Parkinson's and Prednisone
 

I just came off a five day, 50milligram per day regimen of Prednisone to combat an out-of-control eczema situation. At first I felt wonderful; I walked better, had tons of energy, and an ambitious outlook on life. However, on the fourth day, before I had finished the doses, I started to have trouble with my gait. The three days after the final dose, I experienced trouble walking and a fatigue without peer. I still don't feel great, and it has been five days since the last dose. By the way, the doctor said I did not have to titrate down slowly because five days is too short a period of time to demand that.

Any others have this experience?

Ann

steroids and PD
 

this prior posting could be of help to you in understanding (theoretically) what occurs with use of steroids...note esp. Rick's post in which he discusses use of steroids.
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread77923-2.html

I can only speculate of course...
 

...but if, indeed, we are dealing with a fatigued system from years of see-sawing between inflammation and natural steroids, then it is easy to believe that the initial effect of the concentrated "store-bought" steroids overwhelmed everything else for a few days until the system collapsed into extreme fatigue. In my own recent bout with mega-stress, there were two occasions when I found myself curled up on the floor too weak to crawl.

Anybody know about "adrenal fatigue"? I've just heard the term but it might shed some light.

Bingo!
 

Adrenal fatigue, according to MSM, doesn't exist, is all in your head, and only girls get it and you know what that means...

PubMed seems to have missed the memo and turns up 900 hits. This one really makes me pause-


1: Med Hypotheses. 2009 Jun;72(6):701-5. Epub 2009 Feb 23.

Does hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis hypofunction in chronic fatigue syndrome
reflect a 'crash' in the stress system?

Van Houdenhove B, Eede FV, Luyten P.

Department of Liaison Psychiatry, University Hospitals K.U. Leuven, Herestraat
49, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium.

The etiopathogenesis of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) remains poorly understood.
Although neuroendocrine disturbances - and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)
axis hypofunction in particular - have been found in a large proportion of CFS
patients, it is not clear whether these disturbances are cause or consequence of
the illness. After a review of the available evidence we hypothesize that that
HPA axis hypofunction in CFS, conceptualized within a system-biological
perspective, primarily reflects a fundamental and persistent dysregulation of the
neurobiological stress system. As a result, a disturbed balance between
glucocorticoid and inflammatory signaling pathways may give rise to a
pathological cytokine-induced sickness response that may be the final common
pathway underlying central CFS symptoms, i.e. effort/stress intolerance and pain
hypersensitivity. This comprehensive hypothesis on HPA axis hypofunction in CFS
may stimulate diagnostic refinement of the illness, inform treatment approaches
and suggest directions for future research, particularly focusing on the
neuroendocrine-immune interface and possible links between CFS, early and recent
life stress, and depression.


PMID: 19237251 [PubMed - in process]

Furthermore...
 

Rick,

Thank you once again. This is a stretch, but there is a link. I was wondering how PWP who have been on steroids do. In early stages of encephalitis induced Parkinsonism, the symptoms disappear and some patients experience a complete recovery from the PD like stuff meaning that inflammatory cascade was squelched before the inflammatory process became neurodegenerative.

Several viruses have been linked with a post-infectious Parkinsonian syndrome or reaction and a few bold researchers out there are starting to murmur what you and Girija (and now I) have been saying for years: that PD is indeed, at least in part, auto immune based. In addition to viral infections, bacterial infections like H. pylori and Borrelia burgdorferi causing Lyme Disease have also been linked to Parkinson's Disease. I think several people here have noticed a positive response to antibiotics.

Well, through Epstein Barr virus which is under scrutiny still as cause of Chronic Fatigue we have a link to PD dating back 10 years ago through research and more recently through case studies of a post viral encephalitis and in case acute Parkinsonism resulting in death.

Using antibodies generated against the latent membrane protein 1 of Epstein-Barr virus, intense immunoreactivity of Lewy bodies (in PD and dementia with Lewy bodies) and glial cytoplasmic inclusions (in multiple system atrophy) was demonstrated. ELISA and Western blotting techniques confirmed that this immunolabeling was due to cross-reactivity of the antiviral antibody with alpha-synuclein, a neuronal protein implicated in the pathogenesis of PD. This example of cross-reactivity between Epstein-Barr virus and alpha-synuclein may bear implications for further elucidating infectious or autoimmune mechanisms in PD.


This is a stretch but it also links us in as having that heightened sensitivity to stress adrenal axis thing going on. I guess that I am now convinced that for many of us, PD has an infectious origin and that our difference in symptoms may indeed be a reflection of the main guilty party. Now if research efforts could just be accelerated into areas bringing together neurology with endocrinology....

steroids
 

I was in the hospital for a week recently for an inflammation of the intestine. I was put on continuous intravenous prednisone and an antibiotic (flagyl). It improved my health, though I didn't feel much change to the pd. However when I left the hospital and wasn't tapered off the steroids, I had one of the most unpleasant weeks ever -- it felt like the pd had advanced another 5 years within a couple of days. I talked to my PCP and she said, "oh just go to bed and sleep it off. you'll feel better in a few days." It took more like 10 days, but fortunately I now feel back to where I was a month ago, with perhaps slightly improved balance and symptoms in general.

Jon

This past June I had a case of Bell's Palsy. This condition is treated with Prednisone. I was started off on 60 mg dose and titrated down to a 20 mg dose over a 4 week period. I felt wonderful; I walked better, had tons of energy, and an ambitious outlook on life, to use Ann's words. This continued until the third week as the steroid was decreased. Then all the old aches, pains, and PD symptoms started returning to "normal".

GregD

Hi, my first post, bumping this old thread. I am on Prednisone right now , tapering down I have asthma and my GP lets me self medicate. I have definitely noticed and increase in my energy and endurance. From the other posts it sems as it may not last, but to paraphrase the Irish. I'm enjoying being in heaven while the Devil is yet to notice.

Gareth

This issue has been revived.
 

This is my first post on this site. Recently I also, had a similar experience to Ann. I also, took prednisone (sold in Australia as prednisolone), for a skin (dermatitis) rash. In addition to this for the last 2.5 - 3 years I have also been taking Turmeric and black pepper. I found when I took prednisone 50mg on an empty stomach along with Turmeric and black pepper that, my PD symptoms improved after the second dose i.e. I could walk, talk and I and I had more energy. I tried this on three separate occasions, with the same results. I only took prednisone for two days each time. When I stopped taking prednisone my PD symptoms returned.

I could believe that PD has an autoimmune and/or infectious component. When I wass 40 years old I got a terrible case of Lyme meningitis. I lived out in the country and had deer in my yard all the time. I subsequently developed scleraderma and took Minocycline for 3 years which helped a great deal and I don't have even a trace of scleroderma now. (I am 70 yrs old now). I developed PD about 5 years ago.