Predisone Concerns...

Hello all,

A little history first...

As I have stated recently, I am recovering from right mediastinal &
lower neck Involved Field RT. I have been having some problems "getting
past" the RT side effects (I think). During my RT, I got a nasty chest
infection that was not diagnosed until the beginning of my 4th (and
thankfully last) week of RT. All the docs just thought I was presenting
with some rather nasty side effects. At that time, my rad onc
prescribed a "Z-Pak" of antibiotics, which I completed and showed
"some" improvement. Over the next week, my chest congestion got worse,
so I went to see my GP (who is well versed in my condition, and has
been following everything regularly). I had a CXR which showed nothing
out of the ordinary. Since I had just finished a Z-Pak a week prior,
she decided more antibiotics would not be prudent just then, and gave
me a 500/50 Advair inhaler that was good for 2wks, and a resue inhaler
of Xopenex HFA. These really seemed to "get me over the hump", but not
totally better. The Advair inhaler ran out this past Monday and I have
gotten worse, although not significantly, since then. I decided to go
see my GP again today, and upon listening to my lungs, she said they
still sounded "crackley", and that I probably still wasn't over the
infection I had 4 weeks ago. This time she prescribed 2 courses of
"Z-Pak" (one to follow right after the other), along with the
Prednisone.

Heres the meat of my concerns. The "Z-Pak" doesn't scare me at all. Not
a problem. The Prednisone scares the pants off me. I have heard all
kinds of horror stories about side effects, both long term and short
term. I will start out with 60 mg / day, and work my way down to
nothing over 10 days. My GP referred to this regimen a simply a
"burst", and that I shouldn't be concerned with it as of yet, but I
still cannot seem to shake the gitters about this drug. Anything
anybody is willing to share about it would be greatly appreciated.

Best regards,

Mr_CNC

"Mr_CNC" <mrcnc@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:1165023734.679766.100850@80g2000cwy.googlegro ups.com...
> Hello all,
>
> A little history first...
>
> As I have stated recently, I am recovering from right mediastinal &
> lower neck Involved Field RT. I have been having some problems "getting
> past" the RT side effects (I think). During my RT, I got a nasty chest
> infection that was not diagnosed until the beginning of my 4th (and
> thankfully last) week of RT. All the docs just thought I was presenting
> with some rather nasty side effects. At that time, my rad onc
> prescribed a "Z-Pak" of antibiotics, which I completed and showed
> "some" improvement. Over the next week, my chest congestion got worse,
> so I went to see my GP (who is well versed in my condition, and has
> been following everything regularly). I had a CXR which showed nothing
> out of the ordinary. Since I had just finished a Z-Pak a week prior,
> she decided more antibiotics would not be prudent just then, and gave
> me a 500/50 Advair inhaler that was good for 2wks, and a resue inhaler
> of Xopenex HFA. These really seemed to "get me over the hump", but not
> totally better. The Advair inhaler ran out this past Monday and I have
> gotten worse, although not significantly, since then. I decided to go
> see my GP again today, and upon listening to my lungs, she said they
> still sounded "crackley", and that I probably still wasn't over the
> infection I had 4 weeks ago. This time she prescribed 2 courses of
> "Z-Pak" (one to follow right after the other), along with the
> Prednisone.
>
> Heres the meat of my concerns. The "Z-Pak" doesn't scare me at all. Not
> a problem. The Prednisone scares the pants off me. I have heard all
> kinds of horror stories about side effects, both long term and short
> term. I will start out with 60 mg / day, and work my way down to
> nothing over 10 days. My GP referred to this regimen a simply a
> "burst", and that I shouldn't be concerned with it as of yet, but I
> still cannot seem to shake the gitters about this drug. Anything
> anybody is willing to share about it would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Mr_CNC
>


No problems at all with a short sharp course like that.
However, prednisone is not a treatment for a chest infection............

Mr_CNC said...
> The Prednisone scares the pants off me. I have heard all
> kinds of horror stories about side effects, both long term and short
> term.
>
You want horror stories? OK, here's a couple of for you.

Through a friend with a sick child (she was only about 5 at the time) I
got to know a bunch of lovely people who were suffering from bowel
disease like Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis. These people didn't
much care for Pred either - but they were more than happy to take it
when necessary (and for many of them it was a very long term treatment)
because it was helping them to live more normal lives. My friend's
daughter used Pred in liquid and suppository form - and it probably
saved her life. The child is now happy and healthy and around 10 years
old. She may have a relapse in the future, who knows? For the time
being she's a very happy, healthy horror.

I've got some horrors of my own. Of my five children, three have been
given Pred at some stage of their lives to mitigate the effects of
sudden asthma attacks. But it's a steroid! How can you let your
children take steroids? Shock! Horror! Because it's a damn good
medicine, that's how. I've used it myself (asthma is a recurring theme
in my family). It's a life saver. Sure, it has side effects - but so
do aspirin or paracetamol for those people who have an intolerance or
allergy to them.

Predisone is a marvellous drug. Those who've met my horror stories may
disagree, of course - for myself, I'm very happy it exists. It's kept
me out of hospital on more than one occasion, and I would't swap my
horrors for anything[1].

[1] Some of the time[2], at least.
[2] OK, most of the time. I admit it. I love the little beasts.

--
Em

Steph said...
> > Heres the meat of my concerns. The "Z-Pak" doesn't scare me at all. Not
> > a problem. The Prednisone scares the pants off me. I have heard all
> > kinds of horror stories about side effects, both long term and short
> > term. I will start out with 60 mg / day, and work my way down to
> > nothing over 10 days. My GP referred to this regimen a simply a
> > "burst", and that I shouldn't be concerned with it as of yet, but I
> > still cannot seem to shake the gitters about this drug. Anything
> > anybody is willing to share about it would be greatly appreciated.
> >
> > Best regards,
> >
> > Mr_CNC
> >
>
>
> No problems at all with a short sharp course like that.
> However, prednisone is not a treatment for a chest infection............
>
Not even a severe one? The asthma that I've generously 'passed down' to
my children responds to steroid treatment and we all use inhaled
steroids on a daily basis. One of my sons is particularly susceptible
to breathing problems, and has often been given antibiotics for URTIs.
At those times he's usually advised to double his normal dose of inhaled
steroids for the duration; this is also the advice given for 'normal'
coughs (for asthmatic patients, that is). My 11 yr old was recently
hospitalised with an asthma attack that may have been triggered by an
URTI: he was sent home with Amoxicillin and Pred in addition to his
usual inhalers.

I'm not trying to criticise anyone here, by the way: for me it's enough
that he went in, was treated, came out - and went back to school the
next day. He's now fine... until the next time he does something silly
like trying to swim in a far too cold river, or go for a cycle ride in
the freezing Welsh fog, or any other the other daft things that normal
(normal??) 11 yr old boys get up to.

--
Em, just wondering

Steph wrote:
>
> No problems at all with a short sharp course like that.
> However, prednisone is not a treatment for a chest infection............

Thanks for the info Steph. I probably should have been clearer there.
My GP wants to attack this from two viewpoints.

1) This is probably a lingering chest infection, that had previously
responded to antibiotics.
2) This is also probably inflammation from the RT.

The logic for the treatments was, that since both conditions hinder the
healing of each, we'll treat both at the same time. This logic comes
from prior response to both the antibiotic regimen, and the inhaled
steriod regimen. Thanks again for the info Steph.

"Emily" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:MPG.1fdb9dd537e2ca2998c301@news.individual.ne t...
> Steph said...
>> > Heres the meat of my concerns. The "Z-Pak" doesn't scare me at all. Not
>> > a problem. The Prednisone scares the pants off me. I have heard all
>> > kinds of horror stories about side effects, both long term and short
>> > term. I will start out with 60 mg / day, and work my way down to
>> > nothing over 10 days. My GP referred to this regimen a simply a
>> > "burst", and that I shouldn't be concerned with it as of yet, but I
>> > still cannot seem to shake the gitters about this drug. Anything
>> > anybody is willing to share about it would be greatly appreciated.
>> >
>> > Best regards,
>> >
>> > Mr_CNC
>> >
>>
>>
>> No problems at all with a short sharp course like that.
>> However, prednisone is not a treatment for a chest infection............
>>
> Not even a severe one? The asthma that I've generously 'passed down' to
> my children responds to steroid treatment and we all use inhaled
> steroids on a daily basis. One of my sons is particularly susceptible
> to breathing problems, and has often been given antibiotics for URTIs.
> At those times he's usually advised to double his normal dose of inhaled
> steroids for the duration; this is also the advice given for 'normal'
> coughs (for asthmatic patients, that is). My 11 yr old was recently
> hospitalised with an asthma attack that may have been triggered by an
> URTI: he was sent home with Amoxicillin and Pred in addition to his
> usual inhalers.
>

The pred is for the asthma, not the infection. All that pred will do to an
infection is make it worse, unless the patient is also on the correct
antibiotics.

> I'm not trying to criticise anyone here, by the way: for me it's enough
> that he went in, was treated, came out - and went back to school the
> next day. He's now fine... until the next time he does something silly
> like trying to swim in a far too cold river, or go for a cycle ride in
> the freezing Welsh fog, or any other the other daft things that normal
> (normal??) 11 yr old boys get up to.
>
> --
> Em, just wondering
>

"Mr_CNC" <mrcnc@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:1165075593.406234.259140@16g2000cwy.googlegro ups.com...
>
> Steph wrote:
>>
>> No problems at all with a short sharp course like that.
>> However, prednisone is not a treatment for a chest infection............
>
> Thanks for the info Steph. I probably should have been clearer there.
> My GP wants to attack this from two viewpoints.
>
> 1) This is probably a lingering chest infection, that had previously
> responded to antibiotics.
> 2) This is also probably inflammation from the RT.
>

That's what I thought. Pred is the correct treatment for that

> The logic for the treatments was, that since both conditions hinder the
> healing of each, we'll treat both at the same time. This logic comes
> from prior response to both the antibiotic regimen, and the inhaled
> steriod regimen. Thanks again for the info Steph.
>

Steph said...
> My 11 yr old was recently
> > hospitalised with an asthma attack that may have been triggered by an
> > URTI: he was sent home with Amoxicillin and Pred in addition to his
> > usual inhalers.
> >
>
> The pred is for the asthma, not the infection. All that pred will do to an
> infection is make it worse, unless the patient is also on the correct
> antibiotics.
>
Interesting. Does it work in a different way from other steroids then?
Or is the 'doubling up the dose for a cough' thing also related to the
asthma rather than the cough itself?

--
Em, curious

Mr_CNC wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> A little history first...
>
> As I have stated recently, I am recovering from right mediastinal &
> lower neck Involved Field RT. I have been having some problems "getting
> past" the RT side effects (I think). During my RT, I got a nasty chest
> infection that was not diagnosed until the beginning of my 4th (and
> thankfully last) week of RT. All the docs just thought I was presenting
> with some rather nasty side effects. At that time, my rad onc
> prescribed a "Z-Pak" of antibiotics, which I completed and showed
> "some" improvement. Over the next week, my chest congestion got worse,
> so I went to see my GP (who is well versed in my condition, and has
> been following everything regularly). I had a CXR which showed nothing
> out of the ordinary. Since I had just finished a Z-Pak a week prior,
> she decided more antibiotics would not be prudent just then, and gave
> me a 500/50 Advair inhaler that was good for 2wks, and a resue inhaler
> of Xopenex HFA. These really seemed to "get me over the hump", but not
> totally better. The Advair inhaler ran out this past Monday and I have
> gotten worse, although not significantly, since then. I decided to go
> see my GP again today, and upon listening to my lungs, she said they
> still sounded "crackley", and that I probably still wasn't over the
> infection I had 4 weeks ago. This time she prescribed 2 courses of
> "Z-Pak" (one to follow right after the other), along with the
> Prednisone.
>
Short term use of prednizone is beneficial or such things. Long term
effective however can be quit serious.

Prednizone has been shown to cause osteoporosis for one thing.
I was used for many years to control asthma and the rate of osteoporosis
among long term users is extremely high.
It also reduces pain for other arthritic illness and users experience
withdrawal symptomes.

Also you have to taper off after taking the large dose.

Get off of it as soon as you can, but for the short term it will help
clear up your lungs.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/dru...ation/DR202018

--
******************************************
* This is the Spammish Inquisition *
* Not Lumber Cartel Unit 75 [TINLC] *
* http://bobcathoh.50megs.com/tinLC/ *
* david l kayp at earthlink dot net *
******************************************

Osteoporosis is not an issue in short term therapy as you said.
"DLU" <David@justthe.net> wrote in message
news:Ogsch.6011$ql2.1887@newsread3.news.pas.earthl ink.net...
> Mr_CNC wrote:
>
>> Hello all,
>>
>> A little history first...
>>
>> As I have stated recently, I am recovering from right mediastinal &
>> lower neck Involved Field RT. I have been having some problems "getting
>> past" the RT side effects (I think). During my RT, I got a nasty chest
>> infection that was not diagnosed until the beginning of my 4th (and
>> thankfully last) week of RT. All the docs just thought I was presenting
>> with some rather nasty side effects. At that time, my rad onc
>> prescribed a "Z-Pak" of antibiotics, which I completed and showed
>> "some" improvement. Over the next week, my chest congestion got worse,
>> so I went to see my GP (who is well versed in my condition, and has
>> been following everything regularly). I had a CXR which showed nothing
>> out of the ordinary. Since I had just finished a Z-Pak a week prior,
>> she decided more antibiotics would not be prudent just then, and gave
>> me a 500/50 Advair inhaler that was good for 2wks, and a resue inhaler
>> of Xopenex HFA. These really seemed to "get me over the hump", but not
>> totally better. The Advair inhaler ran out this past Monday and I have
>> gotten worse, although not significantly, since then. I decided to go
>> see my GP again today, and upon listening to my lungs, she said they
>> still sounded "crackley", and that I probably still wasn't over the
>> infection I had 4 weeks ago. This time she prescribed 2 courses of
>> "Z-Pak" (one to follow right after the other), along with the
>> Prednisone.
>>
> Short term use of prednizone is beneficial or such things. Long term
> effective however can be quit serious.
>
> Prednizone has been shown to cause osteoporosis for one thing.
> I was used for many years to control asthma and the rate of osteoporosis
> among long term users is extremely high.
> It also reduces pain for other arthritic illness and users experience
> withdrawal symptomes.
>
> Also you have to taper off after taking the large dose.
>
> Get off of it as soon as you can, but for the short term it will help
> clear up your lungs.
>
> http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/dru...ation/DR202018
>
> --
> ******************************************
> * This is the Spammish Inquisition *
> * Not Lumber Cartel Unit 75 [TINLC] *
> * http://bobcathoh.50megs.com/tinLC/ *
> * david l kayp at earthlink dot net *
> ******************************************

"Emily" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:MPG.1fdc3ae743d6de8098c335@news.individual.ne t...
> Steph said...
>> My 11 yr old was recently
>> > hospitalised with an asthma attack that may have been triggered by an
>> > URTI: he was sent home with Amoxicillin and Pred in addition to his
>> > usual inhalers.
>> >
>>
>> The pred is for the asthma, not the infection. All that pred will do to
>> an
>> infection is make it worse, unless the patient is also on the correct
>> antibiotics.
>>
> Interesting. Does it work in a different way from other steroids then?
> Or is the 'doubling up the dose for a cough' thing also related to the
> asthma rather than the cough itself?
>
> --
> Em, curious

It works like all steroids...........it reduces the inflammatory response.

Steph said...
>
> "Emily" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
> news:MPG.1fdc3ae743d6de8098c335@news.individual.ne t...
> > Steph said...
> >> My 11 yr old was recently
> >> > hospitalised with an asthma attack that may have been triggered by an
> >> > URTI: he was sent home with Amoxicillin and Pred in addition to his
> >> > usual inhalers.
> >> >
> >>
> >> The pred is for the asthma, not the infection. All that pred will do to
> >> an
> >> infection is make it worse, unless the patient is also on the correct
> >> antibiotics.
> >>
> > Interesting. Does it work in a different way from other steroids then?
> > Or is the 'doubling up the dose for a cough' thing also related to the
> > asthma rather than the cough itself?
> >
> It works like all steroids...........it reduces the inflammatory response.
>
Ah, I see. So in the case of 'only' an infection, without inflammation,
it would be useless. Thanks for that Steph. I feel much happier when I
understand a bit of what's going on.

--
Em