OT: Prednisone

LML79

Anyone have any experience with the medication Prednisone? I am just curious because my 10 yr old has been on a high dose of it for over a month now due to Crohn's disease..and the two biggest side effects I have noticed is he is ALWAYS hungry....and his cheeks are really puffy now. Like waterweight or something? He is usually very..VERY thin..due to a lot of food allergies which limits him ... but he is getting a little self concious about his swelling face. I have cut out all salt except whatever is in natural salty foods... Just wondering if anyone has had similar side effects..and if they go away quickly or over a long period of time. He had the prednisone through IV for 5 days because of a flare-up while in the hospital...and then along with other meds..on 40mg of the prednisone for a month..we can now start weaning him off but only by 5mg a week..so it is going to take a long time! I'm hoping his face goes somewhat back to normal by the time school starts as he is going to a new school..though i must admit..I'm loving the chunky cheeks on him!

LML79

Anyone have any experience with the medication Prednisone? I am just curious because my 10 yr old has been on a high dose of it for over a month now due to Crohn's disease..and the two biggest side effects I have noticed is he is ALWAYS hungry....and his cheeks are really puffy now. Like waterweight or something? He is usually very..VERY thin..due to a lot of food allergies which limits him ... but he is getting a little self concious about his swelling face. I have cut out all salt except whatever is in natural salty foods... Just wondering if anyone has had similar side effects..and if they go away quickly or over a long period of time. He had the prednisone through IV for 5 days because of a flare-up while in the hospital...and then along with other meds..on 40mg of the prednisone for a month..we can now start weaning him off but only by 5mg a week..so it is going to take a long time! I'm hoping his face goes somewhat back to normal by the time school starts as he is going to a new school..though i must admit..I'm loving the chunky cheeks on him!

ali106

oh hon!!! I'm glad he's feeling better and eating!!!!

I have heard that about prednisone....increases appetite....I'm not sure about the puffy, but I know when I and my son were hospitalized w/ an iv for a long period of time we'd get super puffy and it takes awhile to get back down...but I'd ask the doc...as I'm sure you will LOL...

hugs and best of luck!!!!
Ali :flowerforyou:

Healthier_Me

I was on prednisone due to asthma. As soon as I got off it, my asthma got worse so I told my doctor that I wasn't taking it anymore. Haven't had any of the side effects that your little guy is having.. sorry:ohwell:

~Joanna:flowerforyou:

lotusfromthemud

The major side effect of prednisone is weight gain and "moon face". It is not water weight, but actual weight. And, I was STARVING all the time. Physically, mind-alteringly starving. I was also mean (I now completely understand the phrase "roid rage.")

I was on it for a few years, and I think it permanently altered my body composition. I never used to gain weight on my trunk, and now that's the one place I can't get ride of it.

It takes a while for the face to get back to normal, but it will, trust me. Hope the Crohn's is under control. . .best of luck to you and the little guy. . .:flowerforyou:

Shannon023

My dad's on prednisone for his emphysema & swelling & hunger is a side effect of the drug. :frown:

Hope it's helping your son though!

LML79

Thanks everyone.. yes I remember Brandon's GI dr. saying something about "moonface"..but I didn't think it would be this much!!! It is just so strange not to see such a sharp jawline on him..you know? He is VERY self conscious about it.. I know what you mean Viviakay about the Physically,mind-altering starving. I can't keep up with him! he is ALWAYS hungry..it could be 9:30 at night and he'd want two bowls of cereal before bed. And oh my gosh..if you say no..he freaks out! So I know it's genuin hunger but still!!!
Yes we are trying to get the crohn's under control..it is all still new to us since he has just been diagnosed about two months ago..and had his first big hospitalizion from a flare up.. So all the medication is new to us...and we are still trying to figure out what will work. right now the prednisone is to treat the inflammation...which we hope will go down soon so that he has less stomach aches throughout the day ( he has a good six to ten belly aches a day..certainly not the best of summers for the poor kid!!!) I think once we get that under control the Dr. may alter his meds. He did mention that we could wean Brandon down slowly until he reached 10mg of Prednisone...and then he will be at that dose for awhile. Another medication he talked about was something called 6mp? We still have to do a lot of research as we are unfamiliar with it all!!

MontanaGirl

Yup - ditto. I was on prednisone a couple of different times and the puffiness is a well documented side effect of it. Won't go away until he's off the med. Also hungry. Like the lion on those lap-band commercials kind of hungry. Seriously ravenous. I sure hope he starts feeling better and can get off the pred. Just make sure you follow the dr's instructions and wean off of it slowly!!

kittybellenir

As he starts to wean off of it, watch for him to not want to eat at all, I had very different effects while on this med. My stomach felt like it was consisitently on fire( you know like when you burn your hand or somthing) so I didn't eat anything but popscicles(sp?), and cereal for two weeks and even those two foods burned as they went down. Glad to here he's doing better though!

LML79

As he starts to wean off of it, watch for him to not want to eat at all, I had very different effects while on this med. My stomach felt like it was consisitently on fire( you know like when you burn your hand or somthing) so I didn't eat anything but popscicles(sp?), and cereal for two weeks and even those two foods burned as they went down. Glad to here he's doing better though!

ooooh..good to know..I will keep an eye out.. that is exactly what he describes as a stomach ache too..a bad burning inside..not cramping...burning.. in his case it was even before the prednisone though..but good to know if I notice the stomach aches getting worse. that is the one thing I just don't understand... I know a lot of people call prednisone the "wonderdrug" claiming when they first take it they feel awesome... but Brandon is STILL getting the stomach aches..to tell you the truth..the only time he DIDN'T complain of them was while in the hospital on the IV version of it...strange! I know all the nurses said at the time it is because it is going straight to your system quickly..whereas a pill takes longer..I guess I just would have thought after that by now he wouldn't be having any belly aches at all considering all the medication he is on..not only the Prednisone..but 6 pills of pentasa a day and zantac as well.

mstokes

My husband was diagnosed with crohns and was on prednisone for awhile. We had to cut salt completely out of his diet to help keep his face from swelling to much. His whole face changed...his cheeks looked almost cartoonish. Omitting salt helps keep it down for the most part or at least it helped us to control it. Prednisone is tough. My husband finally started taking humira and it seems to be working very well. He has been on it for two years.

LML79

My husband was diagnosed with crohns and was on prednisone for awhile. We had to cut salt completely out of his diet to help keep his face from swelling to much. His whole face changed...his cheeks looked almost cartoonish. Omitting salt helps keep it down for the most part or at least it helped us to control it. Prednisone is tough. My husband finally started taking humira and it seems to be working very well. He has been on it for two years.

Yes it does look almost like a cartoon character!!!!!! My son's cheeks are so puffy! I hope your husband is doing well with the crohn's and everything is under control! We are just learning everything now...and just trying to get it under control so we can find a maintanence drug. I have never heard of humira though... glad to hear it is working for your husband! Because we didn't know anything about Prednisone...the first two weeks we didn't cut anything out of my son's diet....and now that we know about the salt intake..we are paying for the puffiness..I wonder if I can reverse it WHILE he is still on the prednisone..or if the damage is done...puffiness is there ..and now we have to wait till he is off the meds completely? Now that we know..we have cut out a lot of salt to prevent his cheeks getting any bigger.....but I wish we knew beforehand !