Ging--High dose prednisone

[Guest guest]

Hi Ging:

When my hives came out of remission a year ago, I went through about

~5 cycles (I call them " roller coasters " ) of high dose medrol (I was

on up to 10 pills a day = 40mgs methylprednisolone) that I gradually

tapered over the course of ~3-4 weeks like what you are doing. It

gave me amazing relief from the hives, but they always came back ~1-3

weeks after quitting the medrol. Eventually, I just started taking a

lower dose of medrol every day (~12mgs, or 3 medrol pills a day) and

was on that for a ~2 months before I found the low histamine diet that

has allowed me to try to get off steroids completely.

My side effects from medrol (please excuse the sarcasm in this

paragraph, it's my way of dealing with this

I've had weight gain (about 20-25 lbs this year) and I also have the

lovely cushingoid face and back hump (soooo attractive and

appealing!). My lower abdomen now has three large, long, red (but

fading) stretch marks from the medrol. Oh yeah, my monthlys got

shorter too (I tell ya, there's nuthin' like having your monthly come

every 22 days...that was an unexpected surprise!). I would also get

facial flushing when the medrol dose was above 12mgs (can it get more

attractive??) and I developed a very fine mustache and side burns (oh

yeah, it CAN get more attractive!). I now also have muscle pain while

I'm coming off the medrol. These symptoms are/were all annoying, but

none are/were truly awful.

On the good news side, my healing time for cuts or scrapes hasn't

changed, and I haven't noticed my skin being thinner. I haven't had a

bone density test done or been to the optometrist yet, so there might

be other damage that I'm as yet unaware of. I have had my

blood calcium levels checked and they are just fine.

When I was in your situation, I figured that the bottom line was that

I needed the medrol to maintain my sanity, and that I might be

damaging my body by taking it, but life was not livable if I didn't

take it. It was the lesser of two evils. Do the best you can and

find the lowest dose that you can take without having hives. Also, as

has pointed out a number of times, remember to take extra

calcium and potassium to reduce the risk of damage to your body.

Good luck and I hope those little suckers disappear soon!

> Thanx one and all for your heart-felt support.What would I ever do

without

> all of you?

> I vow if I should ever get well again, I will never leave this

group. I'm

> somewhat better this eve, and spoke with my doc before. When I told

her I'm

> still burning and have welts, she increased my Medrol by another

pill. 6

> 4mgs. pills today, and 6 again tomorrow. Then down to 5 etc. Has

anyone

> taken very high doses for any lenght of time without it raising a

problem

> with

> other areas of your health?I'm so worried about my eyes,bones,etc.

I'm much

> older than most of you,although extremely active. I think it becomes

harder

> as you get older to deal with things.

> Still looking for the rain-bow! Love ya. Ging