Libido And Prednisone

[+ Gar1eth]

There are two types of treatment for myasthenia gravis (for newcomers who didn't read my posts starting in 2017-myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune muscle disease that I was diagnosed with in 2017). One is purely a symptom medicine called Mestinon that most people are started on. It doesn't really affect the course of the disease. But it can counteract some of the symptoms of muscle weakness.

 

However there often comes a point where Mestinon no longer works because the disease is 'too active'. In that case the person has to be on some kind of treatment that either modifies or suppresses the immune system as the problem in the disease is that your immune system is attacking your muscles.

 

So I was diagnosed either September or October 2017. Mestinon alone worked until December. I resisted treatments with immunosuppressants until I couldn't fight it any longer and was started on high dose prednisone -60 mg -last February/March (My jaws and swallow were so affected it was taking me 3 hours to finish-or not finish as was often the case a Whopper from Burger King. In addition sometimes I was having trouble holding my head up or keeping my eyelids open) .

 

I was doing well enough to be weaned down to 15 mg by October. But due to an exacerbation of my symptoms, I've been back up to 50 mg since January. You can tell too. My face is round enough to look like a moon. And my tummy which wasn't small to begin with could now cause me to be mistaken for Santa Claus' cuter younger brother.

 

But the interesting thing is that last year when I was on the high dose prednisone my libido was in the toilet. It was very hard for me to get a "stiffy". I did some reading and found that high dose prednisone can suppress testosterone production. It can literally shrink the size of your testes just like taking supplemental testosterone can. This time around though, while my testes have still shrunk , I'm occasionally waking up with a morning stiffy which actually hasn't happened on a routine basis for years. And I also get easily aroused looking at the guys on Rentmen.

 

Gman

[Gvtire]

I’ve been on 15 mg of Prednisones daily for the last 5 years since the transplant. No sex drive at all. Before still like a rabbit.

[+ LIguy]

I have an autoimmune disease that destroys my patelets and I came out of remission after 30 years and I was put on prednisone in the ER with an initial dose of 120mg and I was put in intensive care and kept on 120mg for 5 days until platelet count started going up, I was released with a dose of 60mg a day and that lasted for 8 months until the docs started a taper. I was a mess....no libido...eating anything I could get my hands on but when I got under 20mgs a day I was even more of a mess. Severe pain from spinal stenosis flared....mood swings...meltdowns...no libido. I am off it now but I am very weak. I can no longer walk more than a block. I work full time to keep my business going but it's a struggle to get through the day. I just started seeing a neurologist to help me try to get back to normal.

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

Prednisone is known to have a slew of ugly side effects. As my doc once said to me, if you don't have an extreme need for it, don't take it.

 

I know a lot of people in the theatre world who take it to help power through performances when they don't feel well, but don't want to call out.

[MscleLovr]

Prednisone is known to have a slew of ugly side effects. As my doc once said to me, if you don't have an extreme need for it, don't take it.

 

I know a lot of people in the theatre world who take it to help power through performances when they don't feel well, but don't want to call out.

 

Prednisone is a very useful drug if you need it but it has known adverse effects. I don’t understand why anyone would take it unless it and its tailored dosage were absolutely necessary. I do know that coming off Prednisone has to be carefully tapered over a long period of time (usually reduced slowly over months).

 

As for its effect on libido, I would have thought that Prednisone’s powerful impact in giving relief or freedom from pain would improve anyone’s feelings of well-being.

[+ Gar1eth]

 

As for its effect on libido, I would have thought that Prednisone’s powerful impact in giving relief or freedom from pain would improve anyone’s feelings of well-being.

 

The loss of libido is due to the suppression of testosterone.

 

Gman

[+ Funguy]

Just so that prednisone and another form, prednisolone, dont get a totally raw deal here: when allergies really flare (as with the super blooms we are experiencing here in CA), conditions such as asthma, conditions which the doc knows 5-6 days will be enough there is a "dose pack". You take a decreasing dose every day spread out pre- breakfast to bed time and it works well. This formula is not meant for long term and by virtue of the schedule it is taken, it is automatically tapered from 24 mg day 1 to 0 on day 7.

With my leukemia I developed some fluid in my lungs and a cough. Chemo discontinued, prednisolone dose pack taken and by a week later all was back to where it should be and chemo restarted. ?

 

Steroids are not all bad.

[rvwnsd]

Just so that prednisone and another form, prednisolone, dont get a totally raw deal here: when allergies really flare (as with the super blooms we are experiencing here in CA), conditions such as asthma, conditions which the doc knows 5-6 days will be enough there is a "dose pack". You take a decreasing dose every day spread out pre- breakfast to bed time and it works well. This formula is not meant for long term and by virtue of the schedule it is taken, it is automatically tapered from 24 mg day 1 to 0 on day 7.

With my leukemia I developed some fluid in my lungs and a cough. Chemo discontinued, prednisolone dose pack taken and by a week later all was back to where it should be and chemo restarted. ?

 

Steroids are not all bad.

Thanks to using a steroid inhaler (Advair) to control my asthma, when I catch a cold the next thing that occurs is a case of bronchitis or pneumonia. Starting about ten years ago the bronchitis/pneumonia has gotten so bad that the doctor will put me on a course of prednisone (or prednisolone) and antibiotics. Gets rid of the bronchitis within a few days. The sleeplessness is NOT a welcomed side-effect, but the house gets cleaned every day and the cabinets/closets/storage locker/dresser drawers never looked better-organized.

[Rudynate]

Never look forward to taking prednisone. I need an occasional prednisone blast to bring asthma symptoms back under control. I'm also allergic to iodine contrast medium, so if I need to have any imaging that involves contrast, the radiologist premedicates with prednisone. It always does what it's supposed to, but the impatience, irritability and sleep disturbance are never easy to tolerate.

[+ Gar1eth]

Thanks to using a steroid inhaler (Advair) to control my asthma, when I catch a cold the next thing that occurs is a case of bronchitis or pneumonia. Starting about ten years ago the bronchitis/pneumonia has gotten so bad that the doctor will put me on a course of prednisone (or prednisolone) and antibiotics. Gets rid of the bronchitis within a few days. The sleeplessness is NOT a welcomed side-effect, but the house gets cleaned every day and the cabinets/closets/storage locker/dresser drawers never looked better-organized.

Never look forward to taking prednisone. I need an occasional prednisone blast to bring asthma symptoms back under control. I'm also allergic to iodine contrast medium, so if I need to have any imaging that involves contrast, the radiologist premedicates with prednisone. It always does what it's supposed to, but the impatience, irritability and sleep disturbance are never easy to tolerate.

 

I was a bit weepy the second week of taking the prednisone, but on the other hand due to the myasthenia (or possibly the prednisone itself-in about 50% to 75% of people with myasthenia-prednisone causes increased muscle weakness in the second week of therapy before it starts to help) I wasnt able to hold my head up, had no grip strength in my hands to the point that I couldn't even turn a washing machine knob (I would put both hands on the knob to try to turn it, but they would slip off without the knob turning), I couldn't hold a pen to write-or at least not easily, and eating was incredibly difficult. Plus in addition to my muscle weakness I was having to get rid of 95% of everything I owned-personal things, clothes, furniture-things I had had since college and before to move back to family. So I had ample reasons to be weepy without the prednisone.

 

Other than that period last March, I'd say in general, the prednisone has not affected my mood or sleep patterns. I did notice that everything seemed to taste bland when I was first on it. And I've heard prednisone can cause that.

 

Now my cousin had this weird lung disease that they aren't quite sure what causes it. It used to be called BOOP (bronchiolitis obliterans with organizing pneumonia). If I understand it, basically your air sacs in your lungs start scarring over, so they can't transfer air into your lungs. He was on a higher dose than I've ever been-my max has been 60 mg. He talks about getting mad for no reason-like road rage although he never acted on it. However, he has a more volatile temper than I do anyway. When my part of the family discussed it, we wondered how much was the prednisone and how much was just Hank as usual.

 

Gman

[rvwnsd]

...Have any of you considered logging your food intake for several weeks...

 

Yes, I have. That is how I identified a severe sensitivity to soy, beans, onions, and dairy products. It was life-changing.