Oral cortisone/ steroid medication
Prednisone, Prednisolone, Sone, Solone, Panafcorte, Panafcortelone, Dexamethasone
The main message is that you should follow instructions on taking this medication carefully. If in doubt ring your doctor or pharmacist for advice.
These tablets are commonly known as "cortisone" or Steroids. They come in different strengths, and the dosage is usually once daily. Often the dose requires gradual reduction before stopping. (The exception is when the duration of treatment is 3 or 4 days only or less)
Steroids/cortisone are often used to treat asthma, allergy, and rarer diseases eg, polymyalgia, temporal arteritis, some forms of arthritis, as well as other conditions such as pressure on the brain, sarcoidosis (a lung disease) and some forms of leukaemia and cancer.
Long term use is avoided whenever possible due to well-known side effects which almost always occur:
Weight Gain, Osteoporosis (weak bones that break or cause a hunched appearance), Stretch Marks, Bruising, Facial shape change (rounder fuller face), Diabetes, reduced immunity to infection, thin soft skin that tears more easily, and many others. Some of these long term side effects don’t fully reverse after stopping. So, as much as possible, doctors prefer not to give these treatments for long periods of time, especially in children.
Some illnesses do require long term use
E.g. with chemotherapy, rheumatoid arthritis, Lupus, polymyalgia, temporal arteritis, and others. In these conditions, the prescribing doctor may start at a high dose but will then aim to get the sufferer on as low a dose as possible for the long term. The lower the dose, the less severe the side effects as a rule. Sometimes other medications such as methotrexate (also a very serious medication) are added to enable the cortisone dose to be lowered. Sometimes bone strengthening tablets and Vitamin D are added to try and reduce the effects on bone.
Short term use (less than 3 weeks), is usually safe. Even with high doses (e.g. 50mg Sone). Some side effects do occur at higher doses, even on short courses.
E.g. poor sleep, increased appetite, high blood sugars, agitation.
Fortunately or unfortunately, people sometimes feel "amazing" after starting high doses of cortisone, and want to stay on them. But as already stated, side effects will occur, so please follow the doctor’s instruction in each circumstance.
The body has its own natural cortisone called "cortisol". It is produced by the adrenal gland, (we have 2 of these glands, each one sits on top of the kidney, they also make adrenaline). The Adrenal gland, like every other gland in the body, is under the overall control of the pituitary gland in the brain.
When a person takes cortisone tablets or injections, the pituitary gland detects the presence of cortisone in the body, and relaxes it’s control over the adrenal gland. The adrenal gland relies on the pituitary gland for its function, so if the pituitary "relaxes" this results in less "natural" cortisol being released by the adrenal gland. While the external cortisone (tablets) are working, that is fine, the problem is that there is a lag in time before the adrenal gland restores it’s supply of natural cortisone when the external dose is stopped or reduced. This means that if you have been on a regular dose of cortisone tablets or injections for some time (e.g. more than 6 days), there will be a few days with very little (less than normal) amounts of cortisol (natural cortisone) in the body if the medicine is suddenly stopped.
This is not ideal, and may make a person feel weak, washed out, and unwell, with low blood pressure. It can be dangerous.
Normal medical practice is to gradually reduce the dose of cortisone tablets over a period of time rather than suddenly stopping them. The length of time and the dose dropped varies from doctor to doctor, and depends on many factors, so there is no single correct way of doing this ("there are many ways to skin a cat" applies here). It is simply important that you have clear instructions on how you will do this from your doctor and pharmacist, and that you follow this instruction.
It is also important that you do not restart the medication yourself, without your doctor knowing, as often there are left over tablets. Taking doses whenever you feel necessary, on and off, may also lead to side effects as mentioned above, or possibly leave you open to a serious infection.
The main message is to follow dosage instructions carefully, and if in doubt, this is one of those times you should ring your doctor or pharmacist and double check.
By the way, many creams and asthma puffers and nasal sprays have a type of cortisone as a main ingredient, these are much safer for long term use, as they are very miniscule doses compared with tablets or injections, so long term use is quite acceptable and normal practice. There has been some recent concern that inhaled steroids might contribute to chest infections in patients with COPD (smoking related lung disease)
The main message is that you should follow instructions on taking this medication carefully. If in doubt ring your doctor or pharmacist for advice.
These tablets are commonly known as "cortisone" or Steroids. They come in different strengths, and the dosage is usually once daily. Often the dose requires gradual reduction before stopping. (The exception is when the duration of treatment is 3 or 4 days only or less)
Steroids/cortisone are often used to treat asthma, allergy, and rarer diseases eg, polymyalgia, temporal arteritis, some forms of arthritis, as well as other conditions such as pressure on the brain, sarcoidosis (a lung disease) and some forms of leukaemia and cancer.
Long term use is avoided whenever possible due to well-known side effects which almost always occur:
Some illnesses do require long term use
E.g. with chemotherapy, rheumatoid arthritis, Lupus, polymyalgia, temporal arteritis, and others. In these conditions, the prescribing doctor may start at a high dose but will then aim to get the sufferer on as low a dose as possible for the long term. The lower the dose, the less severe the side effects as a rule. Sometimes other medications such as methotrexate (also a very serious medication) are added to enable the cortisone dose to be lowered. Sometimes bone strengthening tablets and Vitamin D are added to try and reduce the effects on bone.
Short term use (less than 3 weeks), is usually safe. Even with high doses (e.g. 50mg Sone). Some side effects do occur at higher doses, even on short courses.
E.g. poor sleep, increased appetite, high blood sugars, agitation.
Fortunately or unfortunately, people sometimes feel "amazing" after starting high doses of cortisone, and want to stay on them. But as already stated, side effects will occur, so please follow the doctor’s instruction in each circumstance.
The body has its own natural cortisone called "cortisol". It is produced by the adrenal gland, (we have 2 of these glands, each one sits on top of the kidney, they also make adrenaline). The Adrenal gland, like every other gland in the body, is under the overall control of the pituitary gland in the brain.
When a person takes cortisone tablets or injections, the pituitary gland detects the presence of cortisone in the body, and relaxes it’s control over the adrenal gland. The adrenal gland relies on the pituitary gland for its function, so if the pituitary "relaxes" this results in less "natural" cortisol being released by the adrenal gland. While the external cortisone (tablets) are working, that is fine, the problem is that there is a lag in time before the adrenal gland restores it’s supply of natural cortisone when the external dose is stopped or reduced. This means that if you have been on a regular dose of cortisone tablets or injections for some time (e.g. more than 6 days), there will be a few days with very little (less than normal) amounts of cortisol (natural cortisone) in the body if the medicine is suddenly stopped.
This is not ideal, and may make a person feel weak, washed out, and unwell, with low blood pressure. It can be dangerous.
Normal medical practice is to gradually reduce the dose of cortisone tablets over a period of time rather than suddenly stopping them. The length of time and the dose dropped varies from doctor to doctor, and depends on many factors, so there is no single correct way of doing this ("there are many ways to skin a cat" applies here). It is simply important that you have clear instructions on how you will do this from your doctor and pharmacist, and that you follow this instruction.
It is also important that you do not restart the medication yourself, without your doctor knowing, as often there are left over tablets. Taking doses whenever you feel necessary, on and off, may also lead to side effects as mentioned above, or possibly leave you open to a serious infection.
The main message is to follow dosage instructions carefully, and if in doubt, this is one of those times you should ring your doctor or pharmacist and double check.
By the way, many creams and asthma puffers and nasal sprays have a type of cortisone as a main ingredient, these are much safer for long term use, as they are very miniscule doses compared with tablets or injections, so long term use is quite acceptable and normal practice. There has been some recent concern that inhaled steroids might contribute to chest infections in patients with COPD (smoking related lung disease)
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