When will my prednisone side effects start to go away??????

I know everyone is different, but im so confused about this prednisone stuff!!! I've been on it since the middle of August, 40mg a day..went into the hospital 2 weeks later and was up to 120mg a day..didnt show any puffiness in my face until i got out of the hospital, which was the end of september...so i've been on prednisone for about 3 months and im only on 15mg/day now..weaning off 5mg every week, so i'll be completely off of it in about 3 weeks...i lost 22 pounds in the hospital, and was on clear liquids for the longest time there, so the weight i gained recently only brought me up to about 5 pounds under what i used to be..of course i now have the big moon face, the hump on my back, and the puffiness in my neck and shoulders..i did notice some puffiness in my belly and waist... i'm just wondering when im really gonna start dropping the water weight and when my face will go down...does anyone have any ideas based on my little story above how much longer and how fast this water weight and puffiness will take to get rid of? any insight would be great!

I don't suffer from all of the puffy side effects, but I do get really bad acne and a bit puffier around my middle from prednisone. I just finished my taper on October 1st, and I'm already seeing a decrease in my acne, and my belly has shrunk back down to almost normal. I was also on it from about the same time as you - mid august with really high doses during my hospital visit...

As you said, everyone is different, but I'm noticing the nasty side effects fading and I've only been off for a month. Best of luck to you. Prednisone is not an easy drug to deal with. I hope your taper goes smoothly and that you're de-puffed in time to bring in the new year!

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26f, dx'd CD July '05 after 6 fistula/abscess surgeries
Currently running on Humira and Hope.
(miscarried at 13 weeks, now waiting to heal before trying again)

"Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate, but that we are powerful beyond measure."

~Marianne Williamson

I was on 100mg of pred for 3 months, Im currently dropped down to 25mg (been on it for about a year total), usually I start noticing the side effects going away around 10mg, it really depends how long youve been on it and how fast you taper off...my GI said my side effects might take as long as a month completely off of it for the moon face to go away because Ive been on it for so long, but I have noticed my face has gotten a little smaller since being on 25mg.

Hi I had a hard time on the pred. too and as stated it got better as I lowered .It was about a month after stopping I noticed a difference. Best Wishes on your taper. lol gail

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Hallarious woman over 50 ,CD ,IBS 27 years--resection,fistula's,obstructions,and still alive.lol gail

I feel like a sissy. The most pred I have had to take was 20 mg. I got the fat face, the facial hair and the buffalo hump. I'm down to 7.5 a day . I guess I just have to pray it all goes away.
abcd

I was recently in the hospital for 6 days on 80mg of prednisone (actually the equivalent dose of hydrocortisone, which is well north of the prednisone dosage) and I started having problems by the third day on it (big face, lots of water retention, unable to sleep, emotional reactions.) What I noticed for myself was that quick doses of prednisone, like what I was on, flush out of my system fairly soon after I stop and the side effects seem to disappear fairly quickly. They are mostly gone now. When I am on it for longer periods of time (months on end) it takes much longer for all of the effects to disappear -- perhaps several weeks after a successful taper. For my own personal treatment, I don't like to ever, ever, ever use prednisone for anything other than absolute emergencies where there is no other choice.

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+ 34 year old male
+ Crohn's Disease DX in 1997, doc said it was "moderate to severe"
+ Recently hospitalized because of ruptured small bowel; docs got it under control but have scheduled resection surgery for January 2010.
+ Taking Cipro (1000mg / day), Flagyl (1500mg / day), and Entocort (9mg / day) until surgery
+ SCD for past 10 years

I had the worst side effects!!! I was supposed to be on 40 mg every day but the pharmacy or someone messed up and i was taking 160 mg daily. I went pretty much psycho! I was so moody, emotional and crazy. I got bad acne, a super puffy face and puffy belly. And being in high school its so difficult because everyones like ooh chubby face!! blah blah blah it was so hard for me. I hate prednisone, ugh so difficult to be on. I hope your side effects go away soon and that you can deal with it better than I did!

Side effects from pred will dissipate once the pred is out of your system, as long as you're on pred expect to keep having side effects.

:)

I guess I'm weird, because I get the side effects AFTER I taper and stop. I usually break out for a few weeks after the course is finished.

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Diagnosed with Crohn's in 2008 at the age of 22.
Currently taking: Azathioprine, tramadol, welchol, promethazine
Surgeries: Cholecystectomy (2007)

It took me about 2months for all the side effects to go. I had hairy face (im a girl) to go with the puffy face

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Diagnosed 2005.  41 year old female living in UK