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What Are The Long Term Side Effects Of Medrol?
Question: What are the long term implications of taking 5 mg of Medrol daily for PMR?
Brief Answer:
there are various potential problems
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
long term corticosteroid treatment may cause some of the following (the list is not exhaustive) :
- impair the hormonal balance and cause the body to need external corticosteroids to function properly
- cause hyperglycemia and even diabetes mellitus
- worsen hypertension
- change body fat distribution. This change may result in the characteristic facies and hump on the upper back and may make the extremities very thin.
- cause or worsen glaucoma
- cause or worsen cataract
- retain sodium and water and excrete potassium (electrolyte imbalance and perhaps edema)
- muscular weakness
- osteoporosis
etc
Corticosteroids affect all the body systems in various ways so it's not easy to include every single effect they may have. The lower the dosage the less likely to encounter such problems. 5mg is a low dose. 64mg or more is a high dosage.
So in conclusion, there are numerous problems that you may encounter with prolonged corticosteroid treatment but the low dosage reduces the risk.
I hope it helps!
Kind Regards!
there are various potential problems
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
long term corticosteroid treatment may cause some of the following (the list is not exhaustive) :
- impair the hormonal balance and cause the body to need external corticosteroids to function properly
- cause hyperglycemia and even diabetes mellitus
- worsen hypertension
- change body fat distribution. This change may result in the characteristic facies and hump on the upper back and may make the extremities very thin.
- cause or worsen glaucoma
- cause or worsen cataract
- retain sodium and water and excrete potassium (electrolyte imbalance and perhaps edema)
- muscular weakness
- osteoporosis
etc
Corticosteroids affect all the body systems in various ways so it's not easy to include every single effect they may have. The lower the dosage the less likely to encounter such problems. 5mg is a low dose. 64mg or more is a high dosage.
So in conclusion, there are numerous problems that you may encounter with prolonged corticosteroid treatment but the low dosage reduces the risk.
I hope it helps!
Kind Regards!
Note: For more detailed guidance, please consult an Internal Medicine Specialist, with your latest reports. Click here..
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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