Help! Prednisolone tablets for adult usually mild asthmatic -is this the slippery slope?

[magso]

Can anyone reassure or redirect me as I have never had oral steroids before. I have been mildly asthmatic/atopic/allergic all my life but have had a several (allergic?) attacks in the last few days where my ventolin hardly helped. My gp has given me a 5 day course of prednisolone (30mg). I doubled my becotide (100)after the first attack (5 days ago)to 4 puffs a day and was expecting to be given a stronger puffer. I didnt ask all the questions I should have done (my sn ds was with me!). I feel exhausted but don't know if this is an effect of the tablets (which I started last night)or something else.

Hi Magso. Don't worry at all. A short course of steroids won't set you on the path to ruin. You aren't actually on that strong a dose of becotide. A usual adult dose of becotide 100 is two puffs twice a day, but obviously if you have been stabilised on 2 puffs a day, then that is great. If you have any concerns speak to your pharmacist or the practise nurse. Fatigue is unlikely to be an effect of the steroids. Might you have developed an infection? Having said that coughing and wheezing makes me knackered.

It shouldn't be an effect of the tablets. They should start to work pretty quickly, I have had them before, when I've had a chest infection/bronchitis that won't clear up, even after increasing my inhalers. Last time I had them, my peak flow was 56!

IME the prednisolone is usually given as a boost to set you back on course. There's a horrible virus doing the rounds at the moment which leaves you breathless and exhausted. I had this recently and ended up with my first asthma flare-up in almost 10 years.

The way the consultant explained it to me was that the prednisolone would be a fast-acting way to help my lungs rather than waiting days or weeks for the steroid inhalers to start working. If the asthma is still uncontrolled when the prednisalone has run out (2 weeks for me) then it will be time to reconsider steroid inhalers.

Thanks ladies. Was a bit worried as for decades I needed only the odd puff of ventolin! It is 20 years since I had a serious flare up following a dose of pneumonia!