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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Does Withdrawal Of Prednisone Cause Any Side Effect?

My 85 year old father has congestive heart failure, mild copd and lupus. He is having tons of skin issues and wants to get off of th 15 mg of predisone he is taking daily. His doctor has tried to reduce his dosage several times and within 2 weeks he struggles to breathe. Are there alternatives he can take while taking predisone to reduce the amount of presidsone or to eliminate it all together?
Mon, 23 Mar 2015
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General & Family Physician,  's  Response
Hi,

As your father has CHF,COPD and lupus along with skin issues,intake of steroids like prednisone has a beneficial effect on COPD and lupus mainly.Steroids,if used for a long time,can cause sodium and water retention which can worsen CHF.
Steroids cannot be withdrawn abruptly.
If one has been taking steroids for more than 15 days duration,then they have to be withdrawn in a tapering dose as it interferes with the hypothalamo-pituitary axis.

He can also take other steroids like deflazacort in the required dosage with lesser known side effects than prednisone.
Take care.
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Does Withdrawal Of Prednisone Cause Any Side Effect?

Hi, As your father has CHF,COPD and lupus along with skin issues,intake of steroids like prednisone has a beneficial effect on COPD and lupus mainly.Steroids,if used for a long time,can cause sodium and water retention which can worsen CHF. Steroids cannot be withdrawn abruptly. If one has been taking steroids for more than 15 days duration,then they have to be withdrawn in a tapering dose as it interferes with the hypothalamo-pituitary axis. He can also take other steroids like deflazacort in the required dosage with lesser known side effects than prednisone. Take care.