http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prednisone

Adrenal suppression occurs if prednisone is taken for longer than 7 days, a condition which means the body is unable to synthesise natural corticosteroids and becomes dependent on the prednisone taken by the patient. For this reason, prednisone should not be stopped abruptly if taken for longer than seven days, but needs to be reduced slowly; this reduction may be over a few days if the course of prednisolone was short, but may take weeks or months if the patient has been on long-term treatment. Abrupt withdrawal will lead to an Addisonian crisis, which may be life-threatening.

All endocrine hormones are involved with a similar feedback loop.
This is how our bodies are.

Here is a link explaining feedback:
http://www.vivo.colostate.edu/hbooks...s/control.html

This one has pictures to help understand:
http://www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/...ookENDOCR.html
your prednisone is part of the "steroid" glucocorticoid system.

I've been on Prednisone for years....it's been a life-saver for me as well as something that will possibly shorten my life.
I take 7mg daily. If I take more, it causes symptoms I'm not willing to live with.
If I take less....I am miserable!
I have numerous health issues:
Fibromyalgia hit me like a ton of bricks Jan 1990 totally disabeling me.
1995 I had a head on collison with a drunk...he won! My brand new car towed away on a dolly.
This added more to my pain and suffering.
Later diagnosed with Crohns disease with having to have 2 bowel resections. I have a partial bowel obstruction that neads to be dealt with soon possibly from scar tissue and or more diseased intestines.
They said they didn't take all the diseased sections hoping it would get better.

The Crohns disease causes auto immune arthritis, diagnosed as inflammitory arthritis process.
So this causes me joint pain, bursitis on top of the muscle pain from the FM.

2001 I had a simple gall bladder surgery, but woke up from surgery in more pain than prior to surgery. It felt like a knife sticking in my side, sometimes way too painful and sometimes over the top with pain. I was told it was just because of surgery,would be better soon. 6 months later I still hurt,still feeling like a knife in my side. Numerous investigations by top Gastro docs and an explority surgery by a leading Bile duct specialist, the conclusion was a damaged nerve.....pain management suggested. I woke up during a procudure struggling and screaming on the table when they touched the spot that continues to hurt to this day.
All I can do is "live" with this. There is no way out of this....it has become part of me now, but still hard to handle some days.

Shortly after this began a 2 1/2 year bout with severe anemia... 5.1 hemagb being the lowest, all due to an arterioveinous malformation (basically an anuerism) in my upper small intestine.
When I went to the ER from dizzyness and short of breath the ER doc said it was just a panic attack. I had no history of this except once as a child after being kidnapped and raped.
The doc refused to draw any blood, and walked out of that ER with a hemaglobin of 5.1..wow!
I fell asleep driving my car with my grandkids. Taken to a different ER they took immediate action.
I had numerous blood transfusions and lived a virtual nightmare during this time. So every few weeks I'd have 2 units of blood.
During this time...if matters could get any worse....I was a victim of Idenity theft. Another nightmare causing us the biggest financial headache you could imagine. It took 2 years to get our perfect credit back in order. She spent over $25,000 from my checking, purchased a car using my stolen Visa and stalked me. Oregon cops refused to take the car as stolen because it wasn't!
Meth users are scarey. It was her 13 Felony conviction for which she got 2 years PROBATION!
Hey...anyone wanting to commit crimes, come to Oregon and get Judge Low....aka' let'em'go~!

Fortunatly or some may say unfortunatley...I swallowed that camera pill. But because of the Neuropathy my digestion comes to a halt. It decided that would be the day and the camera sat in my stomach till the battery died. But it never came out in the toilet as promised. X-ray showed it lodged in my small intestines. Surgery only solution. Opened up they found 3 feet of very diseased intestines from the Crohns. Luckily I had a very skilled surgeon who refused to believe the source of my bleeding was from that section. So he spent an hour going through every inch of my intestines taking all sorts of risk. God was in the surgery room for sure guiding his hand. He found a very large...baseball sized AVM bleeding away! He took that section out too.
So with 2 sections of intestines missing...17 days in the hospital with a few complications I was ready for a new life!

But sadly, after the bowel surgeries I was NEVER advised about B12.
I began having severe muscle weakness and worsening fatigue.
First blamed on Fibro flare...then diagnosed as Polymyositis, then later told "I dunno!". I began having problems with my balance, then had to use a granny walker just to walk 2 steps.
My thyroid shut down completly...then diagnosed with auto immune Hashi Motos.They thought this may be the cause of muscle weakness, fatigue, hair falling out and non stop sleeping.

My lips felt burned as if I'd put chili peppers on them.
I then began having muscle twitching, then Peripheral neuropathy sock glove pattern and well into my intestinal area.
I saw hords of Neurologist, eyebrows raised, eyes rolled.
I'd always walk out in tears vowing to either find someone to help me of end my life.
When my fatigue over took me and I was totally bedridden....not being able to even drive or walk down stairs to my kitchen I was sent to the Oregon Health Science Hospital to see if they could find the cause of all my symptoms. I was sent to the ALS center to begin this process.
So for several months I was thinking I really did have the deadly Lou Gerhigs disease.
My family totally abandonded me....gosh...what does 40 mg of Prednisone and 40 mg of Oxcycontin do to your mind? But my two sisters who both hold doctorate degrees....one animal med...Professor at the Univeristy here in Oregon...the other a Psychologist....with all thier smarts cannot figure this out! Heartless and sad....but my councelor who has helped me through this nightmare has finally convinced me they are the ones who need help.
Back to that ugly summer....I began sinking into deep depression...on top of no sleep from the Prednisone, the pain and feeling total rejection from my family the only solution was to end my life.
I sat on the bed for several hours with a gun in my hand. I was too chicken to pull the trigger. But my life was a nightmare and I wanted it to end. I was overwhelmed with thinking of what may be wrong with me....the effects of the Prednisone causing mental problems on top of all this.
Life was too much for me to handle...and I was raging mad at God...how could He let this happen to me....I'd had enough sadness as a child and teenager and now this. And after reading about ALS...no way would I be brave enough to let my life end that way.
I just couldnt go on like this any longer. I was in too much pain and I was suffering greatly.
Too fatigued to deal with anything. I didnt tell anyone about this and went to bed hoping my body would just quietly slip away.
I was told my vitamin levels were fine...yeah....B12 was 235...oh yeah!
And yes, I had PN moderate case, take more drugs, shut up and be glad you dont have ALS or MS. But that didnt fix me!
Another few months of being totally bedridden my husband got me a lap top. I fumbled through web site trying to find the cause of my worsening PN.
Thats when I logged onto BT and was advised about B12. Within 10 days of taking it my life started turning around. I began actually living.
No one told me that the Metho Trexate, Rhemicade, anemia, missing small bowel, constant diarreah, Nitrous Oxide (gas used during surgery) just to name a few causes your body to be stripped of B12. Well...DUH! Where was Rose when you need her! On BT helping others!
Back to the Prednisone.
I began taking much less....then weaned down to 10mg a day.
Then down to 5mg and then my joints began firing up like old times.
The trigger point injections did little to help other than quiet down the bursitis. I could no longer sleep through the painful joint fire, so I took 7mg of Prednisone. This was the majic dose for me. My joint pain is now more managable and I can sleep through it....any less and it's just too painful.
But is it shortening my life....probably. But then what quality of life would I have if I couldnt sleep through the pain. The Fibro muscle pain is enough for one person...then add the other maladies I must endure and its just too much. So I'm going for quality....not quantity!
I still suffer bouts of fatigue, pain, depression and lots of heart aches from loss of a what should be loving family.
But now at least I can function somewhat normal...gosh...though...doesn't John Lester realize how important Brain Talk web site is and how its saved at least one life if not many more? I am a perfect example...too bad the numerous stupid Neurologist didnt figure out my problems WERE from a vitamin deficiency just like I ask if it could be but was emphatically told no!
But I know there's lots of stupid PhD's out there, but thankfully only a few.
And thankfully there was Braintalk.org back then when I was in need.
I wish I was wealthy...money CAN buy happiness! I'd have BT up in a heartbeat.
I know we each could afford $1 a year....what if we all pitched in just $1.
If there are 40,000 of us....that could run BT for a year, couldnt it?
Blessings, Cheryl aka Crytears on old BT
My intials are CRY....I know my story is long...and mostly ubeleivable...but what I wrote is 100% honest to Gods truth. What I've written is only a little of my sad life...there's lots more.
PS...I've learned that Prednisone can cause numerous Psychiatric symptoms from psychosis, depression, agitation and a host of other problems. I beleive the reason I thought of ending my life was mostly due to taking 40mg of Prednisone a day. Scarey thought!

(((((cry))))))

thank you for sharing your story with us. i am so sorry you have had to go through so much. much more than most people could ever imagine. you are such an inspiration to never give up. such a wealth of information in your post. thank you again.

Cry I am in awe at your courage! Thank you for sharing your story. warm, gentle hugs.

(((Cheryl)))

you have been through so much!

courage and caring are the 2 words that always come to mind when I see your posts

Thanks BT2 freinds....gosh its been a long lonely summer without BT1.
Aside from that...I was on the road along with hubby and grandmonkey.
Went to Yosemite, San Diego...Sea World....then up to Canada. What a lot of gas! Wow....nearly $5 per gallon was the most we paid....and that new quad cab Tundra.....laugh at their new comercials regarding what great gas mileage...yeah....12mpg was the best we got even freeway driving. What a rip! Oh well...we had fun anyway.
About Prednisone...doctors know not to give me a high dose without locking me in a looney bin. It really does make me a nut case.
To think that I wanted to end my life....scares me silly.
What a final way to end a temporary situation.
Had I ended my life I would have devastated my son, my grand daughter who needs me desperatly...she has no mommy 'cept a weekend here and there.
My mother would have gone into a death spin...and my dear husband...well lets just say he would have been so heart broken it would have killed him.
He suffered a terrible bout of tongue cancer when he was only 36 years old. He nearly died back then....and continues to need me despite my being partially disabled.
I still manage to have a good life despite living with pain and suffering sometimes.
I look around and see others suffering too, much worse than I am.
I am truely blessed in many ways. I have no financial worries what so ever. I have a wonderful husband....and I love my grand daughter just so much. She means the world to me....even though she's is 100% brat!
My body has turned against me in many ways. Some days I just can hardly stand it. Thank God for Pain management!
I look forward to Heaven....where there will be no more tears, saddness or pain!
Blessings, Cheryl
I'm attaching a pic of our new home....yeah right...and Fibromyalgia is all in your head! A home I paid money just to look at....When I came home I was really depressed...some people have all the fun! Maybe I can get a job as a live in granny? Do they have such a job?

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