Re: lee - prednisone

[Guest guest]

Thanks Maureen, I appreciate the feed back. I don't know how long my

son's Dr. plans to have him on the prednisone. That is a good question

to ask. I hope it won't be for very long and that it works. I did buy

the primal defense in the powder because I just couldn't get him

another pill. This didn't go over well but I will try it again in the

future.

I hope that he will be lucky for once and not have the side effects.

Thanks again, this was very helpful

Lee

> lee, prednisone is a double-edged sword.  one of those " best of drugs,

> worst of drugs " things.  in bill's case, this sounds like the lesser

> of two evils, in that the benefit from the drug (controlling his UC

> flare) would outweigh the cumulative negatives, especially if the

> steroid use is short-term.  the good news is, steroids might indeed

> help calm/control bill's UC.  and speaking from personal experience

> (with both my husband  & myself, as well as others we know), it should

> really step up your son's appetite!

>  

> the bad news is -- well, i won't get into a detailed accounting of

> every possible aspect of all the negative side effects of the drug

> (restlessness to the point of whirling dervish energy, insomnia,

> change in emotions/sudden mood swings, changes to vision, heightened

> nervousness, excessive bone loss, unusual bruising... the side effects

> are well-documented, and you can discuss all the possibilities with

> your son's trusted, knowledgeable doctors, or even your pharmacist...

> and let the doctors know immediately if bill encounters any side

> effects.  hopefully, bill will not have to take the drug for too

> long?). it would seem only logical that a corticosteroid (prednisone)

> would be Rxd for IBD (especially an otherwise uncontrollable colitis

> flare), and i'm sure your son will be tapered off the drug, over time,

> once the UC is no longer (or less of an) issue.  40 mg isn't

> considered an overly-hefty initial dose for a UC flare, in that i've

> heard of UCers initially taking far more.  that 40mg was the same dose

> Rxd for my husband's last (pre-transplant) UC flare, btw.

>  

> one thing that dramatically did help my husband's UC -- at the

> suggestion of KC rich from this group -- was probiotic therapy.  jim's

> UC became problematic once again after his transplant (we learned that

> can be common, for transplanted PSCers with a prior history of UC),

> but it is now controlled -- well, as controlled as we can hope for...

> jim has no complaints, and his doctors are impressed! -- with garden

> of life's " primal defense " probiotics.  we've discussed all this

> before in the support group, so you could search the archives on this

> topic if you or bill happen to be interested.

>  

> all the best,

>  

> maureen