Oh one last thing - and probably the most important thing to remember - medicine is not an exact science so there are a lot of variations from one person to another. The information I will be giving you about dosing are based on the majority of people and my own personal experiences.
The longer you take Prednisone the more side effects you will have
So first let me tell you that when it comes to the negative effects of Prednisone not only is it important to take into consideration the dosage but also how long you've been on it. For example 60mg is a high dose and if you are on 60mgs for a few months you will definitely have a lot of the bad side effects. But if you are on 60mgs for only a week you will probably only see very minimal side effects.
0.5mg-7.5mg
These doses are very low doses. People on doses this low will see minimal to no side effects. To give you a little scientific background about Prednisone that may help you to understand how Prednisone works in the body - your adrenal glands actually produce a natural hormone that I'm sure you've heard of called cortisol. Cortisol is necessary for life and the body typically produces about 7.5mg daily. That is equates to roughly the same in Prednsione. That means that when you are on a dose lower than 7.5mg your body is still actively making cortisol. That's a major plus because your body can really work with that!:)
Side effects
At such a low dose even if you are taking it for quite some time you probably won't see many side, if any. However, like most things about medicine some people are more sensitive to Prednisone than others so here are some of the side effects that you might see.
- Sleep problems
As a standard most physicians tell their patients to take Prednisone early in the morning. This is for several reasons but one of the main reasons is that Prednisone can cause you to feel a little jittery which can interfer with sleep.
- Moodiness
Even through it might not be extreme some people experience feeling sort of "edgy". A little more cranky and slightly more temperamental.
- Slight Bloating/Fluid Retention
Now don't freak out with this one - this is not the same sort of bloating and weight gain that comes with high doses lol! This slight bloating will feel a lot like (for women) what they go through on their menstrual cycle and maybe some slight fluid retention. This will be worse if you drink a lot of pop. If you feel too uncomfortable, simply decreasing some of your salt intake and drinking more water should help immensely.
- Slight Shakiness
Earlier I noted that some people (myself included) feel a bit jittery on Prednisone. For me even at low doses I have a bit of it. It's not something that's unbearable it's simply something that I've just noticed and most of the time you can most likely ignore it.
So that's about it:) It's not terrible and it's certainly something that we can live with. There are so many people that have been on these doses for years because their body flairs without it and they've managed. Personally I believe that if your illness can be controlled on these doses then you've got a great thing going for you!:) In my opinion Prednisone is an amazing drug when used at these low doses.
Next we'll be covering 8mg-20mgs so if you are wondering about those doses please come back and join me:) All the happiness and Health to you all!
No comments:
Post a Comment