Predisone, does it keep you awake?

Hi Willie, I’ve been on and off that med since 2005, for my sinuses. It gives you lots of energy esp. when trying to sleep, I could clean and clean, lol. And it makes you hungry all the time, I gained about 10 lb 😮 . I haven’t been on it since June 07 bc my neuro was against using it to fight the GBS. Best wishes to you!

My neuro. has had me on methylprednisilone twice a week since last fall and I’ve found that on steroid day I don’t sleep well at all.

Steroids kept Emily awake ALL night long & once she fell asleep, she wouldn’t get into a deep sleep. She often cried & whined in her sleep while taking them. It was an exhausting time in our lives.

I read that you should take the steroids as early in the day as possible. Also some people use melatonin to help them sleep. I had reservations on using the melatonin on a child but as an adult you should research it & make the best decision for you.

Hope that helps.
Kelly

I recommend reading the book “Coping With Prednisone*” *and other cortisone-related medicines. It may work miracles, but how do you handle the side effects? Written by Eugenia Zukerman and Julie R. Ingelfinger, M.D.

This is excellent in the full scope of information, including side-effects and will help you to make an informed decision on whether or not to take the Rx.

I’ve been on high doses of prednisone since early December. I’ve had trouble sleeping on it as well and have had to resort to taking various medications to allow me to sleep. These include either benadryl, or Neurontin (which I only need occassionally for nerve pain these days), or Ativan. I am slowly tapering down, but still find I need my “sleeping aids” at times. What dosage are you on? I am currently on 40 mg.

Willie, what do you mean when you say “tell a difference?” Do you mean in improvement in my symptoms? I started on 30 mg of pred daily for a week before jumping up to 60 mg. I had slightly-improved strength, within a couple days of starting that 30 mg a day dose. I had more strength, also started feeling not so sick anymore, and my headaches stopped. I would say within 2-3 weeks on pred., I had improved greatly. I had gotten a CIDP diagnosis fairly quickly, just about 8 weeks after onset of my illness, so I am not sure if that is why I responded to the pred so well. I am not 100% to where I was, but much much better (somewhere 50-75% of my old self). I started my IVIG about 5-6 weeks after starting the pred. I can’t tell if the IVIG has helped with the muscle strength because the pred helped so well with that, but I think the IVIG has helped relieve some of the nerve pain. You prob. have your story posted somewhere, but how long have you had CIDP?

My dr. told me to take the pred in the morning, maybe that would help you a bit with the wakefulness at night if you switched?

Hi Willie, I remember your story now. It breaks my heart that you have to suffer this when you have a son who is dependent on you. Do you have someone who can help?

So you started on 60 mg? Is your dr. going to increase it? I am curious because I am a small-boned female and wondering if I would have a smaller dose than an average-sized man. I was on 60 mg for 6 weeks and then started tapering down. I am ready to be off. The pred has made me irritable and hungry all of the time and I have gained weight because I can’t stop eating. The pred makes all food taste really good!

Keep us posted on your progress.

Hi Willie, I remember your story now. It breaks my heart that you have to suffer this when you have a son who is dependent on you. Do you have someone who can help?

So you started on 60 mg? Is your dr. going to increase it? I am curious because I am a small-boned female and wondering if I would have a smaller dose than an average-sized man. I was on 60 mg for 6 weeks and then started tapering down. I am ready to be off. The pred has made me irritable and hungry all of the time and I have gained weight because I can’t stop eating. The pred makes all food taste really good!

Keep us posted on your progress.

Hi, Willie;

when I started on pred 12 years ago, I started on 60 mg in the morning, and stayed there for about 2 months. I gained 30 pounds in two weeks, but never had trouble sleeping. I also received plasma exchange and IV-IG, and I started to feel better almost immediately. I saw improvement within one week of starting on the pred. I’d done both plasma and IVIG before, but never pred, and never everything all together.

After two months, I weened down to 40mg, and then over the course of a year slowly weened off. However, when I got to 5mg every other day, I had a relapse, so I had to start again (!!!). Now I’m on 10mg every other day, and go back up when I relapse. A new neuro tried to ween me off, but that didn’t work.

I’m really happy with the pred, but not with the weight. I have to keep my caloric intake to about 1200 cals/day to stay where I am now, which is 20 pounds over where I was 10 years ago. It’s not a disaster. At least I can walk. I have had some bone loss and hair thinning, but just a little. I am hoping that by the time the bone loss gets bad there will be some great new drugs for that :). For now I exercise and take calcium supplements. My doc had me on fosamax, but I got jaw necrosis, so I went off when I heard that could have been from the fosamax.

I do think you should ask your doctor about switching to taking the pred in the AM. I’ve never experienced insomnia from the pred.

Good luck!
-marie