What side affects from steroids have you experienced?

[lynn]

I've read and heard bad things and some with no side affects at all but was prescribed for bronchitis. I am concerned of the side affects, I am hoping the antibiotics work but I may have to consider taking the steroids. So what is your experience?

Edited March 29, 2017 by lynn

[TheReader]

My kids were prescribed them at various times for asthma; we never noticed any of the side effects. 

 

I would think for short term use, you're probably fine, just follow the directions if your doctor wants you increasing & decreasing gradually (that may only apply to kids &/or long periods of time on them, I'm not sure). 

[ealp2009]

I would imagine you would only be on them for a short duration if it is for bronchitis. My husband took them for a more prolonged time and has horrible stretch marks because they wrecked his skin. They also affect your mood. He was on prednisone.

 

Hope the antibiotics work for you.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited March 29, 2017 by ealp2009

[Penguin]

I would not be much concerned about a short regimen of oral steroids to knock away an illness.

 

Long term use of TOPICAL steroids has ruined my skin. I have been going through topical steroid withdrawal (TSW), a form of torture, for three years and four months now.

Edited March 29, 2017 by Penguin

[Hyacinth]

I took a steroid pack several years ago for a poisonous spider bite. It was one of those packs where the first day had 6 pills, the second day had 5 and so on. The first few days were bad. I imagined bugs flying at my face all the time. I was laughing at myself because I knew there weren't really bugs flying at my face but--wow. My brain was whacked for a day or two there. And I didn't sleep for two or three nights. At all. Crazy time.

 

My son has been on steroids for respiratory issues and never seemed affected at all.

[JudoMom]

I was on them for several weeks for an autoimmune condition and the only side effect I noticed was feeling fabulous.

[Tap]

I get upset over odd things when I am on prednisone.  

DD18 gets giddy, over the moon, happy on prednisone and is full of energy.

Her boyfriend has major mood swings on them.  Angry to sappy emotional. 

 

 

 

I work in pharmacy and everyone has different reactions.  Some people get a huge burst of energy from them and will clean house for hours.  Others, go on a crying binge. Others get very angry.  Often it is like a bad case of PMS.

 

I would take them and warn every one around you that you are on them.  You will know how you react on them.  It won't be a secret, so if you have a bad reaction, you can stop.  But maybe you are one of the lucky ones and will feel amazing on them!

[J-rap]

I assume you mean something like Prednisone?  Two of my dd's have been on it in the past, with the side effects of hyperactivity and inability to sleep.  But it was still worth it because it worked like magic!  One dd had had congested and painful sinuses for weeks.  She was really miserable.  After being on Prednisone for less than one day, she felt like a new person.  Nothing else had even touched it.  So, she put up with the uncomfortable side effects for a few days.

[lynn]

I was on them for several weeks for an autoimmune condition and the only side effect I noticed was feeling fabulous.

My mom said the same thing after having taken them for a knee issue.

[Junie]

I get upset over odd things when I am on prednisone.  

DD18 gets giddy, over the moon, happy on prednisone and is full of energy.

Her boyfriend has major mood swings on them.  Angry to sappy emotional. 

 

 

 

I work in pharmacy and everyone has different reactions.  Some people get a huge burst of energy from them and will clean house for hours.  Others, go on a crying binge. Others get very angry.  Often it is like a bad case of PMS.

 

I would take them and warn every one around you that you are on them.  You will know how you react on them.  It won't be a secret, so if you have a bad reaction, you can stop.  But maybe you are one of the lucky ones and will feel amazing on them!

 

I have been on Prednisone for almost a month, tapering down.  I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned for the first two weeks.

 

I have been on Prednisone before where it made me very angry.  I guess a minor case of 'Roid Rage.

 

The most important things with steroids is to take them only for a short period of time and to wean off them gradually.

 

 

I hope you feel better soon.

[TravelingChris]

Short-term just feeling fabulous for me. I still love how happy I get when I am on a larger dose.  DD used to have bad mood swings with them but seems to have gotten over that and doesn't have issues anymore- she takes them at times with after anaphylactic reactions, bad asthma attacks, and at times with either bronchitis or sinusitis.  

 

I am on long term steroids- probably lifetime unless I decide to go on biologics which I am even more afraid of.  Side effects for me include now high blood pressure, thinning bones, and hastening of getting cataracts.  But my improved life is worth it to me.  I can't function at all with no steroids.

[Guest]

Weight gain and mood swings from prednisone packs. I hate those things but when you need them you need them.

[wintermom]

Are cataracts still a potential side-effect from longer term use of prednisone? My dad had this happen to him, but that was 20 - 30 years ago, and hopefully things have improved with knowledge and experience gained.

[Forget-Me-Not]

They made irrationally irritable and angry. Everything annoyed me. Everything. And I was restless and felt like I was crawling out of my own skin.

[Pawz4me]

Short term? No side effects at all for any of us.

[TravelingChris]

Yes, cataracts are a potential side effect from long term steroids.  But just about everyone gets cataracts sometime and it is only a matter of getting it sooner.

[Rebel Yell]

Horrible leg cramps, as in feeling unable to walk, but yet still capable of walking.

This was short-term for bronchitis. She stopped immediately and just used ibuprofen and an OTC decongestant along with the antibiotics.

 

A different child took them for severe poison ivy after two weeks of the rash not improving and also getting worse. The five-day course showed improvement, but after two days off there was a rebound effect and it came back even worse. So ten additional days cleared it up.

Her appetite was ENORMOUS while on prednisone.

[Catwoman]

If you have any issues with high blood sugar, check with your doctor before you take steroids, because some of them can cause a very dramatic rise in your blood glucose levels.

[Katy]

Unless you're diabetic or prediabetic, you will probably not have side effects from a short course of prednisone.  Some people get hungry immediately, some people feel a bit antsy and have trouble sleeping, some people get a bit more angry, but generally that will be indistinguishable from just getting over an illness in general.

 

If you go on them for months you can expect heavy weight gain (even if you skip food entirely), possibly a permanently higher weight setpoint (you can lose weight, but will feel ravenous all the time when you do, even for months or years afterwards), stretch marks, more belly/trunk/torso fat if you were previously hourglass or pear shaped, possibly fat on your back, a much rounder face than your weight would indicate, and possibly a permanent change in your body's sodium/potassium ratio that may make you permanently retain more water.  It will also raise your blood sugar, make you much more insulin resistant, and hasten the development of type 2 diabetes.

 

Long term use is pretty much only worth it if you're already in a life or death situation or are making no hormones on your own.

[Laurie4b]

I've taken them in different ways: took one of the packs  (6 pills the first day, then 5, then 4, etc.) and the only effect was what we wanted:  that I could move without intense pain. No side effects. 

 

I have had to take them to counteract drugs to which I am sensitive over a period of time and then the side-effects included being jittery and some cognitive fogginess. Both effects went away after the meds and the cognitive fogginess was because the doctor had titrated me off too quickly. 

 

In your case, I would take them without worrying about it. 

[Suzanne in ABQ]

I have nothing to contribute, except that when I read your subject line, I thought it said "asteroids" instead of "steroids" and I thought, "None!"

[Guest]

I don't have any side effects that I can tell except that when I have had to take a really long run of it, I get moonfaced.   But that is only when it is weeks and weeks.  

 

Some people are more sensitive to meds than others, so YMMV.

 

[MrsMommy]

I took a steroid pack several years ago for a poisonous spider bite. It was one of those packs where the first day had 6 pills, the second day had 5 and so on. The first few days were bad. I imagined bugs flying at my face all the time. I was laughing at myself because I knew there weren't really bugs flying at my face but--wow. My brain was whacked for a day or two there. And I didn't sleep for two or three nights. At all. Crazy time.

 

My son has been on steroids for respiratory issues and never seemed affected at all.

 

I had to use that steroid pack in college, after a "mono-like" virus had my throat almost completely closed. I tried to fly my bed. And I crashed. Which is funny looking back on it, but I kind of wrecked my knee when I did it, so it wasn't as funny then!

[Carol in Cal.]

I loved them.

 

I could breathe without fearing that my throat was going to close and I was going to die.  That was the main thing.  I could even wear perfume without coughing!  Although I mostly didn't. 

 

They actually widened my airways so much (overnight!) that my voice dropped and started cracking just a bit until I got used to it.  As in, I was singing alto, and my voice wanted to be tenor.

 

They cleared up my plantar fasciitis, and it never came back.  I had had it for several years, and it was so bad that I felt like the little mermaid.  Bam, gone!

 

All my smaller aches and pains went away.

 

And in general I felt exuberant, energized, and younger all over. 

 

Great stuff.

 

[sbgrace]

One son has had a few courses due to anaphylactic reactions. He has never shown any side effects other than tamping down the allergic response.

 

His brother has had a couple of courses due to asthma. He gets emotional and angry, but it's manageable. 

[alisoncooks]

Are cataracts still a potential side-effect from longer term use of prednisone? My dad had this happen to him, but that was 20 - 30 years ago, and hopefully things have improved with knowledge and experience gained.

DH has been on Prednisone for 2+ years, as a part of his chemo protocol (he takes it only at certain times in a month). He experiences jitteriness and insomnia. Sometimes stomach upset. He has joint pain, but we can't be sure if that's from the steroids or one of a dozen other meds.

 

And he was just (2 months ago) diagnosed with cataracts (he is 39, fwiw).

[Guest]

DH has been on Prednisone for 2+ years, as a part of his chemo protocol (he takes it only at certain times in a month). He experiences jitteriness and insomnia. Sometimes stomach upset. He has joint pain, but we can't be sure if that's from the steroids or one of a dozen other meds.

 

And he was just (2 months ago) diagnosed with cataracts (he is 39, fwiw).

 

:0(

 

That is a lot to go through at this age.  

[Guest]

Also, I think it is helpful to understand what the terms "long term" and "high dose" mean for a particular med.

 

A few years ago,  a Seahawks player issued a statement about damage from "long-term use" of ibuprofen.  People here freaked out and refused to take ibuprofen...but when you look at what the issue was, it was about multiple years of continual use of at least triple the OTC prescribed dose.  

 

Ibuprofen is OK.  Even long term, in a normal sense.  Not as what basically amounts to a morphine substitute for chronic pain developed over years of intense physical ... dare I call it "abuse"?  

 

KWIM?

 

Two weeks is not "long term."

 

Now, all that said, I HAVE experienced side effects from long-term use of copious amounts of cortisone.  That's because it was only a few years old as a med when it saved my life.  The upshot is that it is likely that I am 4" shorter than I oughtta be because of a long course of high dosage when I was a kid.  So I am only 5'5"--but I am alive.  (At any rate, I always wanted to be 5'5" because when I was little I was worried that if I had to remember two numbers, like 5'9", I might not be able to answer the question, "How tall are you?" So it all worked out.  (That is a true story.))