Anyone experienced taking the steroid prednisalone?

Mazgg, remember steroids affect your immune system
You will need to be very careful of viruses.

I should have added that my starting dose, for 4 weeks, was 50mg daily. I've taken lower doses, for 1 or 2 weeks at the most, for Asthma, and never had a problem then.

40mg is a normal dose for me. I used to have a moon face and flushed cheeks. My colleagues dreaded when I was on it, I resembled the Duracell bunny.
However, long term use affected my mood and I was at one point psychotic and it also exacerbated my post natal depression. Much to my regret, I couldn't breastfeed because I was taking it.
It wasn't a pleasant episode in my life, but I would have died without it.
On a lighter note, a GP friend asked if I was back on steroids, as I was rather bloated. I was actually pregnant! 🤣

I took prednisolone, starting on 20mg and gradually decreasing - for six years when I had polymyalgia rheumatica. I had no ill effects except for the 'moon face' for a year. In fact, I was positively euphoric when the drug took immediate effect. But that was me and this is about you. 40mg is a big starting dose and maybe as you reduce it, the side effects will also reduce, though I hope you have made your GP or your dermatologist aware of these symptoms.

I’ve taken Prednisone twice recently to help control the asthma flare up I’m suffering from at the moment. It has improved my symptoms but certainly not made me symptom free even after two courses. I often take a short course to help with asthma symptoms. I also took high doses of steroids when I was hospitalised with Covid, and also twenty years ago when I was hospitalised with Clostridium Difficile. I don’t really have any side effect except some disturbed sleep.

I took Prednisolone for Vasculitis (an autoimmune condition), earlier this year. I had a course of 13 weeks. 10 a day for 4 weeks, then reduced by 1 a week for the remaining weeks.

I'd never felt so strange - after 3 weeks, I had the typical steroid "moon face*, then shakiness, a feeling of being detached from reality (spaced-out), huge increase in appetite, puffy fingers and feet, nausea, and just about every side-effect there is. The Neurologist told me I had to take them and finish the course, which I did. When I saw him recently, he apologised for the way the tablets had affected me, and agreed that I'll never willingly take them again.

I have been on and off them for nearly forty seven years for lungs problems. They saved my life when I was twenty two and newly married.
However, I developed osteoporosis in my thirties, due to the high long term dosage.
They did cause several problems, but the benefits outweighed the risk.

Thank you all for your replies. I was prescribed calcium and vitamin D3 to run along side to overcome the added risk of osteoporosis.

Both my DF and DH took this - neither experienced any side effects and the benefits were very noticeable. However, it’s important to stick to the instructions and reduce the dosage properly.

I have just finished a 2 x week course of these steroids and found them to make me very jittery and unstable.
I was being treated for Covid/Pheumonia and in hospital for 7 days the nights where scary as I had really black dreams,I would prefer never to take again .

DH was taking it while having palliative chemotherapy, he had just about every side effect listed. It can be quite brutal as long term it can lead to Osteoporosis.

Back in the 1980's I was taking this drug in very large doses for most of that decade to try to control ulcerative Colitus,. Alsio having steroid enemas. Ended up having a full Ileostomy.

I was so unwell during that decade that I have no idea if I suffered any side effects from the drug. However, I am pretty sure (and Doctors tend to agree) that my Osteoporosis now is probably due to my long term use of steroids.

I have no trouble taking Prednisolone to alleviate my asthma at times. I have a lot of allergies and am reluctant to take many drugs, but am always fine with this particular one.

Hello Mazgg I had to take this after contracting the immensely nasty Stevens Johnson Syndrome. This is an auto immune disease and can be fatal if left unchecked. Fortunately it was in the very early stages and the treatment worked. I lost most of the skin off my fingers and hands and had to wear protective gloves. It didn’t spread very far luckily

As you will have been told it suppresses the immune system and I could not go out apart from hospital visits for monitoring , including frequent blood tests.

I was told to take it first thing in the morning to reduce the risk of insomnia. I’m not sure if I really had any side effects as I was already feeling so unwell. By the time I’d finished the tablets I felt much better. I was told to ring the dermatologist if I had any bad symptoms, I can’t remember which ones now.

If it is affecting you badly I would speak to Dermatology and seek advice. Perhaps a lower dose might be appropriate for you.

Mazgg - I have had them a few years ago , during an exacerbation of my asthma. I never read the side-effects, because I will be imagining all sorts of symptoms. It sorted my acute episode and I have not needed another course since. I take my regular inhalers etc, of course. No one will take any medication if they read all the side effects.
Of course, speak to your GP if you are experiencing any troubling symproms. Good luck !

I'm sorry to read this.
My DH has to take them with regularity, but is fortunate to not suffer too many side effects.
It might be worth contacting your GP to ask if you can 'come down' more quickly.
Wishing you well