid drug that decreases inflammation and suppresses the immune system. It is used for many purposes including relapses in MS; for rheumatic disorders; neoplasms; collagen diseases. Prednisone is activated by the liver into prednisolone.

Reasons taken & Efficacy

Reasons and Efficacy
Reasons taken	# of patients	# of patients evaluated by
Other	169	19
Slow my MS progress	133	17
Optic neuritis (inflammation, optic nerve)	46	12
Stiffness/Spasticity	44	5
Pain	36	6
Support another treatment	30	10
disease-related symptoms	13	2
relapse	13	3
Fatigue	9	0
General health	6	2
Don't know	5	1
Mobility	5	1
Sensation	5	2
Numbness, tingling, pins & needles (paresthesia)	3	0
MS Hug, or girdle-band sensation, stomach/chest/thighs	3	0
Exacerbation (relapse) MS	3	1
Vision	3	0
Walking difficulty without aid	2	2
Balance problems	2	1
Transverse Myelitis	2	2
Blurry vision	2	0
Numbness	2	0
exacerbation	1	0
relieves the side affects of my Avonex shot.	1	0
Muscle weakness	1	0
Blind left eye	1	0
Left leg weakness, pain, stiffness	1	0
Vision problems	1	0
To slowly ween me off the steroid. Steroids used to calm exacerbation	1	0
Respiratory infections	1	0
Wheezing	1	0
Burning sensation all around torso-like a tight belt	1	0
Numbness, feet,legs	1	0
Taper Down from Infusion	1	0
heavy legs	1	0
Aching/Burning/Throbbing/Buzzing tendon body pain	1	0
Numbness, legs	1	0
Blurry vision/eye pain	1	0
Inflammation	1	0
bone pain	1	0
Hearing loss	1	0
Migraine	1	0
Slurred speech	1	0
Depression	1	0
Double vision (diplopia)	1	0
foot and leg numbness, weakness, need splints to walk.	1	0
Loss of use of left side	1	1
Swallowing	1	0
reduce inflammation	1	0
Speech problems	1	0
Pain, arm	1	0
To stop/slow MS attack	1	0
Vertigo	1	0
Flu-like symptoms	1	0
Assistive communication	1	0
Dizzy Spells Worsened	1	0
Injection site redness	1	0
Taper from Solumedrol	1	0
slow ms progress	1	0
Trigeminal neuralgia	1	0
To help with Migraines that increased from last Relapse	1	0
Dizziness	1	0
Vision loss	1	0
Difficulty walking	1	0
Shortness of breath	1	0
DEVIC DEASE	1	0
Bladder problems	1	0
MS attack	1	0
Asthma	1	0
Numbness in my hands, arms, legs, and waist	1	0
Arm weakness	1	1
Leg weakness	1	0
doctor ordered (no symptoms at time of treatment)	1	0
excerbation	1	0

See all 74 reasons taken ▼

See all 245 patients currently taking Prednisone

Mouse over the table for more information

Side Effects

Side effects as an overall problem

Severe	24	30%
Moderate	23	29%
Mild	20	25%
None	12	15%

Most commonly reported side effects

Weight gain	41	52%
Makes me very edgy	32	41%
appetite	28	35%
Facial swelling	25	32%
dry mouth	25	32%
roid effects	17	22%
Fatigue	17	22%
Loss of taste	13	16%
Acne	12	15%
Elevated blood sugar (glucose)	11	14%
Insomnia	3	4%
Metallic taste in mouth	2	3%
Yeast Infection (Candida albicans)	1	1%
Sleep deprivation	1	1%
hypomania	1	1%
immune system weakened	1	1%
Depression	1	1%
Nausea	1	1%
increased energy/mania	1	1%
Unable to eat	1	1%
Mood swings	1	1%
increased appetite	1	1%
Bloating	1	1%
Emotional lability	1	1%
cateracts in both eyes	1	1%
Irritability	1	1%
Stomach (gastric) ulcer pain	1	1%
Headaches	1	1%
Increased Hunger	1	1%
Digestive disturbances	1	1%
Indigestion	1	1%
Light sensitivity (photophobia)	1	1%
Blurred Vision	1	1%
Blushing/Flushing/Overheating	1	1%
Sleeplessness	1	1%
Stomach pain	1	1%

Mild
Moderate
Severe

See all 36 reported side effects ▼

Dosages

Top 10 dosages based on patients currently taking Prednisone. See all 71 dosages ►

1000mg as needed	100 mg as needed	10 mg all the time (24/7)	10mg as needed	1200 mg as needed	1200mg as needed	20 mg as needed	20mg as needed	2.5 mg as needed	2.5mg as needed	25mg as needed	40mg as needed	4 5mg/5mL as needed	50 mg as needed	5 10mg as needed	5mg/5mL as needed	5mg as needed	60 mg as needed	60mg as needed	6 1mg as needed	70mg as needed	75mg as needed	80 mg as needed	8 20mg as needed	daily	2.5 mg yearly	2.5 mg weekly	5 mg weekly	1 mg daily	10 mg weekly	2 mg daily	2.5 mg daily	20 mg weekly	3 mg daily	1250 mg yearly	120 mg monthly	4 mg daily	30 mg weekly	5 mg/5 mL daily	5 mg daily	7 mg daily	7.5 mg daily	8 mg daily	60 mg weekly	10 mg daily	2 x 5 mg/5 mL daily	15 mg daily	3 x 5 mg/5 mL daily	20 mg daily	5 x 5 mg/5 mL daily	30 mg daily	7 x 5 mg/5 mL daily	40 mg daily	280 mg weekly	1320 mg monthly	50 mg daily	55 mg daily	60 mg daily	70 mg daily	80 mg daily	90 mg daily	100 mg daily	150 mg daily	200 mg daily	6400 mg monthly	500 mg daily	600 mg daily	1000 mg daily	1000 mg one time	1200 mg daily	1250 mg daily
1	1	1	4	1	1	1	3	2	1	1	1	1	1	2	3	2	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	27	1	1	1	1	5	2	12	3	2	1	1	2	1	6	12	2	4	1	1	19	1	3	1	18	1	7	1	9	1	1	5	1	21	2	5	1	2	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	2	1

Stop Reasons

Why Patients Stopped Taking Prednisone (multiple reasons could be selected)
Reason	# Patients	Percentage of patients
Course of treatment ended	261	70%
Doctor's advice	58	16%
Side effects too severe	37	10%
Other	25	7%
Did not seem to work	20	5%
Not indicated	15	4%
Personal research	5	1%

See all 356 patients who’ve stopped taking Prednisone

Duration See details about how long patients take this treatment ▼

Currently Taking Prednisone

0-1 month	1-3 months	3-6 months	6 months-1year	1-2 years	2 years or more
5	7	13	24	21	23

Stopped Taking Prednisone

0-1 month	1-3 months	3-6 months	6 months-1year	1-2 years	2 years or more
182	56	29	27	15	48

Adherence, Burden & Cost See details from patient evaluations ▼

Adherence

Taking treatment as prescribed

Always	67	85%
Usually	7	9%
Sometimes	3	4%
Never	2	3%

Burden

Difficulty being on treatment

Very	23	29%
Somewhat	15	19%
A little	12	15%
Not at all	29	37%

Cost

Paid out of pocket

$200+	3	4%
$100-199	0	0%
$50-99	3	4%
$25-49	3	4%
< $25	43	54%

See more information, including instructions, precautions, side effects, and interactions.

Patient Evaluations

See all 79 patient evaluations

R B Hoofenpaw

Sex: M

Sensation: Moderate

Overall: Moderate

Cognition: moderate

Vision: moderate

Speech: moderate

Swallowing: moderate

Upper limb: moderate

Walking: moderate

See profile
R B Hoofenpaw

70mg as needed

since May 01, 2009
Efficacy Major for Other
Side Effects Mild
Advice/Tips Use judiciously and make certain it is under a doctor's orders. Do check out the latest research on prednisone vs Solu-Medrol and duration between relapses. See full evaluation

MSmary

Sex: F

Sensation: Severe

Overall: Mild

Cognition: moderate

Vision: mild

Speech: mild

Swallowing: mild

Upper limb: mild

Walking: moderate

See profile
MSmary

10 mg all the time (24/7)

since Mar 05, 2009
Efficacy Slight for relapse
Side Effects Mild
Advice/Tips Normally when I get put on a prednisone taper- I feel like super woman- I have more energy than one person can contain (Last time I literally tore my closet ... See full evaluation

slowrambler

Sex: M

Sensation: Moderate

Overall: None

Cognition: none

Vision: none

Speech: none

Swallowing: none

Upper limb: none

Walking: moderate

See profile
slowrambler

2.5mg as needed

since Feb 09, 2009
Efficacy Moderate for Other
Side Effects Severe
Advice/Tips Use only what you need to bring you down from the massive steroid amount received from your infusion. I've found that the quicker I can rid myself of all of ... See full evaluation

See all 79 patient evaluations

Forum

See 38 topics tagged with Prednisone

There are 1122 posts in our forum about Prednisone. Join now and see what people are saying.

Report created on November 20, 2009.

1000mg as needed	100 mg as needed	10 mg all the time (24/7)	10mg as needed	1200 mg as needed	1200mg as needed	20 mg as needed	20mg as needed	2.5 mg as needed	2.5mg as needed	25mg as needed	40mg as needed	4 5mg/5mL as needed	50 mg as needed	5 10mg as needed	5mg/5mL as needed	5mg as needed	60 mg as needed	60mg as needed	6 1mg as needed	70mg as needed	75mg as needed	80 mg as needed	8 20mg as needed	daily	2.5 mg yearly	2.5 mg weekly	5 mg weekly	1 mg daily	10 mg weekly	2 mg daily	2.5 mg daily	20 mg weekly	3 mg daily	1250 mg yearly	120 mg monthly	4 mg daily	30 mg weekly	5 mg/5 mL daily	5 mg daily	7 mg daily	7.5 mg daily	8 mg daily	60 mg weekly	10 mg daily	2 x 5 mg/5 mL daily	15 mg daily	3 x 5 mg/5 mL daily	20 mg daily	5 x 5 mg/5 mL daily	30 mg daily	7 x 5 mg/5 mL daily	40 mg daily	280 mg weekly	1320 mg monthly	50 mg daily	55 mg daily	60 mg daily	70 mg daily	80 mg daily	90 mg daily	100 mg daily	150 mg daily	200 mg daily	6400 mg monthly	500 mg daily	600 mg daily	1000 mg daily	1000 mg one time	1200 mg daily	1250 mg daily
1	1	1	4	1	1	1	3	2	1	1	1	1	1	2	3	2	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	27	1	1	1	1	5	2	12	3	2	1	1	2	1	6	12	2	4	1	1	19	1	3	1	18	1	7	1	9	1	1	5	1	21	2	5	1	2	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	2	1

1000mg as needed	100 mg as needed	10 mg all the time (24/7)	10mg as needed	1200 mg as needed	1200mg as needed	20 mg as needed	20mg as needed	2.5 mg as needed	2.5mg as needed	25mg as needed	40mg as needed	4 5mg/5mL as needed	50 mg as needed	5 10mg as needed	5mg/5mL as needed	5mg as needed	60 mg as needed	60mg as needed	6 1mg as needed	70mg as needed	75mg as needed	80 mg as needed	8 20mg as needed	daily	2.5 mg yearly	2.5 mg weekly	5 mg weekly	1 mg daily	10 mg weekly	2 mg daily	2.5 mg daily	20 mg weekly	3 mg daily	1250 mg yearly	120 mg monthly	4 mg daily	30 mg weekly	5 mg/5 mL daily	5 mg daily	7 mg daily	7.5 mg daily	8 mg daily	60 mg weekly	10 mg daily	2 x 5 mg/5 mL daily	15 mg daily	3 x 5 mg/5 mL daily	20 mg daily	5 x 5 mg/5 mL daily	30 mg daily	7 x 5 mg/5 mL daily	40 mg daily	280 mg weekly	1320 mg monthly	50 mg daily	55 mg daily	60 mg daily	70 mg daily	80 mg daily	90 mg daily	100 mg daily	150 mg daily	200 mg daily	6400 mg monthly	500 mg daily	600 mg daily	1000 mg daily	1000 mg one time	1200 mg daily	1250 mg daily
1	1	1	4	1	1	1	3	2	1	1	1	1	1	2	3	2	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	27	1	1	1	1	5	2	12	3	2	1	1	2	1	6	12	2	4	1	1	19	1	3	1	18	1	7	1	9	1	1	5	1	21	2	5	1	2	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	2	1

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Prednisone Treatment Report