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Lizzie2
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More proof that pred is bad
« on: Sep 15th, 2004, 1:10am » |
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This is copied from an email I was sending to another headache group.
More results tonight. The bone density shows pretty significant decrease in density due to chronic steroid use. Diagnosis of osteopenia with an increased risk of fracture.
Great...I'm going to break my hip at age 25. ROFL I hope not!!!!
<sigh> What can ya do really? Dr. Young will see the results of the dexa scan on Thursday morning because Dr. Derk (my rheum doc) wanted him to have the results since he prescribes the steroid use now. I do believe this ends the use of prednisone tapers, decadron tapers, solumedrol in the hospital...any of that. Which is a real shame because it is one of the few things that will knock my clusters down for a little while and give me a
slight break. Never helped the chronic headache really, but when the clusters are less frequent/intense...it is such a welcome break. It's actually been what we do since I can't do an inpatient stay now. I do a prednisone taper every 6 weeks, and I get nerve blocks at my appointments. However, can't do the tapers now and my insurance won't pay for the nerve blocks because Dr. Young is not an anesthesiologist.
Feeling kinda down right now. I'm upset that the treatment I have tried for my headaches is causing me to have some pretty nasty illnesses in other areas. Just goes to show how important it is to really go through ALL the risks and benefits before saying yes to something. I am scared for when I am old and all hunched over and breaking things.  I would have worried about it anyways, but now it seems much more real since I have the early stages already.
I doubt if it'll make a difference at this point, but I'm going to start eating those calcium chews twice a day...without fail!!!
I know my story with prednisone is nowhere near as horrible as Dave E's. Please just be careful when you use meds like this. We are living proof that sometimes the meds can be very dangerous...
Hugz,
Lizzie 
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Dave_Emond
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Re: More proof that pred is bad
« Reply #1 on: Sep 15th, 2004, 6:32am » |
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Kinda confused a bit here Carrie,
Are we talking about still taking Pred then stopping without a taper, waiting for next prescription, starting again and no taper again? Tell me I'm reading this wrong ... please! (I'm wearing out now posting, so I just hope I misread this E-mail?)
Please clarify, way too serious a thing to mess with.
Also, on the Calcium, make sure you balance that out with Magnesium. Most of us already have a Magnesium deficiency, and these two need to stay in balance if possible.
This Pred stuff scares me the way I read it. If the Pred can still be got (and needed) couldn't a taper pattern be figured out with the amount given? May not be as high of dosages, but surely much safer if it must be taken.
Careful ... careful ... careful! Please!
Things may not sound as bad as what happened to me, but can be very soon if not handled right as soon as possible ... got me nervous here,
Dave
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Obstacles are those frightful things we see when we take our minds off our goals.
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Jeepgun
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Re: More proof that pred is bad
« Reply #2 on: Sep 15th, 2004, 7:40am » |
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Damn... For increasing bone strength/density, resistance training is the best thing, Carrie. Someone once commented that taking calcium for stronger bones was like eating brains to become smarter.
-Frank
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Lizzie2
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Re: More proof that pred is bad
« Reply #3 on: Sep 15th, 2004, 9:41am » |
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Dave,
Fortunately or unfortunately, I've always done the tapers properly and this still managed to happen. My doctor usually starts me at 80mg and then we taper for about a week. So it is looking like for me the chronic steroid tapers are what caused the bone density loss. Based on that, that's why I don't think the neuro or rheumatologist will allow me to take steroid tapers anymore. They don't want to increase the bone density so much that I go into full blown osteoporosis. It's something I never thought about all those times I was doing the steroids. I didn't even realize that it caused bone density loss until I saw the rheumatologist in August and he got a little surprised that I hadn't had a scan. We'll see! I go to the neuro this Thursday and back to rheumatology on the 27th.
{{{{{{{{{{dave}}}}}}}}}}}} hugz to you. I continue to hope and pray that you are slowly getting better and that you will have complete healing.
Take care,
Carrie
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