Help Prednisone alternative

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foreverkeeps

Veteran Member
I am on prednisone by request this week to help me better recover from some kind of cold virus.

I know there’s bad things about steroids, but I love how I get well, faster, and it motivates me to work around my home and get projects done.

Heck, I finally put out my fall wreath today and it’s almost time for the Christmas wreath!

I need this kind of help.

What else can I take? I’m on 20 something plus supplements and vitamins that all you friends have suggested over the years already - and others I have found like elk antlers, seven mushrooms, etc..

I know Ritalin would help, I remember that, lol!

I want the prednisone feeling without the swollen face and increased appetite.
 
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SwampMom

Swamp stomping maniac
Good luck with that one. Licorice root extract, if you can have that, can sorta help. But it is slow acting for me. But you don't have the roid rage that comes with pharmaceuticals. Someone more knowledgeable than me needs to address this issue for you.
 
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moldy

Veteran Member
If you find out let me know. I don't think narcotics would be my jam, but high dose steroids...I could see how i might develop a problem.

Any herb or supplement you would take is probably only going to mask the issue. Thats why herbalists don't like to recommend adaptogens for long periods of time. You need to discover and fix what the issue is, not mask it.
 
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foreverkeeps

Veteran Member
moldy said:
If you find out let me know. I don't think narcotics would be my jam, but high dose steroids...I could see how i might develop a problem.

Any herb or supplement you would take is probably only going to mask the issue. Thats why herbalists don't like to recommend adaptogens for long periods of time. You need to discover and fix what the issue is, not mask it.
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I am thinking about trying this, but it sounds like I shouldn't do it every day, unless I let it take the place of a cup of coffee.

1700184960175.png
 
BH

BH

. . . .
My wife was given high dose prednisone many years ago for way too long a duration. As a result, her adrenal has shutdown cortisol production and her bone density has tanked.

She did replacement level hydrocortisone tablets for years (20mg, spread across 3 doses/day - short half life) for the adrenal issue. After a few years on that regime, we went back to 5mg prednisone as a cortisol replacement simply to allow a single daily dose (much longer half life). Recently, that was bumped up to 7mg once daily.

To anyone who is taking prednisone higher than ~7mg daily. This is a therapeutic dose and it will result in your adrenals reducing or ceasing cortisol production. This will likely have longer term implications after just a couple of months. Even if you are taking prednisone for just a few days, you should take a calcium supplement along with the steroid to protect your bone health.
 
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foreverkeeps

Veteran Member
BH said:
My wife was given high dose prednisone many years ago for way too long a duration. As a result, her adrenal has shutdown cortisol production and her bone density has tanked.

She did replacement level hydrocortisone tablets for years (20mg, spread across 3 doses/day - short half life) for the adrenal issue. After a few years on that regime, we went back to 5mg prednisone as a cortisol replacement simply to allow a single daily dose (much longer half life). Recently, that was bumped up to 7mg once daily.

To anyone who is taking prednisone higher than ~7mg daily. This is a therapeutic dose and it will result in your adrenals reducing or ceasing cortisol production. This will likely have longer term implications after just a couple of months. Even if you are taking prednisone for just a few days, you should take a calcium supplement along with the steroid to protect your bone health.
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How can you tell if your cortisol production has tanked? This is great information. My five day supply is 50 mg a tablet.
 
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summerthyme

Administrator
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If you're taking 50 mgs a day, you're getting what is called a "steroid high". Unfortunately, it's not at all healthy or sustainable.

Steroids are HELL on the body... they tank your immune system, jack up your blood sugar, and wreak havoc on your adrenals. I avoid them.

Summerthyme
 
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SouthernBreeze

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
What doctor prescribed 50mg a day? At most, when starting a 7 day pack, my highest dose is 40 mg, then 20 mg, 10 mg, and 5 mg, once I go off them on the last day. They are meant to be tapered down like that. No wonder you feel like bouncing off walls! Like Summerthyme said, though, they're not good on the body long term. I have several autoimmune diseases that require steroids from time to time, but I avoid them as much as I'm able. I sure wouldn't take them just to get a boost of energy.
 
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foreverkeeps

Veteran Member
So far today, mainly on my lunch hour, I have finished defuzzing a king size bedspread (that I suspect my sweet DIL washed wrong), started cleaning the doors to my white kitchen cabinets, cleaned off a shoe shelf to get it ready for painting tomorrow (which will be my last dose of prednisone), cleaned and removed a HUUUUGGGGEEEEEEE mussel from a mussel shell I found in a low level lake a few weekends ago... no pearl, sadly, but it sure was cool easing that huge dead mussel out of the shell. :)

Oh and mostly organized a lot of material that I am supposed to present and teach to 2nd graders Monday morning as a Junior Achievement volunteer.

Wow.
 
BH

BH

. . . .
foreverkeeps said:
How can you tell if your cortisol production has tanked? This is great information. My five day supply is 50 mg a tablet.
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Here's a link to the Mayo Clinic's page about Addisons (lack of cortisol).

www.mayoclinic.org

Addison's disease - Symptoms and causes

www.mayoclinic.org www.mayoclinic.org

There is a blood test, but it is difficult to get a representative snapshot due to the constant, normal swings in cortisol levels in everyday life, most endo's diagnose based on symptoms over time.

SouthernBreeze said:
What doctor prescribed 50mg a day? At most, when starting a 7 day pack, my highest dose is 40 mg, then 20 mg, 10 mg, and 5 mg, once I go off them on the last day. They are meant to be tapered down like that. No wonder you feel like bouncing off walls! Like Summerthyme said, though, they're not good on the body long term. I have several autoimmune diseases that require steroids from time to time, but I avoid them as much as I'm able. I sure wouldn't take them just to get a boost of energy.
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When the wife got started with the prednisone it was due to a sudden, bilateral hearing loss (like what happened to Rush Limbaugh). Her hearing doc put her on 60mg / day (3 x 20mg) and left her there for a couple of months with no supplements of any kind. At the time she was only about 105 pounds and beginning the menopause thing. Another doc continued the high dose prednisone for several months longer. Looking back, what they did should have been criminal. Her next bone density indicated her bones had aged about 25 years, late 50's and her bone density test looked like an 80 year old woman.

Even to this day, she will tell doctors that her favorite drug of choice is prednisone, she calls them superman pills.

Here's the article from Mayo linked above.

Overview​

Addison's disease, also called adrenal insufficiency, is an uncommon illness that occurs when the body doesn't make enough of certain hormones. In Addison's disease, the adrenal glands make too little cortisol and, often, too little of another hormone, aldosterone.

Addison's disease can affect anyone and can be life-threatening. Treatment involves taking hormones to replace those that are missing.

Symptoms​

Addison's disease symptoms usually happen slowly, often over months. The disease can move so slowly that people who have it may ignore the symptoms at first. Then a stress, such as illness or injury, makes symptoms worse.

Symptoms may include:

  • Extreme fatigue
  • Weight loss and loss of appetite
  • Areas of darkened skin
  • Low blood pressure, even fainting
  • Salt craving
  • Low blood sugar, also called hypoglycemia
  • Nausea, diarrhea or vomiting
  • Abdominal pain
  • Muscle and joint pain
  • Irritability
  • Depression
  • Body hair loss or sexual issues in some people

Acute adrenal failure, known as addisonian crisis​

Sometimes the symptoms of Addison's disease appear suddenly. Acute adrenal failure can lead to life-threatening shock. Seek emergency treatment for the following:

  • Severe weakness
  • Confusion
  • Pain in the lower back or legs
  • Severe abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea, leading to dehydration
  • Reduced consciousness or delirium
  • Low blood pressure

When to see a doctor​

See a health care provider if you have common symptoms of Addison's disease, such as:

  • Darkened areas of skin
  • Extreme loss of body water, also known as dehydration
  • Severe fatigue
  • Weight loss that doesn't happen on purpose
  • Nausea, vomiting or belly pain
  • Lightheadedness or fainting
  • Salt cravings
  • Muscle or joint pains
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Yarnball

Yarnball

Veteran Member
I was planning to post today this same question that forever keeps posted last November. I have UC and over the last 5-6 years have had 3 times I needed to do the prednisone step-down 40-30-20-10 to resolve the flare up. I have amazing energy and get sooooooooooo much done! I understand what Moldy said earlier about "vibrating".

YES. I KNOW WE CANNOT TAKE STEROIDS AS A PLAN FOR ENERGY. Although I totally understand why people would.

I would like to understand what my body needs to NATURALLY let me have this level of energy. Really, just 20% improvement over my usual energy level would be great! I'm not sure how to research that. I thought some of our health gurus might have input. I don't trust any medical person now at all but would someone like a good herbalist or wholistic person be able to guide me? How do you find those people?
 
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moldy

Veteran Member
Crazy busy at the moment, but here is what I think off the top of my head: If you use herbal anti-inflammatories to decrease pain and inflammation, you should get more energy. Think about how pain (even minor aches that are just annoying) zaps your get-up-and-go. So, IF you are NOT on any blood thinners, I would try about 1500 mg of turmeric a day for a month. It is not going to hit you like prednisone. You won't vibrate or feel that huge rush of energy. But it will help over the long haul by decreasing pain and inflammation. Other herbs to consider would be astragalus and alliums like onion and garlic.

My small snapshot for this evening. I will try to add more later. Oh, and decrease your sugar intake as much as possible. Sugar (even in something 'healthy' like OJ) will decrease your immune response by (IIRC) at least 20% for 6 hours. I'll try to post details on that later, but it will require me looking some stuff up. Sugar is one of the most inflammatory substances in our diet.
 
nomifyle

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
They make me feel great for a couple of days, but then not so much. We were prescribed them when we were so sick with covid, I didn't even take a days worth and neither did DH.
 
Yarnball

Yarnball

Veteran Member
moldy .. thank YOU so much! Seems like there are several of us appreciating your guidance.
Question .. I'm in the step down right now so do I need to wait until I am done with the prednisone before trying the tumeric?

And, I agree with what you say about energy being diverted to deal with pain and inflammation even if just in the background. I wear hearing aids and was AMAZED at how much trying to hear was sucking up energy for daily life!
 
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