Muscle weakness Caused by Eppidural, Prednisone or traditional Anti-Inflammatory Drug
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November 26, 2008 at 5:41 am
Hi Forum Friends,
I have generated this topic because my experience with the above has occured as a direct result of past treatment. I was hoping to find some internal support on those of you who may have suffered the loss of physical strength when inflammation was reduced from the basic treatment drugs like Prednisone, Aleve, Daypro, Eppidural steroid, or other etc. in an attempt to make some sense of this. I’ll be hitting up the Doctor on this WHY? Question this comming Monday.
Basically, the type of CIDP, I was told I have is LSS. Multifocal CIDP. I have nerve inflammation that presents as Pain and Ache. I was relatively strong with Pain and Ache until We doused the Fire of Inflammation with drugs.
When the Eppidural went down the legs(Feb 07), it caused severe muscle weakness only to return to 50% strength after several weeks of no drugs. Subsequent dosing on Oral Non Steroidal Antiinflammatories caused the same effect but less severe due to less potentcy.
Now I started Prednisone and It is doing the same exact thing. When the drug does its thing, it turns my strength to MUSH. If I back off the drugs, I improve in strength but Pain and Ache comes back. Catch22. Any Thoughts??As always, I am thankful for your experienced insight. Thanks, All the Best!
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November 26, 2008 at 6:28 am
Tim,
It’s the same with me, plus now Advil or Aleve give me heart palpitations which I never got before. No idea why this happens – my doc says “most people are helped by these drugs.” But as you said, they reduce inflammation but I get severe weakness, muscles spasms, and more nerve pain when I take prednisone.If you find out why please post, otherwise I just assume it’s another one of those weird things.
Julie
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November 26, 2008 at 8:54 am
Don’t really no why Tim! Prednisone with me though has actually helped my case! Without it I would be mush! I guess it depends on the patient. Each person is different and what might work for one doesn’t work for the other.
They gave me IVIG Rituximab yesterday and that made me sick as a dog! Still have the darn headache from it! I’ve been popping pills like candy this morning trying to get rid of that nasty migraine. And am getting ready to cook Thanksgiving Dinner! Ohh boy! Not going to be an easy day for me. So that drug might not be what I want to take if it’s going to make me this way!
Hope your Thanksgiving Day turns out to be nice one. Rest and be lazy that day! Hugs Tim! Good luck! -
November 26, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Whereas we all know the basic side effects of Pred. I don’t think that Dr’s tell us enough about Prednisone and it’s effects on simple nutrients and/or hormones in our body.
For example, it depletes calcium. A few things that calcium is needed for is: formation of strong bones, joints, teeth and for the maintenance of healthy gums, regular heart beat, transmission of nerve impulses, lowering cholesterol levels , prevention of heart and circulatory disease , formation of muscle, proper muscle contraction, and prevention of muscle cramps (such as leg cramps).
Pred depletes potassium. A few of potassium’s functions are: proper muscle contraction and helping kidney”s to function normally.
Prednisone affects hormones also. For example it lowers the conversion of the thyroid hormone T4 to T3. Low T3 is associated with muscle and joint pain, muscle spasms and weakness, not to mention that it helps control other things in your body (hormonally). Prednisone can also cause the atrophy of the adrenal gland so that it stops or slows its secretion of other hormones.
These are just a few things that pred affects in your body. Each one of them controls other things in your body. It is a cascade effect. You can look up to see what other things it affects (such as the adrenal gland and what it produces.).
My point (and therefore JMO) being that steroids do more than reducing inflammation. It can deplete and increase nutrients and hormones in a person’s body. Reactions such as muscle weakness, muscle spasms, pain, etc can be due to this increase or decrease of nutrients and hormones.Prednisone made my inflammation go away but it gave me more neuropathy and myopathy. The day I took it I got real weak and would stumble. I had a metabolite/thyroid/vitamin D panel done and it showed that since I started on Pred, my T3 decreased, T4 went high (but I am not hyperthyroid), Calcium decreased, vitamin d decreased, potassium decreased, etc. Slowly the longer I am off of pred, and along with supplementing I am getting back to “normal”.
So prednisone may make us feel good, but it may be negatively affecting another vital nutrient or hormone that will make us get weak, hurt, etc. JMO.
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November 26, 2008 at 4:43 pm
Kristin,
Amen to all the above you have mentioned. I appreciate your thoughts here, you have show to do excellant research! Mark Ens sent me some data reflecting many points you have made here. We are given this stuff and they may say take calcium etc. but leave out the 20 other things that are affected like the thyroiod!!!!! Thanks Kristin
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November 27, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Tim,
Prednisone was a strength enhancer in my case. I had lots of energy, the pain went down, and I was much more functional.
Problem for me was when I got off. The pain came back, the aches came back, all at plus 10. I had all the same hurts plus 10 more.
Good luck
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November 28, 2008 at 6:37 am
[QUOTE=TJRPT6]Hi Forum Friends,
I have generated this topic because my experience with the above has occured as a direct result of past treatment. I was hoping to find some internal support on those of you who may have suffered the loss of physical strength when inflammation was reduced from the basic treatment drugs like Prednisone, Aleve, Daypro, Eppidural steroid, or other etc. in an attempt to make some sense of this. I’ll be hitting up the Doctor on this WHY? Question this comming Monday.
Basically, the type of CIDP, I was told I have is LSS. Multifocal CIDP. I have nerve inflammation that presents as Pain and Ache. I was relatively strong with Pain and Ache until We doused the Fire of Inflammation with drugs.
When the Eppidural went down the legs(Feb 07), it caused severe muscle weakness only to return to 50% strength after several weeks of no drugs. Subsequent dosing on Oral Non Steroidal Antiinflammatories caused the same effect but less severe due to less potentcy.
Now I started Prednisone and It is doing the same exact thing. When the drug does its thing, it turns my strength to MUSH. If I back off the drugs, I improve in strength but Pain and Ache comes back. Catch22. Any Thoughts??As always, I am thankful for your experienced insight. Thanks, All the Best![/QUOTE]i was genneie pig for long time to only thing worked better was percsets narq.but some dont want but this is only thing i take now cause was sick of all diff drugs and none worked so you might try..with this prob we have its hard to control but when you find like me thats it no more drugs this is it:D
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November 28, 2008 at 6:40 am
[QUOTE=LindaH]Don’t really no why Tim! Prednisone with me though has actually helped my case! Without it I would be mush! I guess it depends on the patient. Each person is different and what might work for one doesn’t work for the other.
They gave me IVIG Rituximab yesterday and that made me sick as a dog! Still have the darn headache from it! I’ve been popping pills like candy this morning trying to get rid of that nasty migraine. And am getting ready to cook Thanksgiving Dinner! Ohh boy! Not going to be an easy day for me. So that drug might not be what I want to take if it’s going to make me this way!
Hope your Thanksgiving Day turns out to be nice one. Rest and be lazy that day! Hugs Tim! Good luck![/QUOTE]does family no your stoned lol just kidding i bust out laughing when i read about dinner sorry no harm intended:D 😀 -
November 28, 2008 at 8:55 am
Hi Dick,
So even though it helped you when you got off, things were worse. That sounds like it more or less it worked as a pain killer but damage continued. that would explain why it was worse when you got off. This is my concern. If it only holds down the inflammation and nerve damage continues, it is only hiding it.
Would you summarize it like that somewhat???? thanks-tim- -
November 28, 2008 at 9:01 am
hey friend,
sorry you are struggling with all of this. if there is one thing for certain, we are all so different in what works for us yet so similar in what we suffer from.i wish you the best of luck– i wish us all this.
alice
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December 3, 2008 at 5:03 am
Well,
I went to the Neuro 1st thing Monday morning. He opened a slot for me due to my call in that I felt weaker since taking the Prednisone. So at 6am my daughter Kelly and I are buzzing down the road to Phili to make an 8 am appt.
He did the usual, whacked me with the rubber mallet (no reflex’s), put the tuning fork on my big toes (no vibration), did the tug of war with my fingers, arms and legs. then we sat down and talked for half an hour.
My Big Question to him was how can taking the Pred make you feel weaker?
and that when the inflammation was altered with the medication it affected my strength. There was no direct answer on that unfortuneately.I told the Dr about the eppidural I had Feb 07 and how it weakened a previously thought good leg. He said the Eppidural probably activated the CIDP but had no correlation with the steroid in the Eppid to be the culprit.
Dr Browns opinion was that being I was in a noted decline since at least Oct and the last EMG, taking the Predinose at 60Mg may have not been enough, but in any case he felt that it takes more time than I have given it to turn it around. He said the lower the dose, the longer it will take and reversing 5 years of gradual damage can’t be done in 3 weeks. I had been told to drop to 40Mg since I called in weakness last week. Now we decided to bump it back up to 50Mg and keep it there Until Feb my next visit. He was confident this is going to work for me as long as side affects remain tolerable or under control. which they are so far.
I have become stable since more days have passed and don’t feel any weaker than what I did since week 1 steroids. So, We’ll wait and see.
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December 3, 2008 at 8:03 am
Hi Tim! It took me two years of taking the steroids before I started seeing good results. The doctor is right about the damage that got done. Will take time to reverse what happened to you. But glad you told the doctor what was going on and he is aware of it.
I remember when I first got diagnosed with Lupus and they started me on all those meds for it! I was so used to going to doctors for ear infections and colds and the meds alway’s cleared me up and made me well again almost instantly.
Then Lupus came along and I started taking the meds. And for some reason the meds were making me all doped up but I really didn’t see a difference in most of the meds except for the prednisone. The #1 drug for Lupus is Plaquinel and is supposed to help the rash and joint pain along with lung pain. Well it wasn’t working instantly and I told the doctor that drug wasn’t working. She then tells me it take Plaquinel for it to get into your system a good 6 months. WHAT??? 6 Months! Funny because 6 months later one night I was in bed and suddenly noticed no joint pain. It was instant! LOL! I was getting mad because I felt I was taking a pill here that just was not doing nothing and my doctor kept insisting I take it! I felt I was wasting $90.00 a month. I was in a wheel chair Tim when I got diagnosed and placed on prednisone. It took me two years before I was able to actually to walk again without help. Nerves in our bodies take alot longer to heal than other wounds. But glad Dr. Brown is watching and listening. You have a good doctor! But our bodies on the other hand. We all have something that has to be treated in different ways. Some things work while others don’t.
Time will tell! Just hope the prednisone does eventually help! Hugs
Linda H -
December 3, 2008 at 8:24 am
Hi Tim.
Interesting that he said that the eppi may have triggered CIDP. Just as we thought but without the steroid part.
Sounds like you are feeling a little more relaxed. The dr is right…it takes time for things to work. We just want over night results. We want that immediate fix b/c we dont want any worsening. Our minds go crazy when things dont work instantly. I know mine does.
Will say an extra prayer that this works for you and you tolerate everything just fine. Keep us posted…we are all here for you.
Stacey
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December 3, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Thank Girls,
Patience, Patience, Patience!!! Give me a Pill for that.
You guys are Great!
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December 3, 2008 at 9:39 pm
Hi Tim! LOL! Yes that is so true! Wished we had a good pill like that! It certainly would make life much easier! ROFL! Wishing you to get well soon and hope this new dosage does the trick! Will keep my fingers and toes crossed for you! Good luck! Hugs
Linda H -
December 3, 2008 at 9:52 pm
Hey Tim! Forgot to mention this one and since you know how me and Andy are you might laugh on this one. He is a very impatient person!
A few nights ago he had a bad case of heartburn. So I gave him some of my medicine to help ease the agony.
All day long I heard him gripe about his heartburn! Each time I offered him some Malox and Tums or another med. “Nope” I don’t want anything”
5 minutes later he is moaning and groaning. “Andy!” I got something that will help! “No” Nothing is going to help this!” So I walk in the other room and as usual I say to myself.. …….! Go back in the room and he has that look! Now because he is getting on my nerves I too have that look. The 20 year old marriage look!
Alright! After 6 hours of griping I finally convinced him to try one of my meds. Gave him a Prilosec and two tums. 5 minutes later he happens to look at me and says “It’s not working! ROFL! I look at him with that look and say ” I wonder why!” It’s only been 5 minutes. So he waits and it finally went away.
As soon as it eased up! He went into the kitchen and fixed him a BBQ Sandwich. Now that was bright! Then a half hour later he looks at me and says “I told you that stuff wouldn’t work!” And then I look at him back and say ” I wonder why”
I honestly and personally don’t know how we have survived 20 years! ROFL -
December 21, 2008 at 4:37 pm
So On this Thread which may have some significance to some of you who read. I share the fact of how ANY anti inflammatory drug I have takes Has:
Relieved Pain and caused weakness. These drugs include Asprin, Aleve, Ibprophen, Daypro, Eppidural. The more I take, the less Pain I have but weakness has increased.
I can’t believe the Dr. didn’t put 2 and 2 together when I told him the eppidural I had 18 months ago caused foot drop. I have been beating myself
up with alot of oral drugs that have just made it worse and hidden the problem.The Fact for me is: Not Just Prednisone, but any anti inflammatory is like the same thing, just of different delivery and potency.
Question your diagnosis if you have had this or similar happen to you.MMN responds well to IVIG, and a few other drugs but not Prednisone or Plasmapheresis. The front line treatment options are the same but after that
it gets very different on how combination are made and your elegibility for certain drugs I would imagine. -
December 22, 2008 at 6:25 am
Right – there you go popping my bubble of ignorant bliss again… sigh. Thanks for bringing it to my attention though, I hadn’t put two and two together but since I’ve been sick I can no longer take anything like advil or aleve… tylenol works without side effects but the others do not.
OK, well I guess I’m going to yank my head out of the sand and research MMN. :rolleyes:
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