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Is Prednisone Effective When Diagnosed With Parkinson's?
Question: I have Parkinson's & I am experiencing hyperventilation & shortness of breath attacks. I went to the ER with this last month & was prescribed prednisone with an inhaler (asmanex) which did not help at all - the asmanex. I went to see a Lung dr & The doctor phoned in a prescription for Dulera which doesn't seem to work either. The only thing that seemed to work was the prednisone. I've read some research online that speaks to the effectiveness of prednisone with Parkinson's but what are the pros & cons? I'm tired of these attacks!
Brief Answer:
Read below.
Detailed Answer:
I read your question carefully and I understand your concern.
Prednisone is not used for Parkinson's, it doesn't affect it for the better. I know there may be found occasional stories of people saying they feel better with prednisone but it must be a placebo effect as it is not known to be effective, I doubt you have found it on a reputable medical journal. Judging from its mechanism of action and the way Parkinson's works I would not expect it to be shown effective by future studies neither. So there are no pros regarding Parkinson's.
There are no cons either, as I said it doesn't influence the mechanism of the disease. So it can be taken for the moment as it may improve breathing issues. However long term use may have side effects like diabetes, gastric ulcer, high blood pressure, metabolic alterations etc. For that reason it should be used for long periods only when really necessary.
So you should discuss the cause for these shortness of breath episodes with the lung doctor (shouldn't be related to Parkinson's either), their cause (what was the suggested diagnosis) and alternative or additional treatments apart from Dulera since it's not being effective.
I remain at your disposal for other questions.
Read below.
Detailed Answer:
I read your question carefully and I understand your concern.
Prednisone is not used for Parkinson's, it doesn't affect it for the better. I know there may be found occasional stories of people saying they feel better with prednisone but it must be a placebo effect as it is not known to be effective, I doubt you have found it on a reputable medical journal. Judging from its mechanism of action and the way Parkinson's works I would not expect it to be shown effective by future studies neither. So there are no pros regarding Parkinson's.
There are no cons either, as I said it doesn't influence the mechanism of the disease. So it can be taken for the moment as it may improve breathing issues. However long term use may have side effects like diabetes, gastric ulcer, high blood pressure, metabolic alterations etc. For that reason it should be used for long periods only when really necessary.
So you should discuss the cause for these shortness of breath episodes with the lung doctor (shouldn't be related to Parkinson's either), their cause (what was the suggested diagnosis) and alternative or additional treatments apart from Dulera since it's not being effective.
I remain at your disposal for other questions.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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