HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Pred withdrawal symptoms suddenly re-emerged!!

Support Forums
>
Ulcerative Colitis
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 2/15/2019 4:19 PM (GMT -5)
Hi all

This is a new for me and I thought I had seen it all with Pred.

I came off steroids last autumn and went through the usual withdrawal. And then things subsided. My moonface diminished, though didn't completely go away. Same for the belly.

Now, suddenly, my face has slightly swollen up again and the acne has returned. Its like I am going back in time and I am coming off Pred all over again. It is really strange. Has anyone else experienced this? I have been fine for months and now suddenly this. How can it be?

I honestly thought I was out of the woods. I had my AM cortisol checked, was fine. Aches and pains subsided, etc. And now this. I have a huge painful spot on my nose too, typical of when I was first coming off pred last year. Sigh,
And some acne on my chest has returned as well. Which was clear for months,

Don't know what is going on. ...
Posted 2/15/2019 5:49 PM (GMT -5)
are you female? Those are typical symptoms for me when I am around that time of the month, not necessarily the bloated face, but the others. Thought salt intake or water retention could cause a rounder face - even certain foods.
Posted 2/15/2019 10:55 PM (GMT 0)
it is very unlikely this is pred taper related. do not let similarity of symptoms confound things.

most people get moonface for being on pred - not from tapering. Some of the aches can be from tapering.

But it is implausible that a drug out of you system for months can suddenly affect your body chemistry.

I would seek diagnosis for the face swelling.
Posted 2/15/2019 8:10 PM (GMT -5)
Maybe allergic reaction for something you ate or new medication.
Posted 2/15/2019 10:54 PM (GMT -5)
I agree with others -- I doubt it's the pred. What do your doctors think?
Posted 2/16/2019 5:04 AM (GMT -5)
Thanks for the replies. I am male, Notsosickly, so I think we can rule out time of the month, lol. I havent spoken to the Doctors yet, as its only in the last few days that this happened. I havent started any new meds or changed my diet. So, its a bit of a mystery. I think my face looking more swollen could be my imagination, I am not sure.

I will see if the acne improves over the coming week but the fact that it has appeared in exactly the same areas as in my pred taper is very strange.
Posted 2/16/2019 12:24 PM (GMT -5)
I had acne too while I was on prednisone, specially face, back and chest. After stopping prednisone all gone except specific spot on my chest, keeps coming back( It’s now more like eczema)
Some side effects need more time to disappear, even if you stopped the prednisone.

Post Edited (The_Swan) : 2/16/2019 11:10:57 AM (GMT-7)

Posted 2/16/2019 2:10 PM (GMT -5)
again, the acne appear because of the pred, not really because of the taper.

both swelling and acne can be related to hormones. pred messes with those. but you could be developing some hormone related issues unrelated to pred.
Posted 2/17/2019 8:44 AM (GMT -5)
OP, it's unrelated to pred. Something else is going on. An allergic reaction, a hormonal thing, etc. Any new supplements lately, weight lifting, etc?
Posted 2/17/2019 9:06 AM (GMT -5)
No, I havent started anything and havent done any weights in a long time. My moonface never quite went away, maybe my body is still getting rid of the pred from my system. I was on it for 2 years (with periods of enormous doses)
Posted 2/18/2019 8:31 AM (GMT -5)

barnsbury said...
I came off steroids last autumn and went through the usual withdrawal...Now, suddenly, my face has slightly swollen up again and the acne has returned. Its like I am going back in time and I am coming off Pred all over again. It is really strange. Has anyone else experienced this? I have been fine for months and now suddenly this. How can it be?

The elimination half life of prednisone is around 3 to 4 hours. This is the time it takes for your body to reduce the plasma levels by half.

It usually takes around 5.5 half lives for a drug to be completely eliminated from your system.

With that in mind you could expect a dose or prednisone to be out of your system 16.5 to 22 hours later.

Other factors also need to be taken into account and include:

1. How much and how often you have taken the drug.

2. Your metabolic rate – a slower metabolism will increase the time a drug remains in your system.

3. Your age and health – older age and poor health will generally increase the time the drug stays in your system.

4. Body mass – generally the bigger you are the longer a drug will remain in your system.

Hope this is of help.

https://www.drugs.com/answers/prednisone-how-long-does-it-take-predesone-to-get-372449.html

See: https://www.drugs.com/ppa/prednisone.html
Posted 2/18/2019 10:10 AM (GMT -5)
all of the above factors vary the hours (maybe days) not the months. the speculation you make about some connection to pred or to the taper would need a mechanism.

Two possibilities might include: 1) some systemic/enduring change to endocrine system while on pred, 2) some secondary storage of the drug in a body compartment such as fat tissue, bone mass ... etc - anything stored in some other compartment other than blood, could have subsequent release if you lost weight or absorbed bone. But this is very unlikely.

The most logical thing is something else messing with your hormones. Find that. Fix that.
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply