PatientsLikeMe : Steroid IV Infusion Treatment Report

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What is Steroid IV Infusion?

Intravenous (IV) steroids are used to treat an acute MS attack also known as an exacerbation or relapse. They are generally given daily for three to five days. IV steroids such as Solu-Medrol (methylprednisolone) are used to hasten the recovery from the relapse.

Reasons taken & Efficacy

Reasons and Efficacy
Reasons taken	# of patients	# of patients evaluated by
Slow my MS progress	88	26
Other	38	12
Vision	25	6
Mobility	16	3
Stiffness/Spasticity	15	4
relapse	10	1
Pain	8	3
Support another treatment	6	2
Sensation	5	0
disease-related symptoms	4	2
General health	3	1
Don't know	2	1
Cognition	2	0
Fatigue	2	0
Numbness in feet	2	1
increased numbness in lower body/feet to waist	1	0
Vision Abnormalities (Halos/Floaters/Snow)	1	0
Numbness in left leg	1	1
Numbness in hands	1	1
reduce inflammation	1	1
Blurry vision/eye pain	1	0
Imbalance when walking	1	1
extreme tingling	1	0
to stop exacerbation	1	0
FOR 3DAYS AMMUNITY SYSTEM NERVE CELLS IMFLAMATION BRING DOWN	1	1
Optic neuritis (inflammation, optic nerve)	1	0
tingling	1	1
1000mg	1	1
Paresthesia	1	0
Balance problems	1	1
Dizziness	1	0
stop inflamation	1	0
Bladder problems	1	0
Numbness	1	1

See all 34 reasons taken ▼

See all 95 patients currently taking Steroid IV Infusion

Mouse over the table for more information

Side Effects

Side effects as an overall problem

Severe	10	17%
Moderate	25	42%
Mild	19	32%
None	6	10%

Most commonly reported side effects

Metallic taste in mouth	33	55%
Blushing/Flushing/Overheating	27	45%
Weight gain	23	38%
Fatigue	17	28%
uneasy feeling	16	27%
Pain	13	22%
swelling ankles & feet	12	20%
Elevated blood sugar (glucose)	8	13%
Bruiselike feeling under skin	8	13%
Fever	4	7%
Loss of taste	1	2%
cravings	1	2%
Lots of energy	1	2%
palpatations	1	2%
Sleep problems	1	2%
Depression	1	2%
High blood pressure (Hypertension)	1	2%
Headaches-Right eye/neck/head	1	2%
pale	1	2%
lowered blood pressure	1	2%
unsteady blood pressure	1	2%
extreme sensitivity to light	1	2%
Spasm rib/diaphragm with back pain	1	2%
Irritability	1	2%
Emotional sensitivity	1	2%
withdrawal	1	2%
Headaches	1	2%
sugar cravings	1	2%
Migraine	1	2%
Anger/Irritability	1	2%
headache	1	2%
low temperture	1	2%
Chest pain with flushing/nausea	1	2%
Insomnia	1	2%
Put on weight - hunger	1	2%
Sleeplessness	1	2%

Mild
Moderate
Severe

See all 36 reported side effects ▼

Dosages

Top 10 dosages based on patients currently taking Steroid IV Infusion. See all 43 dosages ►

0mg as needed	1000 mg as needed	1000mg as needed	100mg as needed	100ml as needed	10IU as needed	150mg as needed	1 g as needed	1g as needed	1hours as needed	1 hr as needed	1liter as needed	1mg as needed	1other as needed	20mg as needed	3000mg as needed	3hours as needed	500g as needed	500mg as needed	8mg as needed	as needed	daily	one time	1 g monthly	3 mg weekly	1 g daily	1 mg daily	3 mg daily	100 hr monthly	100 mL monthly	5 g one time	5 mg daily	250 mL monthly	500 mg monthly	20 mg daily	25 mg daily	1000 mg monthly	50 intl units daily	100 mg daily	100 mg one time	500 mg daily	1000 mg daily	1000 mg one time
2	2	8	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	3	1	6	3	1	6	1	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	5	1	1	7	1	1	2	2	6	1

Stop Reasons

Why Patients Stopped Taking Steroid IV Infusion (multiple reasons could be selected)
Reason	# Patients	Percentage of patients
Course of treatment ended	145	82%
Doctor's advice	12	7%
Did not seem to work	12	7%
Other	8	5%
Side effects too severe	6	3%
Expense	1	1%
Personal research	1	1%

See all 165 patients who’ve stopped taking Steroid IV Infusion

Duration See details about how long patients take this treatment ▼

Currently Taking Steroid IV Infusion

0-1 month	1-3 months	3-6 months	6 months-1year	1-2 years	2 years or more
0	0	5	12	11	15

Stopped Taking Steroid IV Infusion

0-1 month	1-3 months	3-6 months	6 months-1year	1-2 years	2 years or more
117	6	16	5	6	16

Adherence, Burden & Cost See details from patient evaluations ▼

Adherence

Taking treatment as prescribed

Always	55	92%
Usually	1	2%
Sometimes	3	5%
Never	1	2%

Burden

Difficulty being on treatment

Very	7	12%
Somewhat	20	33%
A little	17	28%
Not at all	16	27%

Cost

Paid out of pocket

$200+	9	15%
$100-199	2	3%
$50-99	1	2%
$25-49	1	2%
< $25	14	23%

Patient Evaluations

See all 60 patient evaluations

MOMMYWITHMS

Sex: F

Sensation: Severe

Overall: Severe

Cognition: severe

Vision: moderate

Speech: moderate

Swallowing: moderate

Upper limb: moderate

Walking: severe

See profile
MOMMYWITHMS

1000 mg daily

since Feb 28, 2009
Efficacy Moderate for Other
Side Effects Mild
Advice/Tips After 4 months in a row it has helped moderately. It has been worth it to me because of the server disability the symptoms have caused See full evaluation

social worker with MS

Sex: F

Sensation: Mild

Overall: None

Cognition: mild

Vision: mild

Speech: mild

Swallowing: none

Upper limb: mild

Walking: mild

See profile
social worker with MS

0mg as needed

since Sep 04, 2008
Efficacy Major for Other
Side Effects Severe
Advice/Tips According to the first neuro. I saw he said that my reaction should not have happened. He acted as if I were making it up. So I had to go to my PCP when the ... See full evaluation

notgivenup

Sex: F

Sensation: Moderate

Overall: Mild

Cognition: mild

Vision: mild

Speech: mild

Swallowing: mild

Upper limb: moderate

Walking: moderate

See profile
notgivenup

since Sep 21, 2008
Efficacy Can't tell for Slow my MS progress
Side Effects Mild
See full evaluation

See all 60 patient evaluations

Report created on November 21, 2009.

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Steroid IV Infusion Treatment Report