Prednisone

The need-to-know information for Prednisone

Prednisone

Pearls and Fun Nuggets

1. Prednisone must be converted to prednisolone by the liver before it becomes active 🏃 Prednisolone then binds to glucocorticoid receptors, activating them and triggering changes in gene expression.[3]

2. Your body can become dependent on prednisone 😐Adrenal suppression will begin to occur if prednisone is taken for longer than seven days. Eventually, this may cause the body to temporarily lose the ability to manufacture natural corticosteroids (especially cortisol), which results in dependence on prednisone. For this reason, prednisone should not be abruptly stopped if taken for more than seven days; instead, the dosage should be gradually reduced.

3. Prednisone was created in 1955 📜 The first commercially feasible synthesis of prednisone was carried out in 1955 in the laboratories of Schering Corporation, which later became Schering-Plough Corporation, by Arthur Nobile and coworkers.[41] .  They discovered that cortisone could be microbiologically oxidized to prednisone by the bacterium Corynebacterium simplex. The same process was used to prepare prednisolone from hydrocortisone.[42]

4. Steroids can cause a lot of side effects 😕 Short-term side effects, as with all glucocorticoids, include high blood glucose levels (especially in patients with diabetes mellitus or on other medications that increase blood glucose, such as tacrolimus) and mineralocorticoid effects such as fluid retention.[22]

5. Prednisone is used as an antitumor drug 💊 It is important in the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphomas, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and other hormone-sensitive tumors, in combination with other anticancer drugs.

Patient Perspectives

“I got poison Ivy or oak or sumac on my neck, very bad. Blistering, oozing, red, swollen and I had a pocket of water underneath my skin. Went to the doctor, prescribed me hydrocortizone cream. 1 week later my forearms started to itch very badly and the next day I had 90% of my body covered in itchy, red, swollen rashes went back to the doctor : it got into my bloodstream so ; systemic poison ivy. My life was in danger ! Got the prednisone pills for 5 days at 50mg and another 5 days at 25mg…. It was amazing how it helped me. Itsaved my life and weeks of suffering and turning into a bad infection… ! I respect this plant now more than ever lol”

 

“I got a terrible rash from being exposed to poison ivy. It was all over. The prednisone was a terrifically fast cure. However, I experienced terrible side effects: increased sweating, shakiness, mood swings (my poor boyfriend) and weight gain. “

 

“I am a teenager who got poison ivy rash all over my face. Went to the doctor and got prescribed this. Took as instructed, and the next day, 85% of the rash was gone and most of the itching. Never seen medicine actually work in a few hours like this!”

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