Methylprednisolone - Be Ware of It !

Ok .. here is my summer story...

Back in June 3oth(2005), my husbadn fell os our steps, and when he tried to grab the rail he twisted his upper back and neck. At the time we didnt think much of it, and once he had no pain he just lel it go.

Than the situation slowly got worse and finally on July 11 th we went to the ER, once he hasnt able to sleep at night anymore such was the pain in both his arms.

At the ER we were sent to a Orthopedian specialist, that after 2 days after my husbands appointment went on vacation and left the problem in "no mans hands".

This specialits sent us hoem with some pain killers and said " it will go with time"... and time passed... 3 more days with no sleep during night or day (except for one or two hours, when exhaustion kicked in), and the problem was getting worse ...again to the ER... at the ER, they sentus home saying there was nothing they could do, my husband already had pain medication so he should see the Orthopedian.

The next day in the morning (after another sleepless night), we called the Orthopedian's office (thats when we found out he had gonne on vacation), so the nurse found another doctor that spoke to my husband by phone only, once he refused to give him an appointment, saying " you already had your emergency appointment, theres not much i can do for you".

Amazing, huh ?

Well it gets better, this doctor sent us for MRI and X-Rays, and the next day by a miracle we managed to have both donne in a couple fo hours, and the result were sent to the second Orthopedian.

The next day (after abother sleepless night for the both of us, by the way this counts as 9 nights and days that my husband was in horrible pain in both arms), we received a phone call from the doctor and he precribed, once again on the phone, without even knowing about possible allergies or talking about any medecine side-effects, he perscribed my huabdan the following medicine :

METHYLPREDNISOLONE, its a cortisoid steroid, for muscle infalmations, because according to him that was the diagnossis.

Ok, we were incredibly happy, because in our minds that was the sign that things would get better, right ?

WRONG !

From the day he took this medecine things got only worse.

The situation developed to the point that my husband, suffered added joint pain (that he didnt had before the medecine), fever, severe constipation, nausea, vomit, full body muscle cramping that lasted from 2 to 3 hours on a daily basis, and was off course worse at night ( 9 more slepless days and nights), meanwhile, as this "soap opera" was going on, we called the second Orthopedian (the one who prescribed this on the phone), to tell him how bad things were going and that we needed to see him. And we got a nurse (not even the doctor himself), who told us that the Dr."whatever" (i wont even dignefy to post his bastardly name), said "well if the medecine didnt work, i dont know what else it can be...go to a neurocirgion, you need neck surgery"

This is the kind of thing you tell people on the phone ?

And it gets better...

3 days ago still suffering the effects of this medecine, my husbands face became paralysed... basecally from his nose down to his cheen, nothing moves. Again ... we called the doctors office, and we found out that this doctor as well had gonne on vacation... another THRID Orthopedian called us, and said ... "go to the ER, you prbably had a small stroke"

and im so pissed .... !! you treat people like this ???

Back to the ER we went... they took a catscan and blood tests... we found out thank God there had been stroke.

The problem was that this medecine, drainned my husband from his Sodium Levels almost to a lethal point, and thats what all the horrible side- effects and the facial paralisys... He was treated with IV serum, and he is still under medical care, and will be for a while . Up to know we still dont know if his face will come back to normal or if it is permanent. The ER doctors arent sure...

Now, it has been 2 and a half day of paralisys, and around 20 days of agony, stress, agravation, etc.

In a weird way, the facial paralisys was ablessing in disguise because it open the doctors doors to us, when up till now we had nothing but phone calls....

Keep METHYLPREDNISOLONE in you minds... cause it almost killed my husband.



Mod Edit: ALL-CAPS title

[edit on 25-7-2005 by kinglizard]

Prednisone is nothing to be taken lightly but it has its uses. Did you husband abruptly stop taking it? Most steriods require a tapering off period otherwise there can be some nasty side effects.

I agree with you that the care your husband recieved is beyond appaling. I take it you are in the UK? In the states I would phone up the patient care advocate immediatly and basically repeat your entire experience and see what they have to say. That at the very least will get thier attention to this matter.

Sorry to hear about your troubles. Prednisone usually works the other way and causes a rise in serum sodium. Its a common medication used in organ transplants as it supresses the immune system

The most commonly encountered side effects are:

Sodium retention
Increased appetite
Increased fat deposits
Increased acid in your stomach
Increased sweating, especially at night
Increased hair growth
Acne on the face, back, and chest
Bone and muscle problems
Growth problems in children
Eye problems
Increased sugar in the blood
Increased sensitivity to the sun
Delayed wound healing
Decreased ability to fight infection
Thrush (Candida) growth in the mouth
www.transweb.org...

Originally posted by FredT
Prednisone is nothing to be taken lightly but it has its uses. Did you husband abruptly stop taking it? Most steriods require a tapering off period otherwise there can be some nasty side effects.

Not really Fred, one of those doctors told him to stop the medecine after the second day when things started getting worse.

I agree with you that the care your husband recieved is beyond appaling. I take it you are in the UK? In the states I would phone up the patient care advocate immediatly and basically repeat your entire experience and see what they have to say.

We are in PA-USA, and thats exactly what we are taking care of now

That at the very least will get thier attention to this matter.

Sorry to hear about your troubles. Prednisone usually works the other way and causes a rise in serum sodium. Its a common medication used in organ transplants as it supresses the immune system

I think he may have had a very bad allergic reaction, because he does have a lot of allergies, and the doctor never spoke to him about that ...Right now he still has his face frozen... and he still has the pain in both his arms, but its a litle more barable and allows him to sleep longer...he slept 5 hours last night.

thank you for your words and info Fred !!

I'm sorry to hear what happened to your husband, BaastetNoir.
Seems like the case of Bell's Palsy. Majority of the patients with facial paralysis diagnosed with Bell's Palsy do recover in a short period of time.

Hope you feel better.

you know if noticed this kind of thing with doctors, they are supposed to know whats wrong, but it ends up they just give advice and you weigh it and make a decision.

Why did your husband not immeditely stop taking this medication when things got worse? you have to watch things like this because the doctors dont. be really careful if your on more than one medication, talk to the pharmacist in case of interactions.

And i know this none of my business, but isnt your husband rather young to have a stroke? or is he quite a bit older?

Anyway, baby him some, hehe

My husband had a spinal cord injury that at first mimicked a simple muscle spasm, and he was given, among other things, prednisone of some sort. Of course this did not help.

Maybe your husband needs to see a neurosurgeon or neurologist?? My husband's cord compression causes pain, tingling and numbness in his arms and fingers. He also has muscle rigidity in his feet and legs.

If you have a HMO or, God forbid no insurance, they will act like you should see if it will go away by itself, but if it is coming from the spinal cord, untreated injury can lead to permanent scarring and damage. If you've already had an MRI, make them send the films to a neurosurgeon for a look.

Firstly, to the poster, I hope you husband recovers soon. Best wishes

But Fred, I am wandering why you said this:

I take it you are in the UK?

Just wandering......

So sorry to hear this has happened to you and your DH -- one way to learn more about reactions that could happen with meds. is to ask the pharmacist when you pick them up.

Will keep your both in my thoughts and prayers.

FredT -- I love the minor mention of eye problems -- I am dealing with a steroid cataract that I guess fits under that catagory huh?

I have been getting poison ivy for my entire life. Very badly. So, I know how to spot it. Last month I decided to clear my back yard of it. I wore clothes over everything in the blistering heat. When I was done, I packed them into a garbage back and put them in the corner of my basement. Suprisingly. I did not get Poison Ivy.

Last week, (about a month later) I developed a rash over almost my entire body. It was awful. My dog had gotten into that bag and made a little bed in the basement without me knowing. I mean, I had it BAD.

It was so bad after 2 days that I couldnt funtion, so I went to the doctor. He prescribed me methlyprednisolone. By the next morning the rash was almost gone. All that was left was some dry areas where the poison ivy had blistered and "oozed".

This is nothing less than a miracle. I suffered no side effects aside from a possible lack of appetite. Which may have been anything. I would recommend this to ANYONE who is in that condition. It takes weeks for poison ivy to go away. Mine was gone in less than 4 days...and 1 day after taking this medicine.

Originally posted by stumason
Firstly, to the poster, I hope you husband recovers soon. Best wishes

But Fred, I am wandering why you said this:

I take it you are in the UK?

Just wandering......

Because of the word "Orthopedian". I have heard British MD's at work refer to the Orthopods in that manner.

Originally posted by FredT

Originally posted by stumason
Firstly, to the poster, I hope you husband recovers soon. Best wishes

But Fred, I am wandering why you said this:

I take it you are in the UK?

Just wandering......

Because of the word "Orthopedian". I have heard British MD's at work refer to the Orthopods in that manner.

Ahh..I see...you are forgiven

Orthopods sounds like a type of Dinosaur though!

(Coming from a gal who visited several Orthopedians in her time...and yes, we have such fun names for our specialists in England )

Steroids are like any other medicinal substance; some people will have no reaction at all, and others can have dangerous (even life-threatening) reactions.

Unfortunately, there's no real way of predicting this, and as was mentioned in other posts, that family of steroids have saved many, many lives.

It's absolutely essential to find out as much as you can about the drugs you're prescribed; we seem to have no problem looking for a second opinion when we're considering surgery, but we never seem to bother when it comes to filling a prescription - it's perhaps not always necessary, but if there's any doubt it all, a couple of phone calls to the pharmacist can't hurt.

I'm sorry your husband went through so much; hopefully he can get the problem fixed soon!.

To the poster of this thread. I am so sorry to hear that you and your husband have experienced these unfortunate turn of events.

Keep the Faith !

You guys are in our prayers !

Truth !

Originally posted by I_s_i_s
I'm sorry to hear what happened to your husband, BaastetNoir.
Seems like the case of Bell's Palsy. Majority of the patients with facial paralysis diagnosed with Bell's Palsy do recover in a short period of time.

Hope you feel better.

Yes Isis, thats what the doctors seem to be pointing too... we'll see how long it will take ..

Originally posted by XPhilesPhan

you know if noticed this kind of thing with doctors, they are supposed to know whats wrong, but it ends up they just give advice and you weigh it and make a decision.

Why did your husband not immeditely stop taking this medication when things got worse?

He did, but the problem is that the first two doses added to 11 pills and that was enough to do the damage.
As to the age question he is 20 years my senior.

Originally posted by Frayed1

Maybe your husband needs to see a neurosurgeon or neurologist?? My husband's cord compression causes pain, tingling and numbness in his arms and fingers.

yep have an appointment with one tomorrow (Friday)


And like Fred mentioned, now he started having eye problems, because his eyes wont totally shut when he sleeps, they are getting serious driness problems and yesterday we spent another night in the ER, to get his eyes treated...

Thank you everyone for the support and kind words

Glad to hear he'll be seeing the neurosurgeon, sorry to hear he's having more troubles. I too will remember you in my prayers.

If he's not had a complete spinal MRI, insist that he have one done that shows the whole cord length and maybe also the brain area. The pain and paralyzed muscles sounds like pinched or compressed nerves, bad enough, but at least not like the strokes I've seen......while there was paralysis, there was not so much pain, and usually involved confused speech.

Good luck

Amanzigly, after 2 months the Steroid still keeps its effect coming.
Last night once again we wen to the ER, to chekc the Sodium Level... at least everything was good, so we are lead to thing the muscular spasms are from the pinched nerve and not from a low salt level anymore.

The Bells Palsy situation is 99 % healed, except for a small litle paralisys of the upper lip. The Cornea infection is healed. His eyesclose again with no problem. The salt levels ae abck to normal.

Slowly but surelly we are recovering!!

Whats left to dealwith is the muscular pain, and pinched nerve caused by a slight and very samll herniation of one of his neck disks.

Once again ...THANK YOU for the support...Believ me ...IT HELPS ALOT !

It's not fair to say "This is bad" about something without having many cases. I am really sorry that your husband had such problems with this particular drug but before completely condemning this thing shouldn't you find out how many people suffer from that particular case and nearly die?

I would guess that it's mostly safe or it would not be used in the medical industry.

Originally posted by Darkpr0
I would guess that it's mostly safe or it would not be used in the medical industry.

Mostly safe, yes. Even though a drug may go through rigorous testing it can
still cause some adverse side effects which wont be so obvious until its mass used by the population. So just cuz a drug is used by the medical industry does not make it very safe.

BaastetNoir, glad to hear he's doing better!

Originally posted by I_s_i_s

Originally posted by Darkpr0
I would guess that it's mostly safe or it would not be used in the medical industry.

Mostly safe, yes. Even though a drug may go through rigorous testing it can
still cause some adverse side effects which wont be so obvious until its mass used by the population. So just cuz a drug is used by the medical industry does not make it very safe.

This is very true....thalidomide was given to expectant women for morning sickness.....it caused terrible birth defects. It is still on the market today, but no longer given for morning sickness!

And even a drug that is safe for many can still have adverse effects on a percentage of the population. My Mother-in-law has taken prednisone for years for her arthritis, yet her daughter had an adverse 'mental' reaction when given the same drug (in a higher dosage) for a kidney disease. My husband was also given a short course of prednisone shortly after his injury....a low dosage, but his face became horribly 'flushed' and there was some intestinal bleeding......so he can't tolerate it either

Originally posted by frayed1
This is very true....thalidomide was given to expectant women for morning sickness.....it caused terrible birth defects. It is still on the market today, but no longer given for morning sickness!

Quite right. It's now usually only used to treat leprosy (Hansen's Disease), though since 2001 it's also been involved in clinical trials involving HIV-related symptoms by reducing inflammation, for prostate cancer, Crohn's disease, multiple myeloma and glioblastoma amongst others.

The anti-cancer properties are interesting. An Australian study showed that thalidomide sparked a reaction in the T cells of cancer patients, doubling the number and thus allowing the patient's own immune system to "fight back".

More on thalidomide

And even a drug that is safe for many can still have adverse effects on a percentage of the population.

The thing is, we tend to misinterpret "safe" when we're talking about drugs. It doesn't mean "won't cause any side effects" - it simply means that in relative terms, it's reasonably safe amongst most patients. Inevitably some people will have an adverse reaction; this doesn't mean that the drug is unsafe for the general population (though it can indeed be an indication that something is seriously wrong, as with Phen-Fen).

Every drug can have side effects; even some of our common OTC drugs can kill, or may produce a lethal allergic reaction (for example) in a sensitive patient. Unfortunately, there's usually no way to tell if you're going to react or not until you actually take the drug.

The question boils down to this:

Do the benefits of the drug outweigh the potential side effects?