prednisolene

[JackJacksmummy]

Have also posted this in childrens health....

Hi all

4 weeks ago my 6 year old was admitted to high dependency for 2 weeks due to severe asthma attacks. Of whch he had NEVER suffered with before so it was a nasty shock.

It was so bad we nearly lost him - i could write the story but last time i tried it took 2 hours to get it all down and then i forgot bits anyway.

So, the long and short of it is we was let out 2 weeks ago with him on an 8 week course of prednisolene, 2 puffs of becotide twice a day and up to 10 puffs of ventolin 4 hourly (but we are reducing this now his peakflow is back up to what they recommend for his age and height - worst PFR was 50 and he should be at 250)

So anyway, From what i understand, his body will have stopped making his own natural steroid and his immune system will be very low so is susceptible to other stuff too but I dont really know what other side affects to expect.

He says he has a headache, his legs are sore and he is a lot more "emotional" than he usually is.

We have an appointment with the respiratory specialist on Tuesday and then a consultant appointment in 4 weeks time.

I just want to try and gather enough information before heading into a meeting with his headteacher before he goes back to school next week.

What dose is he on?

hiya

He started on 8 5mg tabs a day for 10 days then 7 tabs for a week, currently 6 for a week and so on - reducing by 1 tab a week till all gone.

I had exactly the same last year, but ended up in ICU.

I've had many courses of pred since and as a result have to take calcium supplements daily and alendronic acid once a week.

That should be fine but you can get a bit of withdrawal from them and it affects everyone differently but the complete shut down of his own production probably wouldn't happen that quick. I am on them and you definitely get emotional and achey when the dose is being reduced. I always feel really spaced out too and tearful.Poor thing they are strong drugs but life savers in certain situations. 8 weeks is not too long.

Thanks for the advice,

My youngest son has been on pred on and off since having bronchiolitis when he was a baby and has suffered with chest problems ever since but seems to be growing out of it. Those courses were only 3 days, maybe 5 max so 8 weeks of it seemed a long time!

Hopefully though its what is making him so well now :)

the side effects of the pred will wear off very quickly as the dose is reduced so quickly as well but it does make a lot of people more emotional and can also cause leg pain/muscle aches along with a massively increased appetite. I wouldn't worry too much about the reduced immunity thing tbh as it's summer and he's only on the pred for eight weeks very luckily in the summer time.

has he had chicken pox though? it's very important if he hasn't had it and is then exposed to it that you see a gp within 24 hours so they can start him on antivirals if necessary (he might not have been on the pred long enough for it to affect his immunity that much, I don't know)

when you speak to the head, remind them that if he breaks a limb (heaven forbid) or is in a serious accident, they need to tell the hospital he's been on high dose steroids although tbh we forgot to do this and nothing bad happened . you could also ask the head to let him rest in a quiet corner if he needs to during the day in case he gets tired as the pred can make you tired sometimes and hyper at other times. and remind them that it can affect emotional behaviour so he might be more tearful or perhaps aggressive and that it is not his fault if he is. I usually keep ds off school til he is on about 10mg daily or 20mg every other day but I am a bit of a fusspot

if you want him on extra calcium/magnesium while he's on pred don't forget you can't give it at the same time as the pred as they interact
hope he's on the mend soon - sounds a v scary time for you both

He had a mild case of chickenpox about a year ago so I'm hoping he should be ok with regard to that.

He has to carry a steroid card with him so I have photocopied it at work so the school have their own copy to keep in case anything happens at school (god forbid)

I will make notes on what i need to speak to the head about though - i think of things at night when everything is going through my head and then forget to write them down!

Just one thing....He was given a magnesium infusion when we was in hospital but why would he need extra calcium/magnesium now?

sometimes the muscle aches can be caused by low levels of magnesium or calcium. it's prob not the case here as he hasn't been on them long. in some countries they are routinely prescribed alongside the pred but you have to take them 12 hours apart. the pred stops absorbtion I think so that's why they supplement

ahhh ok, maybe the resp nurse will advise either way when we see her next week. He says his legs hurt and his wrist joints as well.