Is There Any Alternate Medication For Prednisolone?

Posted on Sat, 23 Aug 2014

Question: Is there an alternate medication for prednisone? The prednisone my father is taking (his body does not naturally produce it any more...diagnosed at Cedars Sinai (?) 5 years ago) is causing him slurred and delayed speech. It started about a year ago. He is extremely frustrated with this and I worry that we could not hear him if he called out as his voice is so soft now!

Answered by Dr. Naval Mendiratta (16 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Alternative available, need to know the cause

Detailed Answer:
Good evening sir. There are alternate available for prednisolone. But i didn't get the exact reason why he is on that drug for so long. In most conditions, we tend to taper it and put them on a steroid sparing agent. If a person is on prednisolone for too long, the body stops producing it. As for the voice change, dysphonia is a known side effect of the drug. Although not common, it has been seen in a few cases.. We can recommend you a substitute , but i would like to know a few more details:

1. why exactly was the drug started.Like what condition were the doctors suspecting when they put him on the drug
2. what dose is he taking now?
3. How much was the maximum dose.?

DO let me know these few details and we can reach a conclusion. Hope the information was useful.

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj