Prednisone can sometimes make you want to eat your first born or your sedan. Good old constant hunger
It can make you look like a water retentive teenager with acne. Good old Moon face
It can certainly mess with the sleep and messes with moods.

Have you tried melatonin for the night?
Many have gotten at least the nights back by using this suppliment. The research suggests that anywhere from 6-24mg (talk to doc) prior to attempting sleep can start functioning as a preventative.

It gave me a year free of night attacks (still had them during the day but was better rested and coped better because of that)

Good luck and don't eat the honda

E

The only bad side effects I have noticed when doing the pred taper thing is when I am tapering off I get severe joint pains for a few days.

I've done the prednisone taper maybe a dozen times. Stopped the hits in their tracks while I was on it, but never broke a cycle. I used it to stop the pain while my other preventatives built up to theraputic levels.

Side effects included slightly increased appetite and a higher energy level. The worst one was that I wanted to choke the living shit out of anybody who whined.

I've had at least 7 courses of prednisone (one of the courses was for a severe asthma episode I had back in 2003 that almost put me in the hospital).  None of them have been for any longer than a week.  But, I have a had at least 2 instances where I ended finishing a prednisone taper, only to be put on a new one a week later, becuse my CH came back full force.  I've had major CH attacks while on prednisone too.  As it is, when I first took prednisone for CH, it did a pretty good job of stopping the cycle.  But over the past 2 or 3 cycles, it's been less effective - within a week of finishing prednisone, the CH came back full force.

For me, the prednisone side effects are cool - not!!:

the increased appetite

feeling like I'm scatter brained

for the first half of the taper regimen feeling like I'm on speed and not wanting to sleep

irritability to the point of just about foaming at the mouth during the first half of the taper

the major case of the blues I have when during the last 2 or 3 days of the taper (my mom also has this side effect when she has to take prednisone for bee stings)

I ate like a freakin pig 24/7. I just set up all night pissed off and hungry.  It did absolutely nothing for me I'm still dancing with the beast for 4 months now, But I did get my O2 today wohoo.

I like it, sounds better and better, Manboobs, streamlined crown jules!  just asked the doctor if he would prescribe this much Pred for his own son. His silence preceded me telling him where to shove his prescription. Back to the Neuro!

Luke

luketd wrote on Jun 9^th, 2009 at 8:07pm:


Boy things have changed about dosing over the years. 15 years ago I did the 30mg x 3 days, 20 mg x 3 days, etc. Then 5 years ago went to the #1 Cluster doc at Mayo in Arizona and it was 50 mg x 5 days, no tapering. Where in the literature are they recommending anything greater than 50 mg per day? 120 mg? That's outrageous!!!!

Pred was a miracle drug in my book but short timer for sure. Stayed on too long, year and a half. Had to rebound three times as they said my adrenals didn't 'wake up'. The weight gain was disheartening, as was being the first in my entire family to have high blood pressure. But looking back, I can say you have to expand the ideas of time~ meaning, a year afterwards, two years afterwards~ it takes time when you introduce something like this to 'get back to normal'.
The main advice I have given folks on it is watch the BP, watch your sugar levels, and educate yourself on adrenal function.

Doc Goadsby uses:
Quote:


Don't confuse prednisolone with the Medrol dose pack (methelprednisolone), the dose pack is much stronger.