ANSWER: No. A surgeon looked me in the eye one day and warned me that prednisone ends up in every cell of your body from head to toe.

 

 QUESTION: WHAT IS A SAFE DOSE OF PREDNISONE?

a)   20 mg. / day
b)   10 mg. / day

c)    5 mg. / day

d)   1 mg. / day

ANSWER: None of the above. There is no safe dose. However, a doctor will prescribe prednisone as a means of alleviating one’s problem. Some doctors won’t prescribe it at all. A doctor told me that no matter who the person is that prednisone will make him or her feel better. That’s the danger in prednisone. Ask a doctor and she will tell you that serious problems can result from taking prednisone.

          Prednisone works wonders on such problems as ulcerative colitis, asthma, and  type 1 arthritis, for example. Take it a few weeks or even a few months, then taper off of it. Prednisone affects everybody differently. Some people can’t take it at all. Most people can take it awhile, and then taper off. Long term therapy is discouraged. Even though I took it 18 years, I survived!

          As soon as you begin taking about 7 mg. or more a day, your adrenal glands shut down. An adrenal gland is perched atop each kidney. Between them they produce the adrenocortical hormones that the body needs. Adrenocortical hormones peak around daylight and cause one to wake in the morning and feel refreshed and ready to tackle the day. Adrenocortical hormone production is minimal at night.

          Prednisone does not do a good job of replacing adrenocortical hormones. Any situation where you need extra adrenocortical hormones, prednisone ignores. For example, I’m sure the readers have heard of  the “fight or flight” syndrome. If you are out in the country on a cloudy night and you hear a woman screaming, extra adrenocortical hormones will enter your bloodstream. You gather courage. Your stomach feels tight, you feel like your back is tingling. Sudden fear or concern will cause a body to increase adrenocortical hormones and make you ready to fight. But if a monster is after a woman you may decide to run! If you are on prednisone you won’t feel a thing. Your friends will think you are a cool dude. That your adrenal glands are in atrophy is why.

 

QUESTION: CAN YOU STOP PREDNISONE COLD TURKEY?

ANSWER: No! If you do you may die! If you are going to have surgery, tell the

anesthesiologist that you’re on prednisone. I know a case where a young woman didn’t

say anything. She didn’t make it. It was sad.

 

QUESTION: WHAT ARE OTHER PROBLEMS WITH PREDNISONE?

ANSWER: People on prednisone often develop a “moon face.” It is a warning to a doctor. When I was on a business trip to northern California, I saw something that concerned me. I had yellowish-orange striations on my torso. They comprised four vertical “stripes”. This meant I had “Cushing’s Syndrome”. In lay terms, it means you have too much prednisone in your body. If the reason you are taking prednisone is ulcerative colitis, it means it’s time to remove the colon and get off prednisone.

          If you are using prednisone, you should know that it cannibalizes protein and changes it to fat in your midsection. A person can’t help but gain weight if he or she takes prednisone too long. Sometimes it enlarges your liver or pituitary glands, not necessarily both at the same time. Without adrenal function, your body’s potassium is off. When taking prednisone you must supplement your diet with potassium. I used K-lyte effervescent tablets in water. Micro-K is also good. Your doctor will prescribe what is best for you. 

 

QUESTION:  HOW DO YOU GET OFF PREDNISONE?

ANSWER:  I used to get very dehydrated. At a hospital I was given an IV of a few bags of water.  A hospital can measure the severity of dehydration by studying one’s blood. Several times my blood dried up on the technician. They had to draw more blood. When I was on prednisone I benefited from an IV. It gave me extra strength and stamina. I asked a young internist about it.  He said some athletes take an IV before starting a game. But the doctor said results weren’t conclusive as to whether it really helped or not.

          A CAVEAT: Adding extra liquid to your blood puts a strain on your heart because it has to pump extra volume around your body.

          I received an illeostomy in 1990. For four years I continued prednisone.  Finally I suffered a blockage in 1994. It was very painful. My surgeon told me it was caused by adhesions. When a surgeon has you opened up she touches some of the ileum. Sometimes it causes a kind of scarring. When two parts of the intestines stick together, it is called an adhesion. My surgeon told me a girl had adhesions six times! Ouch!

          While I felt good in 1995 with the extra fluid,  I began a regimen of walking fast for a mile every day. I also began reducing prednisone. Because I had 1 mg. tablets it was easy to drop 0.5 mg. every other day or so. After 45 days, the effects of the IV wore off. I was down to 5 mg. a day and more tired. Once I dropped below 7 mg. a day I was “waking up” my adrenal glands.

          The reason I was briskly walking a mile every day was due to a plan to wake up the adrenal glands. After twenty minutes of brisk exercise walking or jogging the adrenal glands are stimulated to produce extra adrenocortical hormones. This is why some runners get a high. My theory was that the exercise would help get the adrenal glands working again. Other exercise methods may work. A body jiggles when walking and jogging. A treadmill should suffice.

          It took 90 days to eliminate prednisone from my diet. I knew a woman who held on to a one mg. tablet a day. She was very leery about dropping it for fear she would suffer a relapse. After about seven years I noticed that the striations disappeared. I was unable to determine where they had been. I also had some skin problems. One of my doctors gave me prednisone cream. Beware: it can thin your skin! When I got off prednisone, my skin returned to normal.

          The information I learned about prednisone and how it affected me is not intended to replace your doctor’s instructions. You must consult him or her about everything. I did. Make a list before you see him or her. I actually talked to an endocrinologist, too. The more you understand about your body, the better. The adrenal glands are two of the endocrine glands. Endocrine glands interface with the bloodstream. When a person is on prednisone, the other endocrine glands still function.

          This book proved helpful to me:

The Principles of Physiology by David Jensen,  Denver University

Copyright 1976 by Appleton – Century – Cropts, a division of Prentice Hall