Ok, kind of freaking out here a little, and probably not for any good reason. I've been on Prednisone now since September. 10 mg. initially and weaned down to 5. I went back up to 10 several times when I kind of flared up. My problem is this. I have been tapering down, knowing that at the first of the year I could go back on Entecort. So I had gone from 10 to 7.5 for several weeks, down to 5 mg for several weeks, and down to 2.5 for four days. I skipped one day without anything and today took 9 mg. of Entecort. I ended up with a whopper of a headache and had to take some Lortab it was so bad. So tonight, I'm having a panic attack and took 1/4 of 1 mg. of Ativan for the panic. Now I'm all worried that I didn't taper off the prednisone long enough and I really don't want to take another full dose of Entecort tomorrow.
Can I only take 3 mg. of Entecort tomorrow without causing myself a problem? I wondered because I've only taken it for one day. And did I get tapered off the prednisone long enough or is that why I"m having so many problems today?
I'm hoping that someone here can help me out, like immediately, since I have to take another dose of the Entecort tomorrow and I know you all have used these meds before and probably know more about them than most doctors.
HELP!!!!
Help!!! Entecort and Prednisone. Need answers ASAP if poss
Moderators: Rosie, Stanz, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
you won't be the first one here, suffering from side effects of entocort. I don't know the things you are describing are caused by the entocort or a lower dosage of prednisone. When did the side effects start, already when you were tempering down prednisone or did they start after you took your entocort? Or maybe it is not a good idea to take both at the same time.
If you think your side effects are caused by entocort and you are taking 3 a day now, why don't you try two? Another option is spread them through the day, it takes the body about 8 hours to get the entocort out of the system, so you could take one every 8 hours. But I would suggest start with two in morning first and see what happens than.
good luck with it, dose side effect of entocort are not nice.
If you think your side effects are caused by entocort and you are taking 3 a day now, why don't you try two? Another option is spread them through the day, it takes the body about 8 hours to get the entocort out of the system, so you could take one every 8 hours. But I would suggest start with two in morning first and see what happens than.
good luck with it, dose side effect of entocort are not nice.
"As the sense of identity shifts from the imaginary person to your real being as presence awareness, the life of suffering dissolves like mist before the rising sun"
MulkeyJ,
Even though you were on such a small dose, you are probably experiencing Prednisone withdrawal symptoms, rather than a reaction to the Entocort, though it might possibly be a combination of the two. When you are taking Prednisone for such a long period of time, (even a low dose), withdrawal can be very difficult. It can cause all sorts of neurological symptoms to try to persuade you to resume taking it. The panic attack is almost certainly a result of Prednisone withdrawal, not the Entocort.
My guess is that if such a low dose of Prednisone was helping you in the first place, then you are extremely sensitive to it. Therefore, you may also be sensitive to budesonide, (the active ingredient in Entocort). Since you may be more sensitive to budesonide than most of us, yes, reducing the dose of Entocort would probably be a good idea, because it will probably take a couple of weeks to get all of the prednisone out of your system. 3mg per day of Entocort EC would probably be a good dose to start with.
Incidentally, we're not qualified to offer advice about medical emergencies, so you should always check with your doctor if you are in a near-panic situation. During the wee hours of the morning, this board is usually pretty quiet, so the best bet during that time of day, would probably be to call the night nurse desk at your hospital, for advice. Most of us won't see your post until the following morning.
Good luck. Withdrawing from Prednisone can be a very tough ordeal to have to go through.
Tex
Even though you were on such a small dose, you are probably experiencing Prednisone withdrawal symptoms, rather than a reaction to the Entocort, though it might possibly be a combination of the two. When you are taking Prednisone for such a long period of time, (even a low dose), withdrawal can be very difficult. It can cause all sorts of neurological symptoms to try to persuade you to resume taking it. The panic attack is almost certainly a result of Prednisone withdrawal, not the Entocort.
My guess is that if such a low dose of Prednisone was helping you in the first place, then you are extremely sensitive to it. Therefore, you may also be sensitive to budesonide, (the active ingredient in Entocort). Since you may be more sensitive to budesonide than most of us, yes, reducing the dose of Entocort would probably be a good idea, because it will probably take a couple of weeks to get all of the prednisone out of your system. 3mg per day of Entocort EC would probably be a good dose to start with.
Incidentally, we're not qualified to offer advice about medical emergencies, so you should always check with your doctor if you are in a near-panic situation. During the wee hours of the morning, this board is usually pretty quiet, so the best bet during that time of day, would probably be to call the night nurse desk at your hospital, for advice. Most of us won't see your post until the following morning.
Good luck. Withdrawing from Prednisone can be a very tough ordeal to have to go through.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Just to let you all know, I ended up going to the emergency room very early this morning (4:00 am). The headache was very severe. They checked me out and couldn't find anything wrong. The doctor there said it could very well be a sensitivity to the Entecort. However, he said the only way to truly know was to take another dose today and see if I ended up with another headache. He said it's ok to take Lortab with the Entecort, and ok to take the Ativan if needed. And if I get another bad headache today, that tomorrow I shouldn't take any more until I get ahold of my doc. He also said I might need to take a lower dose. I took Entecort last year without these huge headaches, so since I've had it before, he wants to make sure it is from the Entecort and not anything else. He also mentioned that it's not uncommon for someone to take a drug without a problem, and then all of a sudden develop a sensitivity to it.
Thanks for all of your answers. I've already taken the 9 mg this morning and will let you all know how I do on it.
Thanks for all of your answers. I've already taken the 9 mg this morning and will let you all know how I do on it.
Mulkey,
I had some strange issues with Entocort about two weeks or so into treatment. They were more neurological. It could have been an allergic reaction. But I pressed through (not sure if that was the best thing to do, but I did). I am not encouraging you to do the same, just corroborating some side effects.
I do think you were wise to go the the ER. I have been there 2X since Sept 1. The first time was for my neuro issues and the second time for a nasty flu bug where they CT scanned me to make sure my bowels weren't any were than usual.
Good luck.
Rich
I had some strange issues with Entocort about two weeks or so into treatment. They were more neurological. It could have been an allergic reaction. But I pressed through (not sure if that was the best thing to do, but I did). I am not encouraging you to do the same, just corroborating some side effects.
I do think you were wise to go the the ER. I have been there 2X since Sept 1. The first time was for my neuro issues and the second time for a nasty flu bug where they CT scanned me to make sure my bowels weren't any were than usual.
Good luck.
Rich
"It's not what I believe. It's what I can prove." - A Few Good Men
Glad you went to the emergency room to make sure nothing was severely wrong. I was given the wrong dose of prednisone for back injury and ended up inhospital with my blood pressure way out of kilter. The doctor who gave me the prednisone for the back.. (wrong dosage) said there was no problem continuing the entocort.. what an idiot. On my own i stopped the entocort.. had a remission from the overdose of prednisone that lasted about three months.
My reaction was to the prednisone..not the entocort.. but that is just my experience.
grannyh
My reaction was to the prednisone..not the entocort.. but that is just my experience.
grannyh