Prednisone/Methylprednisolone

    • Anonymous
      October 18, 2009 at 3:37 pm

      What’s the difference in these two drugs? I was on a Medrol pack, then was switched to Prednisone; Medrol seemed to work better, though. Anyone else have experience with comparing the two?

    • Anonymous
      October 18, 2009 at 6:46 pm

      I was on solumedrol infusions of 1,000 mg at least once a week. Solumedrol is another name for methylprednisolone, but it does have the terrible side effects of all types of steroids, maybe just a little easier on the stomach? I tried taking 500 mg of prednisone orally one time to substitute & got very sick. Solumerol is given via infusion, mine was usually in was looked like a “party ball” & took about a half hour to infuse. Hope this helps a little…

    • Anonymous
      October 18, 2009 at 6:49 pm

      There is not that much difference between the two. Prednisone and Medrol (a trade name for methylprednisolone) are both synthetic glucocorticoids. Prednisone is what is called a pro-drug, something that the body converts into the active agent. In this case, prednisone is converted by the liver to prednisolone, the active agent. As you might guess from the two names, the two drugs are chemically very similar. Methylprednisolone is a bit more potent and has a somewhat longer half-life than prednisolone.

      In the long run, both have nearly the same side effect profiles (which is to say, bad), so pick the one that gives you the best value, that is, cost versus benefit.

      MarkEns

    • Anonymous
      October 18, 2009 at 7:12 pm

      Thanks for the replies!

    • Anonymous
      October 18, 2009 at 8:57 pm

      I was taking pill form “pulse steroids” 500 mg methylprednisilone… with I think good results, and not too bad of side effects…… 😮

    • Anonymous
      October 22, 2009 at 8:05 am

      I’m currently on pulse methylpred taking right around 250mg twice a week along with cyclosporine and while the improvement has been dramatic the side effects are starting to add up and it seems like the roids are taking longer to take effect. So far for bad side effects I can include cataract surgery on one eye with the other coming soon along with the weight gain and other stuff that indicates cushings syndrome as well as the normal roid acne, insomnia etc.