There are 333 ratings for the drug: PREDNISONE in the Askapatient database.

Key to ratings for prednisone: 5-Very Satisfied: this medicine cured me or helped me a great deal. 4-Satisfied: this medicine helped. 3-Somewhat Satisfied: this medicine helped somewhat. 2-Not Satisfied: this medicine did not work to my satisfaction. 1-Dissatisfied: I would not recommend taking this medicine.

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Rating	Reason	Side Effects	Comments	Sex	Age	Time Taken and Dosage		Date Added
				F  M
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1	A misdiagnosis	Hair loss, weight gain, cystic acne, acne scars, rosaceae, high blood pressure		M	18	80 1X D		7/27/2010
1	Crohn's	Was put on this drug for Crohn's disease with fistulas and bleeding. Prednisone caused hyperactivity like I had taken a bunch of speed! My husband found me at 3 a.m. organizing the pantry. Had to start taking Ambien to get any sleep at all. Had horrible cloudy thinking and couldn't work! In combination with Remicade, I had such leg weakness that I wound up in wheelchair for five weeks! It was not helping my Crohn's so I weaned myself off of it and immediately began losing my hair. Now have gained 15 lbs. and half my hair is gone and it is still falling out in handfuls every day! I'm shedding lke a dog! What the hell???	This is a terrible evil drug. I will NEVER take it again ever. My doctor explained NONE of these side effects and blew me off when I tried to talk to him about this. PLEASE think twice before you take Prednisone!	F	52	4 months 60 mg 1X D		7/27/2010 Email
3	Crohns Disease	Mood Swings, Depression, Joint Pain, Lots of weight gain, Increased Appetite, Puffy Face, Broken Blood Vessels on face, Headaches, Decreased Sex Drive, Lethargy	I have been on and off prednisone since I was diagnosed with crohn's when I was 8 years old. I was told that I was steriod dependent. Let me give you some advice; do your own research. These 'medications' are man-made and with prolonged usage will damage a lot of once normal working functions in other parts of your body. I'll be honest here. I smoke marijuana and that is the only thing I find to work. I have dodged numerous hospital visits by smoking. It helps nausea, appetite, pain, with no side effects although you will have to be careful with increased appetite. Look into the studies and you will see that marijuana may be more of a medicine than these man-made money making pills that may help one part of your body but will damage other parts in the long term. I have been unable to smoke for about two weeks now and just had a flare-up with my crohn's. This has happened on one other occasion where I was unable to smoke for a long period of time. I find that this is enough proof for me to continue using marijuana to help me with my health. For the past two years I have been continuously smoking and have been symptom free except for the periods of time when I was unable to smoke. That, in my 12 years of living with crohn's, has never happened to me. Please do your own research and don't just rely on your doctor.	F	20	8 years 30 MG 1X D		7/17/2010 Email
1	UC	Hair loss, weight gain, racing heart, sweating, high blood pressure, acne		M	21	3 months 40 1X D		7/16/2010
3	UC Chrons Disease	Puffy face. weight gain. mild acne.	For longterm use I would not recommend this medicine. I took over the summer to help swelling go down because I had a stricture. I had to get 7inches of it removed anyway. Over the time I took it, it allowed me to eat a full liquid diet without pain. But by the end of summer my face blew up like a giant balloon, it was hidious. I weighed 117 before I Started the meds when I was done taking it I weighted about 140! Ive yet been able to loose weight and it sucks! They want to put me on it again too! I also worked out for at least 2 hours a day doing biggest looser videos and stuff like that. And I still gained all that weight! I recommend Shaklee products! They are amazing suppliments! Go to www.Shaklee.com for more information!	F	15	80 days not sure 8X D		6/26/2010 Email
2	Adrenal Insufficiency	Insomnia, heart racing, night sweats, hot flashes, weak muscles, did not reduce inflammation, eratic blood pressure, bedridden. Exhausted after taking a shower and need to lay down. Endocrinologist reduced dosage to 7.5 mg a day.	Started taking Pregnenolone 30 mg while taking the prednisone. 2nd - 5th day took 30 mg pregnenolone in am and pm with 7.5 mg prednisone dosage. Stopped taking prednisone on 6th day with no adrenal crash. Currently take 30mg about 7 hours apart. Haven't taken prednisone for 10 days. Don't crave salt now, no night sweats, sleep better, no inflammation, stronger mentally and physically. Pregnenolone is a nutritional supplement which is similar to the primary steroid your body uses to make all the hormones/steroids you need. It will boost the hormones and steroids you need boosted and reduce those that are too high. I use Pure Encapsulations Pregnenolone ordered from Amazon. I had a 24 urine "ComprehensivePLUS Hormone Profile" test on 12/4/2008 which showed I was low in all steroids. Read warnings before starting.	F	53	5 months 9 mg 3X D		6/3/2010 Email
1	Dr. said	Permanent problems with my thyroid, sweating, shaky hands, depression, mood swings, high blood pressure, rosacea, acne, acne scarring, inability to heal.	Wish I had never taken it.	M	20	1X D		5/27/2010
2	bronchitis	after one dose (20mg) in the morning my chest was almost instantly better. HOWEVER, by the night time (12 am) i woke up suddenly -I was jittery and had a racing heart, felt like i was full of adrenaline and couldnt sleep - i would have panicked except i have had these symptoms before on nasonex, and was expecting them, so had propanalol handy (which i took finally at about 2.30). However, when I took nasonex it took me months of gong to the doctor thinking i was SERIOUSLY ill (having a heart attack / thyroid problems/ diabetes etc etc) before i worked it out (I found it on this website actually). I rang work at 2am last night to explain i wouldnt be in this morning and am just waiting for the doctor to comfirm that it is okay for me to keep taking them....	if she says it is okay i am going to continue takng these for my short course (5 days), but i wouldnt want to take it any longer knowing the nightmare i had with nasonex!!	F	35	1 days 20mg 1X D		5/26/2010 Email
1	asthma	moody, sad, 10 lb. weight gain,arthritic pain in hands and knees, back pain, but the out of control asthma was much better. Given the side affects I will never take this drug again, will opt for a different therapy.	I would think twice about taking this medicine, only in life or death situations would I tell someone to take it.	F	40	6 days 20 mg 2X D		5/23/2010
1	chron's disease	This drug sucks, severe thrush all the way down my throat, no energy. will never take it again	Treatments for Chron's flat sucks	F	40	3 days 30 mg 1X D		5/12/2010 Email
1	Crohn's	Thinning of hair, cystic acne, just didn't have the energy to do anything, loss of sex drive, memory problems, weight gain, stretch marks, swollen face, profuse sweating	I would have preferred surgery to taking prednisone. Prednisone's side effects have actually been worse than surgery would have been. Prednisone can affect your mood and memory, so even if you think the other side effects aren't going to bother you, if you're a student, I'd at least think twice before starting it. (Also remember that you can't stop taking it abruptly.) I found that it was impossible to remember much of anything on prednisone.	M	26	3 months 40 1X D		4/25/2010
1	Rhematoid Arthritis	Initially I was very much helped. After going off it, hell began. While on it I had the horrific appetite and weight gain. But after, my mouth sheds skin constantly. Every tooth in my mouth is loose (4 point bridge, caps, implants),and I have gum recession....my gums and all teeth were FINE before prednisone.	My psychiatrist checked on my moods constantly......I was more angry than usual but the physical effects left over are pure hell. My rhumatologist inquired about NOTHING or rather side effects. I curse her as much as this medicine from hell. I agree with many respondants, I would die before I would ever touch this medication again.	F	60	5 months 10 1X D		4/24/2010 Email
1	colitis	insomnia, dry skin, decrease in sex, memory loss, vomit, fatigue, gain weight on face and abdomen, dry and blurry eyes, joint pain	I do not recommend this medicine to anyone out there!!! It suppose to help you but instead it makes you more sick than ever! There is other medicine out there that works much better and is not a steroid and will not have side effects like these. THIS DRUG SHOULD BE REMOVED FROM THE MARKET FOR GOOD!! I never knew there was such a thing that could actually control you and change your body, emotion, and health. I was suppose to take this medicine for one month and I just took it for one week and I self-stopped it. I don't know how I even went one week using it!! Just eat healthy and let the doc know you don't want to take prednisone and see if he can offer something different. DO NOT TAKE THIS MEDICINE!!!!!!	F	23	7 days 20mg 3X D		4/23/2010 Email
1	Ulcerative Colitis	80lb weight gain: I've lost most of the weight now, but it's almost impossible to get rid of the fat over the abdomen, so clothes don't fit right. Most of the weight you gain on prednisone will be in your abdomen. 80lbs wouldn't look so bad if it were spread out evenly, but prednisone changes the way your body stores fat. Also acne and acne scarring, which makes you look like a teenager; people simply don't respect you as much.	You have to realize most doctors don't care about you; if you don't realize this, they will ruin your life.	M	31	5 months 60 1X D		4/13/2010
1	Crohn's	Weight went from 110# to 160# in 4 months/ Low blood pressure turned into high blood pressure/ Low blood sugar turned into high blood sugar/ Stretch marks so bad that I am looking into plastic surgery/ Broken blood vessels in face&legs/ Saggy skin after losing weight/ Muscle wasting/ Increased eye pressure (almost glaucoma)/ Mood swings/ Insomnia/ Gastric Ulcer/ Bright pink "moon face"/ Profuse sweating (including night sweats that soaked my hair)/ Crushing joint pain when dose changed/ Constant ravenous hunger/ Ankles regularly swelled to the width of my knees/ Extreme hair loss (it fell out by the handful) on scalp/ Facial hair growth (my normal peach fuzz got thicker and longer)	NIGHTMARE DRUG!!! I started prednisone for my ulcerated colon, and while on prednisone the only part of me that was healthy was my colon. Prednisone had a detrimental effect on virtually every other part of my body. I have told my current doctor that I will never take it again unless I will die without it. I would give this drug a negative rating if I could... KNOW THE DRUG INTERACTIONS! I found out later that the pill (birth control) can make your side effects worse. I was never warned of this fact! My FORMER doctor simply said I might "get a little puffy in the face and have the munchies." I hate that man. My body has never fully recovered. I am looking into plastic surgery because some of my stretch marks are still so sensitive and severe even 6 years later. Simply devistating to do that to a 21-year-old woman. I agreed to two 5mg doses for an allergic reaction once time since, and I gained 4 pounds of water weight in 2 days. Also vomited on those days. I've since had AMAZING success on the "Biological" drugs for inflammatory diseases with almost no side effects. BEWARE...	F	27	6 months 80mg 1X D		4/12/2010
4	Lupus/ Low blood platelets	Racing heartbeat,palpitations, headaaches,acne, increased appetite, glucose high, weight gain(more in face and abdomen), very irritable and moody.	I was on 80mg of Prednisone for low blood platelets due to my Lupus Im down to 40mg right now. I needed a biopsy and they didnt want to risk me bleeding so I had to get on the meds.I have gained 25 pounds since Jan 1,2010. and all the side effects are stressful, but it has helped the issue with my platelets. I really hate this medicine, but the drs are trying to reduce the dosage and hopefully i can get rid of this excess weight and all the horrible side effects that come along with it and continue on a lower dosage of the meds.	F	30	3 months 40mg 1X D		3/28/2010 Email
2	Flu	Heartburn and a fluttery feeling in my chest like my heart was palpitating but not quite. Bathroom issues. Crushing chest pain when tapering. Moodiness. I do not have the issues with weight or bloating.	When I tried to taper the first time and went from 2 pills down to 1 my chest felt like it was crushing in on me, thought I was having a heart attack or a 200lb man was standing on my chest. Dr said we came off them too soon - I had tested positive for the flu so we repeated the 7 day cycle and yesterday I went from 3 down to 2 and experienced that same crushing feeling only not as bad and it went away after 2 hours. This stuff is freaking me out and I cant wait to be off it. 60mg for 2 days, 40mg for 3 days then 20mg for 2 days is the taper for the second round.	F	42	7 days 60/40/20 1X D		3/16/2010
3	unidentified rheumatic disorder	fat face, bad headache, muscle pain, overall ill feeling, increased appetite, weight gain, dizziness	I did a strenuous mountain bike ride on day 4 of my taper and got really, really ill afterwards. awful headache, high pulse for several hours, hot flashes, dizziness. For the reason that I was prescribed it- worked wonders! I'm going to look for any alternative to this med from now on... :(	F	30	4 days 10m 3X D		3/12/2010
1	Crohn's	Acne, really bad scarring, thinned skin. Moon face. Weight gain. Stretch marks. Hair loss.	The combination of severely drying out your skin, giving you acne, and decreasing your ability to heal gives prednisone the potential to permanently and significantly alter the appearance of your face. I've spent tens of thousands of dollars going to dermatologists trying to repair my skin, but nothing works. Just wish I could go back in time and not take this drug. To me this is invaluable. I would rather be a self-confident janitor with clear, unscarred skin than a successful musician with an ugly scarred face. The fact of the matter, I know from experience, is that your appearance is the most important thing to your life, especially when your young.	M	18	7 months		2/2/2010
1	Uterine Swelling	Withdrawals after only 5 days of taking it and trying to get off it landed me in the ER last night. Trying to taper off as fast as I can. Puffy "moon face", profuse sweating, nausea, pounding heart, uncontrollable blood sugar swings (both up and down), gained 10 lbs in five days (didn't think that was physically possible!), bloated stomach, tremors, sudden high blood pressure...	Unless this is to save your life, don't touch this stuff or you'll end up like so many other people. They're not kidding about this drug. I've dealt with side effects before but this stuff is downright dangerous. If you're hypoglycemic or diabetic, find an alternative. Please be safe everybody...	F	36	6 days		2/1/2010
4	sinusitis	insomnia, racing heartbeat, active mind	This drug is not that bad!!!! It is the ONLY thing that clears my sinuses. I have been on it for 2 months, and didn't gain any weight or have any skin problems. The insomnia goes away after awhile.	F	29	60 days		1/31/2010
1	suspected asthma (but chest inf)	About 4 days after finishing the 5 day course, came out in huge, itchy rash all over my body - looked like measles. Also, can't stop eating, puffy face, double chin and feel really low, tearful, depressed. Been off it almost 2 weeks but still feel & look awful.	My doctor prescribed penicillin at the same time as the Pred. He thinks my allergic reaction is due to that as side effects with Pred are "rare". However, I've taken penicillin before and had no bad side effects. This was my first and only time on Pred - will never take again. Truly awful. I was on 30mg for 5 days - then stopped. Wasn't warned that suddenly stopping can be dangerous. The skin rash and crazy hunger didn't start immediately - 4 days after coming off it and still ongoing! When will it subside, I wonder?? Please soon!!	F	43	5 days		1/29/2010
4	Churg-Strauss, Giant Cell Arteritis	Side Effects: sudden weight gain, central obesity, hypertension, sore/weak muscles, diabetes mellitus, decreased libido/impotence, depression, osteopenia, easy bruising, hyperlipidemia, abdominal striae, leg edema, extreme fatigue, I get seriously out of breath with only mild activity - like walking to the restroom. inability to focus, memory issues, dry eyes where nothing helps, back problems - spasms, depression, moon face, buffalo hump	I wouldn't take it if I didn't have to in order to stay alive. My doctor told me I would be sacrificing quality of life for quantity of life - she was right. I am thankful, as problematic as it is, that it is there. I also take Imuran. My doctor said it is likely that I will never be able to get below 10mg prednisone daily.	M	54	4 years		1/27/2010
1	Colitis	Couldn't sleep the whole seven months I took it. Got high blood pressure and never had any problems with that before.	Constant hunger and even though I am a slim guy I gained a lot of weight. Never had a problem with my weight before. Not even around holidays. Got acne and my face got real large and swollen. Was losing my hair. I looked very sick. My wife was embarrassed to go places with me, she stopped asking. Can say for certain we wouldn't be married if she were just meeting me today. You learn things about people on this drug.	M	39	7 months		1/27/2010
1	Ulcerative colitis	Acne, hair loss, 70lb weight gain, stretch marks, insomnia, mood swings, thinning of skin, dry skin	If you've seen that episode of South Park where Kyle, Stan, and Cartman play World of Warcraft all day and get fat and ugly and their skin covered with acne, that's sort of what prednisone does for you.	M	27	9 months		1/13/2010
1	Crohn's	Low sex drive, ED, depression, diabetes, thyroid disease, thinning of skin, insomnia, appetite increase, weight gain		M	32	1 years		1/7/2010
4	eczema covering hands and feet	insomnia, racing thoughts, suicidal thoughts, thinning skin, nausea	my hands and feet were covered with open oozing blisters and cracks in the skin that just kept growing in surface area despite numerous "natural" treatments. home therapy left me with pain when walking and moving hands, green pus coming out of some of the blisters and water became like liquid fire. within a day and a half of taking the meds my hands started turning from bright red to flesh colored again. i also started shedding skin like a snake and was left with a new layer of delicate thin skin. ill take the insomnia and racing thoughts any day over not being able to move my hands without pain and not having to worry about cutting body parts off because i got an infection that wouldnt heal.	F	32	10 days		1/2/2010
1	Crohn's disease	Cushing's Syndrome, major weight gain, heart palpitations, rosacea	Doesn't help	M	27	2 years		12/21/2009
1	UC	Extremely blurry vision. Extremely dry eyes. Vision went from -3.25 to -8.50, eyes became dry so can no longer wear contacts. This means huge glasses even when I pay extra for thin lenses. Prednisone basically prematurely ages your entire body. The reason why old people have so many health problems is because when you age you naturally experience the things prednisone does to a person. Hair loss. Thinned skin. Dry skin. Dry scalp. Dry mouth. Stretch marks.	Knowing what I know about UC now, I would never take prednisone. I also would not put blind faith in my gastroenterologist. It's painful to think back at how inept he was. He even would give me rectal exams without a glove and then when I looked at him (because that is a weird thing to do) he would say, Oops, I must've forgot. It's like: if you were giving someone a rectal exam, wouldn't that be the FIRST thing you think of? Personally I would use several. I really think the typical person who becomes a gastroenterologist is either a pervert or someone who's very greedy but could not manage to become a specialist in another field. Usually when you hear about doctors who rape, sexually assault, or commit sex crimes and abuse against their patients, they're gastroenterologists, and more often than not, the ones from third world countries.	F	19			12/18/2009
1	Possible Vasculitis	Severe Weight Gain - Especially in Abdomen, Severe Dry-Eyes	Do your research before taking this drug! I have been off from this drug for nearly a year, and apparently the side effects will be with me...forever? I was prescribed this medication for a "possible" condition, and left on it for three months - even though it was not improving my symptons. I gained 21% of my then current body weight and my abdomen expanded dramatically. I am 5'3" tall, and at 53 years old had weighed 116 pounds for the prior 34 years! I gained 24 pounds in less than 3 months; and even though I have now lost most of that weight - it never comes off from the abdomen, even with gym workouts 3 times a week and being a former athlete. I also never had a dry-eye condition in my life until being put on this medicine. A year after stopping prednisone, the dry-eye has still not gone away. My eyes are constantly red, feel like there is sand in them, and hurt after a couple hours of using the computer or watching TV. Even using lubricant eye drops every hour doesn't eliminate those conditions. Apparently this is a wonder drug if you have certain problems - but make sure you have a firm diagnosis before agreeing to take it. It sounds like I will never be over the side effects from a drug I should never have been prescribed.	F	54	3 months		12/17/2009
1	MS	Diabetes, osteoporosis, suicidal depression, acne, weight gain, insomnia, stretch marks.	Someone who takes this drug for five days for dermatitis (usually something that would go away on its own) really has no business reviewing this drug. This is a very dangerous drug. It's like a teenager who does a drug a few times and concludes that there's no negative effects.	F	35			12/16/2009
4	Dermatitis "of unknown origin"	insomnia was the worst symptom, very minor stomach upset, some moodiness, dizziness at points	I am really shocked at how well I handled this medication. Typically I'm sensitive to prescription meds, and get some heavy side effects. Have to say I think some folks here aren't giving this drug a chance	M	30	5 days		12/14/2009 Email
1	UC	Hair loss, thyroid disease, blurry vision, severe worsening of vision, headaches, eye pain, dry red eyes, 60lb weight gain, high blood pressure, acne, stretch marks, mood swings, insomnia, increased appetite, sweating, shakiness, anxiety, hand tremors, achy bones.	Didn't help me at all.	M	40	29 months		12/14/2009
1	Dr said	Acne, loss of interest, feelings of hopelessness, odd skin problems, sweating, dry mouth.		F	26	2 weeks		12/6/2009
1	CD	Mania, depression, suicide ideation, panic attacks, high blood pressure, weight gain, acne, hair loss, insomnia (not sleeping for days on end) redness in face,	If you ever wanted to ruin someone's life, a good way to do it would be to trick them into taking this garbage. I would rather die than take this again.	F	33			12/1/2009
1	UC (misdiagnosed)	Depression, rage, thoughts of suicide, cystic acne, acne scars, blotchy skin on face, red eyes, SEVERE dry eye (my eyes barely have any moisture at all now; my eyelids actually stick to my eyes), dry mouth, sweating, high blood pressure, thyroid problem, moon face. Before, when I heard about side effects of drugs, I thought about things like headache, GI symptoms maybe--not these sorts of things can cause--and prednisone can do much more this! What is outrageous is that I've had doctors go out of their way to tell me minor symptoms for safe drugs--but in this case my doctor simply lied to me (to get me to comply) and told me this very dangerous drug was actually safe....	Anyone who tells you pred is safe is nuts, lazy, or simply doesn't care about you. This might not be a bad drug to take if you're 80 years old, but if you're young, prednisone could really, really mess up your life. I wish I had known that...it really, really messed up mine. I was told it was safe (by my doctor at the University of Iowa, Anne Sullivan); at that time I thought you could trust doctors. I was wrong. She proved that to me. I had perfect skin, now I have blotchy, scarred skin--which is a great thing to have when you're 18, right? (I was also put on Imuran, had a neoplasm develop on my face, so also have large surgical scar on a very prominent portion of my face.) I used to actually get compliments on my complexion, now people just wonder what happened to me. Turns out I didn't even have UC--had nothing seriously wrong with me. (Advice: If you're diagnosed with UC or CD, definitely, definitely get a second opinion, particularly if you're diagnosed at the University of Iowa)	M	18	7 months		11/27/2009
1	Lupus	Myriad	And it didn't even work.	F	45			11/26/2009
1	Sarcoidosis	Extreme mood swings, gained 41 pounds in 3 months, increased urination, diabetes, leg cramps, moon face, slight hump on back, brittle bones, insomnia, hungry all the time, nightmares, acne, stretch marks on legs, thighs and buttocks, nervousness, feeling of being "on edge" all the time, hands shaky, feel hot all the time, red face, swollen ankles, hmmmm did I miss anything?	This drug is the worst thing I have ever taken. Started with 60mg/day and reduced by 10mg every month. It did help with the complications of my illness, but I have to wonder if I'd rather just have the illness than deal with all of the nasty side effects of Prednisone. The only good thing about it is that though I wasn't taking it for psoriasis, my psoriasis went away completely and I had clear skin for the first time in over 5 years. It almost makes it worth taking....almost. Currently taking 15mg/day and symptoms of Sarcoidosis are returning along with psoriasis. Would not take this drug again unless I had to choose between taking it and dying.	M	28	6 months		11/25/2009
1	flu	anxiety, panic attacks, fear of death, stomach pain		M	19	4 days		11/19/2009
1	MS	cystic acne, hyperpigmentation, depression, mood swings, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, red spots on my legs	Didn't help me at all. I really WOULD NOT recommend taking prednisone. All doctors I've went to subsequently detest the drug and wouldn't let me use it even if I wanted to.	F	34			11/18/2009
3	Upper respitory infection/cough	Jittery, oral thrush	This is the second time I've taken prednisone and each time I get oral thrush. Also, my blood pressure elevates slightly 130/95 - usually 118/70	F	39	9 days		10/22/2009
5	Primary Sjogren's Syndrome	Some worsening of existing gastritis	This drug makes me feel 'normal' again. It helps relieve dryness of mouth and eyes, as well as fatigue and arthritis. Plaquenil, Imuran and Methotrexate did not work for me and had bad side effects including worsening of symptoms. I take 20 mg tapering over 6 weeks every few months.	F	50	6 weeks		10/21/2009
4	asthma	irritability, insomnia, appetite loss	I've taken this monster about 20 times over the years for various conditions, ranging from viral encephalitis to bronchitis, and each time it's the same. Taking it in the morning reduces the insomnia; taking it with a coke reduces the awful taste. Good luck with the moodiness that is sure to come... argh. It's a hassle, but it always works.	F	17	10 days		10/18/2009
5	cluster headaches	Some insomnia, minor weight gain (4lbs.).	Only drug that stops my daily cluster headache condition (chronic). My neurologist prescribes me a 16 day decreasing amount(start: 60 mg/day; end:5mg/day). She gives me this as sort of a present roughly once per year(feeling sorry for me I suppose). Says I can't take enough prednisone consistently to help. My headaches always start back after the prednisone treatment, but the 16 day relief is a miracle.	M	73			10/15/2009
2	Chron's Disease	Increased appetite, increase hair growth, depression, mood swings	Worked well for the chron's when I was very sick and settled it down quickly but the side effects, especially the depression was the worst. It made me just have an overall feeling of being always sick. I would only suggest it to someone who is very ill and for use for a very short period of time.	M	20	3 times		10/13/2009
2	Giant Cell Arteritis	Heartburn, insomnia and nightmares, swellling hands, feet, abdomen	Doesn't seem to be helping much.	F	53	2 weeks		10/10/2009
4	Allergic Rash	Extreme soreness/throbbing in back, sore and restless legs, hunger, sweating, insomnia	On prednisone for 8 days due to a rash caused by an allergic reaction. Within 3 hours of taking my first dose of 40mg, I had extreme leg and back pain. Topical steroids did not work, nor did antihistamines so I was left without a choice. Despite the side effects, the prednisone did take my rash away quickly.	F	24	8 days		10/8/2009
1	Allergies/Sinusitis	insomnia, depression, severe psychosis, hallucinations, joint problems	Apparently I have no tolerance for this terrible drug. Was on the drug for less than ten days and turned into a raving lunatic. No sleep for days. Seven days into the treatment had a psychotic episode complete with hallucinations, delusions and suicidal thoughts. Basically a case of schizophrenia. Wound up in a mental ward for a few weeks. Had anxiety/panic attacks for a month after that. On a lighter note, I have a suspicion that all of the joint problems that developed since that time might be related too. With the exception of some bad allergies i was in perfect mental/physical health before taking this crap. Thanks Prednisone!	M	29	10 days		9/23/2009
3	Ulcerative Colities	I have osteoperosis now. I took during puberty. I got big. I retained so much water. Gained about 40 lbs of water. Had stretch marks.	The drug works great, just not worth it for more than a month or so. Too many long lasting side effects.	M	28	3 years		9/22/2009
5	piriformis syndrome/sciatica	No side effects.	This drug did in 2 days what naprosyn couldn't do in nearly 3 weeks. It reduced the inflammation in my piriformis muscle to the point where I no longer needed to take vicodin every day and use a lidocain patch every night. I take my last dose of the 1-week course tomorrow, and I am hoping the positive effects remain.	F	42	5 days		9/16/2009
1	severe poison ivy	insomnia, increased hunger, mind racing, confusion, mood swings, irritability	It made the poison ivy go away but after 12 days of this It has been too much and I want my normal brain back! I would ask for a topical cream and take oatmeal baths and deal with it. I hate how I am feeling right now...	F	21	12 days		8/28/2009
5	Adult Onset Juvenile RA/Stills Dis	Redness on face/neck, bruising, weight gain, mostly in upper body, moon face, hair thinning	Without prednisone I would be completely incapacitated. The side effects are all bearable and not permanent. I was on prednisone for years earlier in my life for the same illness and it worked wonders then and I was able to get off it for years. All the side effects go away accept the bone loss which can be replaced. With this recent flair up I was thankful that prednisone worked so well for me again. I tried many other drugs over the years but nothing worked for my arthritis and most had side effects that were much worse and many were permanent.	F	48	8 months		8/14/2009 Email
4	NMO	Weight gain, Bloated belly, strenght mark, Depression,	Its a good medication.	F	25	12 months		8/12/2009 Email
1	UC	High blood pressure, heart palpitations, hair loss, acne, depression, sweating profusely, anxiety, insomnia, achy bones		M	29	4 months		8/5/2009
1	bronchitis	Adrenal glands shut down, high blood pressure, heart palpitations, thin skin and wrinkles, dizziness, weakness, blurred vision, kidney stone.	My nerves were completely shot while on this drug. Had to extend time on it and taper off when adrenal glands stopped working. skin chages color even after off for 3 months, weakness continues, metal taste in mouth persists. ended up in Er several times while on this and the Dr's didn't know what was going on. Doctors just do not know how dangerous this drug is. They have no clue what adrenal suppression symptoms are either, I had to almost die before they would even take this serious and even then they said it was anxiety. I'm done with Dr's. period! they are the ones who have anxiety because they don't know anything except how to cash in on peoples health problems. so its easier to say its anxiety. sad isn't it. I will not go near this drug again. It should be highly controlled. I won't go near a Dr. either, I had thousands in medical bills and they did nothing but cause me to suffer, while they drive off in their ferarri. Dr's who are not familiar with this drug or how to deal with its consequences should have their license yanked and go find another line of work.	M	35	3 months		7/27/2009
1	Eosinophilic Esophagitis	these all started and happened within 21 days! I had a pulmonary embolism (could have easily killed me) and also Osteoarthritis (never had a joint pain before this)I am now crippled and had to move in with parents because I can no longer walk. I was going to the gym three times a week before this drug and was very healthy, minus my allergic throat condition. I was put on a high dose (60mg)for two months by a QUACK that never even looked at my throat and now has ruined my life.also, now the quack is LYING in all med records about dose. I intend to sue his ass.	I will now have to be on blood thinner for life, and have osteoarthritis for life, with possible knee and hip replacements. prior to this, healthy as an ox, Im young, 43, have the body of a 25 year old which is now ruined due to this poison. DO NOT TAKE THIS drug unless you are literally dying of a disease. not worth ruining your health or dying DUE to this drug. The drs will try to deny a connection, but I just had two doctors look at my records and say, oh yeah the prednisone caused the lung clot and the arthritis ( i had zero risk of either of these prior, and I mean NONE my whole life) please really get teh facts, i did not. i thought a little moon face and hump (which i also developed cushings) was the worst that can happen, nope this crap can kill you and if it doesnt kill you, it destroys your body and quality of life.	F	43	21 days		7/22/2009
1	Lupus	Hair loss, acne, weight gain, mood swings, rapid heart beat, stretch marks, shakiness, insomnia	Prednisone is the worst medication I've ever taken.	M	37	7 months		7/15/2009
1	Kidney failure	Uncontrollable rage, feelings of hopelessness, acne, very red face (like someone with rosacea)		M	57	4 months		7/6/2009
1	UC	Sexual side effects, really bad acne, dry eyes that no longer produce tears much at all (so can't wear contacts), profuse sweating (which still hasn't gone away), 60lb. weight gain (in the midsection mostly it seems, which is really hard to lose)	As a gay male, this was just about the worst drug I could've been given. I basically already had my UC in control, through diet; I hadn't had the disease long and was just learning about diet; then my doctors gave me this (and told me not to worry about my diet, idiots that they were): prednisone ended up ruining my skin (my face is now scarred and discolored)--which really affects your self-esteem. Also the drug did nothing for me. I ended up putting my disease in remission with just a very clean diet (no dairy, almost no sugars, no red meat) and taking probiotics religiously. So the side effects, the permanent scarring with which I'll now have to live forever, were for no reason. I really recommend others not put blind faith in whatever your doctor says; there are really some morons out there--and prednisone is a really horrible drug under the care of a moron.	M		6 months		7/4/2009
1	MS	Mania, confusion, severe hot flashes, insomnia	DO NOT TAKE PREDNISONE!!	F	31	8 days		7/3/2009
1	UC	Nervous breakdown, cystic acne and acne scars, 80lb weight gain, dried out eyes						6/30/2009
1	Allergic reaction	it made me emotionally unstable	I almost killed myself, be careful with this stuff. It's much more dangerous than most other drugs.	F	32	4 days		6/24/2009
3	Lupus, ITP	On high doses(15-60mg) - mood swings, "hot and cold" personality, depression, angered easily, sweating, photosensitivity, weight gain, bloating. On lower doses (10mg every other day- or 5 mg a day) Not too many side effects	I've been on prednisone for 5 years now. It helped my immune system from attacking itself. It does a good job in taking care of the problem, but it comes with alot of side effects. If you're able to handle the effects then this medication is for you. If not, you may want to consider the other options. (And don't even get me started on the HORRIBLE after taste that's left in your mouth after you swallow the pill! haha! You all know what i'm talking about!!!)	F	21	5 years		6/21/2009
3	Severe allergic reaction	Symptoms subsided after second day taking 40 mg. About 8 hours on second day of a 5 day prescription anger went overboard. Yelling and screaming hateful things.		M	49	2 days		6/21/2009
1	Systemic lupus	Weight gain, belly fat, stretch marks, hot flashes, severe migraines, moon face	Wouldn't take again.	F	27			6/21/2009
1				F				6/19/2009
1	UC	At first mania, impulsiveness, and insomnia. Then rage, mood swings, acne, weight gain, stretch marks, dry mouth, and eye pain.	This drug is crap, plain and simple.	F	28	3 months		6/13/2009
1	Severe allergic reaction	First it worked like a charm. Twenty minutes after the doctor gave me a shot of Prednisone my severe allergies and asthma went away completely. I felt awesome. I had TONS of energy. Then, starting the next day, taking the tablets, it was like being a psychotic person on cocaine. I couldn't sleep, or eat, my mind was racing out of control. A week on the drug and I came down with a horrible flu with high fever, chills and vomiting that took me a month to get over.	I took it for about a week and it made me emotionally and physically sick. The warnings indicate this drug suppresses your immune system rather severely. I got an incredible case of the stomach flu within a week and it took me a month to get over it. I would never take it again, unless I was dying and it was the only option left... but probably not even then since it will most likely hasten the process of dying!	F	42	7 days		6/13/2009
1	Autoimmune disorder	70lb weight gain, fast heart beat, acne, dry mouth, profuse sweating		M	25	7 months		6/9/2009
2	Kidney Disease FSGS	Ruined my body externally. Extreme Weight gain like 20-40 lbs in a matter of 1 or 2 weeks. Stretch marks all over body including arms and legs. Mood swings and irritability. Hunchback, moon face, acne on face and chest. i was taking 80 mg per day now take 10 per day went through an extreme withdrawal period with shakes.	wouldnt recommend very high dosages.	F	16	1 years		6/8/2009 Email
1	Lupus	I gained 60lbs while on this stuff!! HAIR LOSS! - and it doesn't seem to be growing back...crying all the time, really bad acne (even on my back and legs), the chills.	You have to really consider the negative effects of this drug before taking it. Weight gain isn't just superficial: being over weight is really bad for your health. I have been thin my whole life, and yet on this drug I quickly packed on 60lbs. I've tried working out, but one thing prednisone does is change the way your body stores fat, so even though I have lost some of the weight, I still have a big belly from using prednisone. Very irritating because prednisone didn't even help me and fat around your midsection is an indicator of poor health.	F	31	8 months		6/7/2009
1	Bronchitis	Weak Legs, Racing Heart, Dizzyness, Dry Mouth	Not A Good Med	M	33	10 days		6/6/2009 Email
1	Lupus	Psychosis, acne, irregular heart beat, chest pain, high blood pressure, weight gain, moon face, buffalo hump		F	4			6/5/2009
1	Crohn's disease	Very strange side effects !! Very terrible mood swings, happy one minute, wanting to die the next. I also had night sweats, insomnia, gained 30lbs in just months, insatiable appetite, lots of stretch marks, shaky hands, thin skin (like tissue paper, just like the previous comment said).	DO NOT TAKE THIS DRUG. It is absurd to me that people can whine about drugs like marijuana and not something like prednisone, which is much more dangerous, especially if your doctor doesn't know what he or she is doing--then you're screwed.	F	26	3 months		6/2/2009
4	4-Interstitial Lung disease - HP	Moon face, fluid retention/water weight gain over all body especially the torso area and feet and ankles, hsve stretch marks on torso too, skin is very thin (like tissue paper) it tears and bruises easily, have 2 camel's hump on back, get fevers, get bone chilling cold, get clamy, get day and night sweats, hair is thinner, loss of appetite, very weak muscles, have cataract in one eye, eye pressure is slightly raised in both eyes, get dizzy, have diabetes, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, broken bones take a long time to heal (broken foot took 10 mos to heal, fractured sternum took 4 mos to heal), infections take a long time to heal since I have no immune system. high cholesterol	Prednisone saved my life. I started taking it in 2002 - 10 days in a row at a time every few mos. I then took it daily starting in 2003 until present. It reduced the inflammation in my lungs and now keeps my lungs stable. I have permanent lung damage (pulm fibrosis) and will probably need to take it the rest of my life. I have tried Imuran and Cellcept while on prednisone to see if either drug could keep my lungs stable. Neither worked for me. I happy to be alive and deal with side effects as they come along.	F	54			5/25/2009
1	Ulcerative colitis	Major depression, loss of interest in everything, yellow skin, cystic acne, high blood pressure, tremors, weight gain.	Prednisone can cause serious mental illness. I had no idea a drug for a physiological health problem could do this. Doctors really have an obligation to tell patients these things. Unfortunately, for my doctors, I had scum.	M	18			5/24/2009
5	Pulmonary Fibrosis	Very dramatic change in my eye sight. Blurred vision for the last two month. Cramping in feet and hands, sweating sometimes, cold other times. Have been taking 20mg daily for last two months. Hungry sometimes and OK sometimes.	What I like about this drug is, my terrible, dry hacky coughing from IPF while trying to sleep, as subsided. Almost completely. It is worth taking to me, just for that reason. Coughing all night long and gagging is not fun.	F	67	2 months		5/23/2009 Email
1	UC	Heart palpitations, bipolar disorder (never had anything like the mood changes I had on prednisone) anxiety (severe panic attacks...racing heart, sweating), acne (not little pimples but very bad acne worse than I've seen on anyone), insomnia (and when I did sleep, I had night sweats).		M				5/19/2009
1	Autoimmune disease	Hair loss. Sexual side effects. Acne. Rage. Vision problems.		M	34	6 months		5/14/2009
3	Scaroidosis	Unable to sleep at night (usually 4 hrs total but not all at once); uncontrollable hunger - gaining weight daily; constant urination; swollen face after 4 weeks, soft finger nails, hair loss; dizzy and wobbly legs with leg and foot cramps. Mood swings and aggressiveness; blurred vision in the morning and evening hours.	I was diagnoised with scaroidosis in 2003 and had pretty much the same symptoms that I now have. The lymph nodes shrunk and I was fine until January 2009 when it returned. Presidsone does shrink the lymph nodes and I can now do simple tasks withoug being uncontollably winded. My doctor started me 60 mg for 3 weeks and was reduced to 50mg / since I was having dizzy spells and felt like I was under the influence. I am currently taking 40mg and the side effects are increasing but my breathing intake/outtake has improved and lymph nodes have reduced in swelling. I still work so its difficult to get through a day's work sometimes. I take a multi-vitamins daily and have plenty of carrot sticks/celery and other low-fat snacks with me at work so I can control the weight gain but am still gaining weight. I am very emotional do the point that I cry at the drop of hat...not certain what other side effects this will produce since I pretty much have experience all of them.	F	59	2 months		5/11/2009 Email
1	Lupus	Hallucinations - the scariest thing I've ever experienced. I was very depressed and thought about killing myself for no reason at all.						5/11/2009
1	Crohn's	Clinical depression, cystic acne, hair loss, weight gain, yellow skin, insomnia, and it didn't even work for me.		F				5/6/2009
1	CD	Hair loss, weight gain, acne, mood swings, loss of sex drive	I had no positive effects.	M	20	7 months		5/4/2009
4	RA & Crohn's Disease	Weight gain, pudgy face, dark stretch marks on my legs and dramatic mood swings.	Prednisone works well and quickly to control inflammation in both diseases, however it is not something I like being on for too long. I gained a huge amount of weight while being on it for several months and it's difficult to lose. It makes you have a never-ending appetite for everything and it makes you have serious and sometimes uncontrollable mood swings. Above all else though, the worst part is the swollen face aka "moon face".	F	26	12 times		5/2/2009
1	MS	Suicidal, very depressed, couldn't sleep, acne, sweating, heart palpitations		F				5/2/2009
4				F		1 days		5/1/2009
1	ulcerative colitis	Cystic acne that left scars and damaged skin. Clinical depression (having scars from cystic acne and ruined, damaged skin probably contributes a lot to this remaining even after I stopped prednisone but I was clinically depressed even before it had ruined my skin.) Hair loss. Stretch Marks. Insomnia. Heart palpitations. Anxiety. Moonface. High blood pressure. Red eyes--it dried out my eyes and I can't wear contacts because my eyes are too dry now. Weight gain.	My doctor at the time, Bushra Sulieman, had told me this drug was completely safe. He never told me about its side effects. When I experienced side effects, he brushed them off and said not to do anything; they'd go away on their own. Well, that was really horrible medical advice. That made the effects permanent. Prednisone can be horrible, but I think under the care of a competent doctor--or at least someone who's not a moron--it would not have been so bad for me. What's more, the effects would not have been permanent. I had a bad doctor and now I have permanent side effects from him--and this horrible drug he gave me in high doses.	F	17			4/27/2009
1	to prevent allergic reaction	u guys.....scaring me.....i am a cancer survivor and oh so sensitive to any medication. the docs want me to take 40 mg of prednisone 12 hours before an MRI with contrast and then again 40 mg 2 hours before the MRI. It is to prevent an allergic reaction to the contrast they use.......tempted not to have the MRI, don't want to take the prednisone, maybe i will take benadryll instead, right before the MRI. The docs always say...." oh the side effects are mild if any,you won't even notice" b.sh......t I know for a fact this not to be true. I have survived cancer and chemo and radiation and on and on......so " no to prednisone " says I.....		F	50	2 days		4/25/2009
3	Possible RA, possible lupus	Could sleep, as my mind kept me awake at night. Very productive during the day, but with only 5 hours of sleep a night, I can't continue on this. Also had some heartburn, but that was controllable with antacids as needed.	Starting taking prednisone 2 days after starting Celebrex, so it's hard to be sure the side effects were from the prednisone, but I didn't have any side effects for the 2 days I was on the Celebrex alone. Haven't really seen any improvement in my joint pain or stiffness from the prednisone.	F	51	8 days		4/22/2009
1	Systemic lupus	Cystic acne, weight gain, hair loss, depression, tremors, elevated blood pressure, elevated blood sugar, anxiety, insomnia, moon face, buffalo hump, extreme fatigue, dry skin, dry eyes, mood swings, rage, euphoria.						4/22/2009
1	UC	Suicide attempts, constant thoughts of suicide, severe depression, cystic acne, moon face, buffalo hump, memory problems, weight gain, stretch marks, no sex drive, insomnia, tremors, heart palpitations, profuse sweating, night sweats.	I was a completely normal person before taking this drug and had no history of mental illness and was a good student. Prednisone changed all of that. In addition, it did not help my ulcerative colitis. Even if it did I would not have taken it had I known it was so dangerous.	F	19			4/18/2009
4	Severe Bacterial Infection	Tummy bloating, blurred vision, a small bit of diarrhea, desire to clean.	20mg Given the severity of my infection, the side effects were nothing. I was also on a whole slew of other medications. My back hurt considerably less while I was on it too.	F	31	14 days		4/7/2009
1	injurys	visual halluncinations,auditory hallunciations,tactile hallunications total psychotic reaction requireing time in mental ward. suicidal, multiple occurances until I figured it out. I now have a twenty year mental heath history because of a stupid drug allergy, imagine being half naked in the snow with a sword all night I could have hurt some one.	never take this drug orally or injected. I got hurt, got treated , went crazy, got referred to mental health, got treated with more drugs, got hurt, went crazy, over and over for twenty years	M	54			4/7/2009 Email
1	Minimal change disease	Weight gain,moon face,change of body shape, jittery,mood swings,severe stomach erosion,initially sleeplessness eventually extreme fatigue.	I was dx with MCD,what I actually had was FSGS which is scarring of the kidney filters not thinning. Prednisone has little impact on fsgs. I was on 75 mg daily for over six months and a weaning dose for another three months. It set off auto-immune poly arthritis. Initially I was put back on 15mg daily of pred and sulphasalazine. I had serious bowel problems and now am on methotrexate. They have all been crappy drugs but pred was the most invasive.	M	59	9 months		4/5/2009
3	angioedema/allergies/sinus	I feel very jittery and hyper and can't relax. A bit of mania. Some nauesa.	I had an allergic reaction that cause angioedema and I ended up in emerg as my face swelled up and I looked like an alien/elephant. It was very red, inflamed and itchy. I've been taking prednisone 5mg for the first 2 days, then 2.5mg for 4 days. Today I don't take any. I had an incredible hunger yesterday and couldn't stop eating. I also have a sinus infection and am taking antibiotics. And I"m taking reactine and bendaryl. The swelling has come down but I don't know if its from prednisone or the other allergy pills, probably both. The doctor suggested predisone and I jumped at it because my face was so disfigured. I wouldnt take predisone long term unless I absolulately had to as I'm too high strung.	F	33	6 days		4/3/2009 Email
1	Dr. said	Severe panic attacks, heart palpitations, fuzzy thinking, depression, racing thoughts, rage, acne, high blood pressure, infections, bruises, couldn't sleep, was always hungry, gained 50lbs	By far the worst drug I've ever took.	M				4/2/2009
5	joint pain/ra	I am very gassy.		F	46	1.5 months		4/1/2009
3								3/31/2009
5	Sudden hearing loss	Sweaty forhead, night sweating, extra energy, higher blood pressure(?), almost like an amphetamine, increased appetite, but no weight gain, less mucus/chest congestion, perhaps some slight dyslexia too, seemed to type dyslexic sometimes (?!), very powerful drug	Have auto-immune something (Anklyosing Spondalitis?), have use topical drops in eyes for Iritis bouts (~8)previously, however sudden hearing loss resulted in 40mg pills with 3 week taper...The stuff worked, hearing is returning, now 1wk off meds with little side effects, BUT, the stuff helped the AS too!!! never felt better in the last 25 yrs!!, now off meds, AS sympoms back, but ear seems to be on the mend. GREAT stuff, BUT beware of long-term effects. This will come back to bite you, use only when really needed and it's a miracle drug...have the feeling that I will need it again someday, but I would rather take this than the myriad of other NSAIDs that have rotted the rest of my body in the past.	M	49	14 days		3/22/2009
1	rhabdomyolysis treatment	Everthing bad!! killed my sex drive, made me completely stupid. stopped my ability to think rationally		M	15	7 days		3/20/2009

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Average rating for drug: 2.4. This page is printer-friendly; use landscape print with background color turned on.

Key to ratings: 5-Very Satisfied: this medicine cured me or helped me a great deal. 4-Satisfied: this medicine helped. 3-Somewhat Satisfied: this medicine helped somewhat. 2-Not Satisfied: this medicine did not work to my satisfaction. 1-Dissatisfied: I would not recommend taking this medicine.

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