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Suggest Treatment For Withdrawal Symptoms Of Hydrocortisone

Posted on Wed, 11 Mar 2015

Question: 3 years ago i had the right adrena gland removed due to cancer. three months later they found a tumor on the left one and treated it with radation which killed the tumor. 2 weeks ago i went through many tests and also fusion test. after the fusion test he put me on hydrocortisone 20mg three times a day for 2 weeks. during this time i noticed an improvmentin my enefgy, my appetite and other little things. i went back for all test results last weeek and everything is ok as the remeining adrenal gland is producing the numbers 18, 17 ,16. hesid to stop the meds as i didnt need them. in 3 days i have noticed a change back to what i was as tired, leg cramps and so forth.he put me on the 60 mg at first till the tests was done . i was wondering if i went to 20mg a day if this would be ok as i have seeveral refills yet thank you XXXXXXX vice

Answered by Dr. Pranjal Kulshreshtha (35 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Taper the dose gradually

Detailed Answer:
Hi.
You are simply suffering from sudden withdrawal of the hydrocortisone. In a normal person, there are no symptoms if the drug has been taken only for 2 weeks and then suddenly stopped.
However, in a person who has one adrenal gland completely removed and the other radiated, the body's own production of steroids is severely hampered and he can go into steroid withdrawal even with a short course.
So, I would suggest that you taper the dose. Firstly, take it once daily for a week, then once every alternate day for another week and then stop.
I hope that answers your query. If you have any more, please feel free to ask.
Take care.

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

Follow up: Dr. Pranjal Kulshreshtha (1 hour later)

thank you for your reply. i have one more question and thats he said to stop the med and see what family doctor says. my question is if i continue to take just 1 20ml a day would that hurt me as like i said i felt great after 2 weeks but now going back to where i was before taking it. thank you very much

thank you for your reply i have one questio and thats he said to stop the med and see what the family doctor says. my question isif i continue on my own taking 1 20 mil tablet a day would that hurt me? as i said i felt so much better after the 2 weeks he had me on it but now am going back words to wha i was , leg cramps, no energy no appetite thank you XXXX

Answered by Dr. Pranjal Kulshreshtha (8 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Long term steroids not required and harmful

Detailed Answer:
Hi.

I understand that all your blood tests had come out as normal which would mean that the remaining adrenal gland is functioning normally. In such a case, giving steroid from outside is not required. Also, long term steroids have their own significant side effects, no matter how good they seem in the short term.

So, if long term steroids can be avoided, they should be.
The symptoms that you were having will hopefully not happen if you taper the dose gradually as i mentioned.

Whatever symptoms remain after completely stopping the drug will slowly abate with time.

Hope that answers all your queries. If you have no more please rate the question and close the thread.

Note: For further queries related to kidney problems Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T