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Side Effects of Prednizone

Please help me!

I suffer badly from allergies and my allergy Dr. has prescribed me to take the medicine known as Prednisone(20mg). Don't get me wrong the medicine works great, but the only thing is that I think I have gained about 30lbs. from it. I need to know if there is something else I can take that can counteract the weight problem, without reversing the effects of the medicine. The type of allergies I suffer from are Rhinitis and Angioedema.

Thanks for asking about prednisone therapy for angioedema and allergic rhinitis.

Angioedema is a disease in which both the small blood vessels become leaky and the allergy chemicals somehow produce swellings below the skin.

Prednisone causes a constriction of these smaller blood vessels and thus stops the leak and the swelling. Prednisone also is anti-inflammatory. Therefore, it reduces the swellings that occur in the tissues below the skin.

The amount and duration of prednisone treatment depends upon the degree of the swelling in your body. Your Allergy Specialist will determine the dose and the timing of your steroid treatments. Hopefully, you will be able to find out the exact cause of your swelling/angioedema so that you can prevent it from occurring again. Occasionally angioedema causes a life threatening closure of the throat, so you may wish to ask if you need to carry with you an adrenaline kit [Epi-Pen].

The side effect of appetite stimulation is real, and fortunately if you need prednisone for only several days to several weeks, the weight comes off fairly quickly.

Hope this info is useful to you.
Good luck.

Steve Kagen, M.D.
Allernet.com