Question 1

can you take prednisone long term for bad knees?

Accepted Answer

Not ideal: But the circumstances will dictate the answer. Long term side effects are the limiting factors and are serious. Usually needed for connective tissue/rheumatologic disorders. Many other options are out there & should be tried. May be able to try a few joint steroid injection yearly to minimize systemic side effects seen much more frequently from oral formulations.

Question 2

can you get live vaccines while taking 5 mg prednisone long term if not what dose can you? or do you have to be completely off of prednisone and if so how long before i can get live vaccines?

Accepted Answer

: The issue is whether that longterm small dose of prednisone has made you immunosupressed. If it has, live vaccines are not recommended for you. However, 5 mgs of prednisone may not really a major be a major suppressant of our adrenal glands&amp; bone marrow. Nevertheless I'd avoid live vaccines or even taking probiotics. Why take a chance? Infectious disease specialists could advise you best.

Question 3

does taking prednisone long term cause dry eyes? ta i ing 15 mg daily for polymyalgia. can find answer on internet?

Accepted Answer

: I would look to other meds like simple antihistamines as a more likely trigger. Some of us develop dry eyes as a result of our longer experience in life.

Question 4

why is it so hard to come off of prednisone after long term use?

Accepted Answer

adrenal suppression: Oral Prednisone increases the vascular level of prednisone, which causes the biofeedback system of the human body to shut the adrenal output of steroid down. If you stop the oral steroids abruptly, you will suffer from low steroid level, called addisonian crisis. So, to get off oral steroids, you must be weaned slowly from that drug. Good luck.

Question 5

what are the symptoms that indicate your body is not producing enough cortisol. i have just tapered off of prednisone after long term use.

Accepted Answer

Tiredness.  Fatigue: I don't know why you were taking prednisone. One of the symptoms would be tiredness and fatigue.

Question 6

is a low done of prednisone okay to take long term?

Accepted Answer

Depends on the dose: Generally a long-term dose of up to 7.5 mg per day is thought to minimize the risk of side effects. However, most rheumatologists prefer to maintain patients on the lowest dose possible, and ideally to discontinue Prednisone when other dmard medications (such as Methotrexate in rheumatoid arthritis or mycophenolate in lupus) are keeping the inflammatory disease under control.

Question 7

what is the effects on ligaments and tendons from long term prednisone?

Accepted Answer

Rupture: If injected directly upon. Orally little if any effect, but not so on bones.

Question 8

does long term prednisone use lower testosterone? and if so, will it rise back to normal levels after tapering off?

Accepted Answer

Maybe . . .: While Prednisone is a corticosteroid, unlike testosterone which is an anabolic steroid, at least one study suggests that taking Prednisone may be linked to lower testosterone levels. Check out http://www.Ncbi.Nlm.Nih.Gov/pubmed/7983641.

Question 9

can i take probiotics while on long term prednisone for pmr? started to taper down to 7 mg daily. what about greek yougurt as i read labels and it also says it has live cultures? get conflicting answers from internet. help?

Accepted Answer

: If you are significantly immunocompromised from chronic prednisone therapy, taking probiotics, in my opinion, is not recommended. Of course, this advice pertains to taking more than 5 or 7.5 mgs of prednisone daily. Your physician is best to advise you,though.

Question 10

is it safe to get prevenar 20 vaccine while taking long term prednisone for polymyalgia. i have been taking 5 months started at 15mg. have been weaning down per doctor on 7.5 mg for 3 weeks than 7 for 3 weeks. and continue to go down 1 mg?

Accepted Answer

: I would wait for a month after completing the wean and then get the vaccine. You could take it earlier with less long term benefit, but this delay would make it more likely you would get the most benefit out of the shot. In theory you could take it now and get it again in 6 months, which would boost any early benefit, however, I don't think insurers would cover it that way.

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Doctor answers about:

Prednisone long term

A member asked:

Can you take prednisone long term for bad knees?

A member asked:

Can you get live vaccines while taking 5 mg prednisone long term if not what dose can you? or do you have to be completely off of prednisone and if so how long before i can get live vaccines?

A member asked:

Does taking prednisone long term cause dry eyes? ta i ing 15 mg daily for polymyalgia. can find answer on internet?

A member asked:

Why is it so hard to come off of prednisone after long term use?

A member asked:

What are the symptoms that indicate your body is not producing enough cortisol. i have just tapered off of prednisone after long term use.

A member asked:

Is a low done of prednisone okay to take long term?

A member asked:

What is the effects on ligaments and tendons from long term prednisone?

A member asked:

Does long term prednisone use lower testosterone? and if so, will it rise back to normal levels after tapering off?

A member asked:

Can i take probiotics while on long term prednisone for pmr? started to taper down to 7 mg daily. what about greek yougurt as i read labels and it also says it has live cultures? get conflicting answers from internet. help?

A member asked:

Is it safe to get prevenar 20 vaccine while taking long term prednisone for polymyalgia. i have been taking 5 months started at 15mg. have been weaning down per doctor on 7.5 mg for 3 weeks than 7 for 3 weeks. and continue to go down 1 mg?

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