Swelling on Steriods- help please

chocolatey78

Last year i had my 1st baby and althought my arthritis was controlled well during the pregnancy, it cmae back with vengance within days of giving birth. I was put back on my drigs but as we know most take 3-6 months to kick in so to help control the pain my gp put me on a very high dose of steriods. I was not warned of any side effectts and needless to say 8 weeks later i wasn't sleeping well i was having hot flushes and my face was swollen to such an extent it was painful to touch.

I have gradully lower my dose to now 3 mg a day but was started on methotrexate and until they find the right dose for me they won't allow me to reduce it anymore. My problem is although i'm only on the 3 mg i still get hot flushes when i do any type of excercise even a walk to the shops, but whats effecting me more is the swelling in my face. If you just saw my face you would think my body should look like that of a very obese person. MY RA nurse says at such a low dose the steriod won't be effecting it, and its most prob due to my weight gain after having the baby, but even at 9 months pregnant my face hadn't changed it was only a month or so after.

Has anyone gone though or is going thought the same thing when can/ or can i expect my face to go down or must i except i will forever look like a hamster?

elnafinn

Hi there

Do you mean that you have developed a moon shaped face and swollen neck? This can be caused by taking steroids. I believe it goes when you no longer take them or take a very low dose.

Sorry I cannot be of more help.

Look after yourself,
Elna

c4thyg

I recently came off steroids for a blood condition I have and did have the side effects that you describe and lots of others but only when on the high doses. I started on 60mg a day and very slowly tapered the dose. I don't know if you are aware but there are other side effects associated with withdrawal and I found these harder as i was dropping the dose every 5 days. 3mg really is a very small dose. To put it into perspective your body produces the equivalent of 10mg of prednisone a day. If you are staying on a constant dose for a while you should find that a lot of the side effects disappear. As for the moon face (which I had as well), it did start to disappear a few weeks after I dropped below 10mg. It was gradual and I barely noticed it. It will go away. Do you have your potassium levels checked? Steroids can lower your potassium levels and this causes a lot of the symptoms. Also sodium salts make water retention worse. I switched to low salt to boost my potassium and reduce my sodium intake and it did ease some of the symptoms.

I hope some of this helps. I certainly know where you are coming from. I've been on and off steroids a lot over the last 3 years including within months of giving birth. Just remember that it is temporary and you will see yourself in the mirror again. Hang in there and enjoy your new baby. Congrats by the way.

chocolatey78

It is most def a moon face i have, i also have what my RA Dr discribed as a buffalo hump

The swelling has gone down but i'm no where i use to be. the maximum dose i was on was 30mg per day. I must say I haven't notice many other side effects since reducing them. But wth being on so many drugs its hard to tell, hehe!

I'm loving being a mum but my RA Dr's seem to want to discourage me from having another, i wouldn't say i was ready for another now but maybe in a few years. How many kids do you have and did you have them pre or post dignoses?

Thanks for all the help!