Prednisolone tablets and liquid: steroid medicine
For example, some manufacturers may recommend, in the patient information leaflet, that a medicine is not given to children aged under 12 years. Steroids affect your child’s immune system, so they shouldn’t have any ‘live’ vaccines if they’re receiving a high dose of injected or oral globalsportone.com steroids. But it’s important they’re up to date with other vaccines beforehand to avoid catching one of the diseases that vaccination prevents. If you need to take medication for diabetes with corticosteroids, your blood glucose levels will usually need to be checked more regularly.
- There aren’t usually any severe side effects if you take steroid injections, a steroid inhaler, or a short course of steroid tablets.
- You may notice mood changes and mental health problems while taking prednisolone.
- A list of questions and answers for patients on the safety of corticosteroids is available on the MHRA website.
- For COPD, steroid inhalers are most useful for people whose condition has asthma-like features, like a history of allergies, or when you have both COPD and asthma together.
- Some people with COPD are given a short course of steroid tablets to keep at home, as part of their flare-up rescue pack, but you must have clear instructions about when and how to use them.
- Always get your medicines reviewed regularly so your doctor can make sure you’re on the right dose for you.
If your child hasn’t had chicken pox, and is in direct contact with a child who has chicken pox, or develops it within 48 hours, contact the hospital immediately. We’ll arrange for a blood test to check your child’s antibodies to chicken pox and your child may need an injection to protect them, but your doctor or nurse will talk through this with you. There’s some evidence that steroid inhalers used by people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) can increase the risk of chest infections like pneumonia.
Diabetes medication
Of the tweets analysed, 1,737 mentioned insomnia, 1,656 mentioned weight gain, 1,576 mentioned non-specific reactions such as ‘I hate Prednisolone’, and 1,515 reported increased appetite. If you’re using a steroid inhaler these medicines act directly on the airways, and generally have very few side effects. Any problems like a sore mouth, for example, can be prevented by using a spacer with your inhaler, if that’s possible.
“We believe social media such as Twitter can be used to broaden knowledge about drugs and potential side-effects that patients themselves find troublesome. You may need a one-off, short course to help you treat a flare-up or an asthma attack. This is important for your recovery, and unlikely to cause harmful side effects.
What monitoring might I need while taking prednisolone?
It depends on the dose you’re taking, how long you take it for and any conditions you have that might make you more susceptible to problems. The HIV medication may increase the level of corticosteroid in your body. Corticosteroids can sometimes interact with a type of medication known as protease inhibitors (like ritonavir). If you want to check that your medicines are safe to take with your medication, ask your Pharmacist or GP.
Side effects of prednisolone tablets and liquid
Others, such as getting a rounder face, happen after weeks or months. If you have been taking prednisolone for more than a few weeks, check with your doctor before stopping it suddenly to reduce your chances of withdrawal side effects. The higher the dose of prednisolone that you take and the longer you take it for, the greater the chance of side effects.
Side effects of steroid inhalers
If a woman needs to take steroid tablets whilst she is breastfeeding, prednisolone is usually recommended. Steroid injections, inhalers and sprays aren’t thought to pose a risk to babies being breastfed. This is a card which lets healthcare professionals and emergency workers know you are prescribed a steroid and has the details of your medicine and dose. Around 20,000 of the tweets also mentioned a suspected side-effect.
Steroid tablets
Steroids are really important in these cases to treat the inflammation in your lungs, and get you well again. There aren’t usually any severe side effects if you take steroid injections, a steroid inhaler, or a short course of steroid tablets. However, prolonged treatment at high doses can cause problems in some people.
Your dose may need to be reduced slowly over a few weeks or months. If you’ve been taking corticosteroids for a while, you may also need tests before you stop taking them. These will make sure that your adrenal glands are still working properly. In these situations, you will only be prescribed oral corticosteroids if the benefits of treatment outweigh any potential risks.
Steroid cards
Psychiatric side-effects can occur with all systemic steroids. A recent case report of the suicide of a 16-year-old has highlighted the need to consider these common reactions and warn patients and their carers about the risks. Call or WhatsApp our Helpline for support with your condition. Get advice on your medicines, symptoms or travelling with a lung condition, or just call us to say hello.
Steroids are taken by mouth, either as tablets or soluble tablets. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are a group of commonly used painkillers. Steroids that are injected into muscles and joints may cause some pain and swelling at the site of the injection. They’ll be able to explain the benefits and risks of giving your child prednisolone.