If you’ve ever taken prednisone, you might agree with me that it’s kind of a love-hate relationship.
Prednisone isn’t supposed to be a long-term maintenance medication, and for good reason! While it can help reduce the severity of flares, it can also present a good handful of intense side effects. In this post, I share the top seven side effects that impacted my daily life, and some ways I helped manage them.
7 Prednisone Side Effects and How I Dealt with Them
When I first started prednisone in September 2014, it was basically a miracle drug for me. It helped take me out of my first flare and significantly reduced my pain. (I was on 60 milligrams per day at the time!)
However, after about a month of taking 60 mg a day (which is a lot!) I began to experience some negative physical and emotional side effects.
The best way for me to describe it is that it felt as if my body was morphing into a different body. I started to feel like I was living in somebody else’s body.
1. Mood Changes
Prednisone is tough because it really plays with the chemicals in your brain. In addition to already being emotional over my changing body and trying to accept this my chronic illness, the drug heightened every single one of my emotions.
I remember, one day in my university apartment that I just broke down for no reason. My roommate just stared at me, wondering what to do and where the waterworks came from. Though they came from nowhere, the emotions were very real. I felt distraught, distressed, in need of a good cry.
Solution: I highly suggest finding and strengthening your support system. Having friends and family there for you, simply to hug you and talk with you, makes a world of difference when sifting through extreme emotions caused my prednisone’s chemical side effects.
2. Moon Face
No, I didn’t make up this name 🙂 Moon face it is one of those side effects that’s basically unavoidable 🙁 Since prednisone is a steroid, it specializes in affecting hormones which can cause imbalances.
This disproportion causes both sodium and water retention, particularly around the face and neck. It stored all this water in my cheeks as if I were a chipmunk storing water inside myself for a summer drought.
Solution: I found myself watching YouTube videos, teaching myself to contour. I wore much more makeup than usual—brown blush in particular—to accentuate what was left of my cheekbones. Other than this, the only thing I could do was learn to accept that my cheeks would be puffy for some time.
3. Hunger Cravings
Prednisone made me RAVENOUS. Seriously. I’d eat a large dinner and wake up in the middle of the night from a growling stomach. Then, I’d wake up in the morning and eat a freakin’ English breakfast.
Solution: Take advantage of your hunger by filling up on fruits, veggies, and other food groups that you and your doctor decide are beneficial for your specific case. Also, keep snacks at your bedside!
Pro-Tip: Try Trader Joe’s Everything But the Bagel Sesame Seasoning Blend on your veggies before cooking them!
4. Weight Gain
Prednisone ramped up my appetite. I was a non-stop eating machine, which was definitely a contributor to the weight gain, in addition to all the sodium and water retention.
Side note: my body type is ectomorph, meaning it’s difficult for me to gain weight—both fat and muscle. But when I was on prednisone, gaining weight was the easiest thing. I gained around twenty pounds. I could no longer fit into some of my jeans. For some pants, I had to wear a belt on the loosest hole simply to cover up my unbuttoned button!
Solution: It is suggested to limit your sodium intake and increase your potassium intake while on prednisone. This can help ensure you get the right level of nutrients while on this sodium-retaining drug. Also, chat with your medical team about a safe workout regimen.
5. Acne
Ugh. I thought acne was a thing of my high-school past! Nope. Prednisone brought all the acne back, turned my skin red, and displayed it all with pride on my puffy face. Prednisone causes chemical and hormonal changes and affects the oils of your glands, which can increase your body temperature, causing heat waves and night sweats, and thus, spreading sweat and oil.
Solution: I regularly used a morning sugar scrub to wake up my skin and wash away any sweat from overheating, and an oil-free acne scrub in the evening to cleanse all dirt and impurities. Though it did not make my acne disappear, it seemed to prevent it from getting worse. These items worked for me, but you may have to experiment to find what brand and ingredients work best for your skin type.
6. Greasy Hair
Just like the acne, my increased body temperature made my hair constantly greasy. It didn’t matter if I washed it every other day, every day, or twice in one day, it literally looked like my hair was wet 24/7.
Like, it looked like I stepped out of the shower without drying my hair.
I tried wearing it down but it cascaded greasily around my face.
I tried wearing it in a bun and ponytail, but its wiry texture made it look like I had gelled it back.
Not my best look.
Solution: Baby powder and/or dry shampoo! For me, baby powder seems to work more effectively than dry shampoo. I’ve read that you can even mix cocoa powder with the baby powder to make it darker so it blends easier with darker hair colors. Of course, you can wear hats and beanies too!
7. Body Tenderness
I’m not exactly sure what causes this, but I feel this deep soreness deep in my muscles every time I’m on prednisone. I like to describe it as if a meat tenderizer had mashed my muscles, as if I had just maxed out with some high-level weight lifting. It was all over my body, but the most affected places were my back, neck, upper arms, and down my sides. Simply hugging someone or pressing my finger into my skin caused pain.
Solution: I picked up an inexpensive muscle rub. I found a pain-relieving cream that gets warm and feels sooo nice on those aching muscles.
How Long Does it Take for Prednisone Side Effects to go Away?
This experience with prednisone definitely wasn’t enjoyable, but it did what it said it would do.
Lowered my pain, reduced my bowel’s urgency (with the exception of one comical misadventure!) and proved to be an effective short-term drug. It was a big part of my life from September 2014 – February 2015.
By the way, check out this post to view the other short-term drugs I tried!
But, prednisone doesn’t leave your system quickly. It can stubbornly take several months for its side effects to entirely go away after you’re finished taking it.
I stopped taking it in February 2015 and in April I only just started to see my cheekbones.
I was eager to say goodbye and good riddance to those prednisone-induced emotional breakdowns, unattractive gel-like hairdos, and chipmunk cheeks.
Welcome back, cheekbones!
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Just wanted to say thank you for writing this! Made me feel less alone. It’s been a hard drug to take. I’m off it soon (thank god) but I found your blog because I was googling symptoms. Thank you for sharing your experience!