Steroids dexamethasone, prednisolone, methylprednisolone and hydrocortisone Cancer information

You’re less likely to get side effects from a short course of steroid tablets (less than three weeks). Research is ongoing into new treatments for all types of severe asthma. Use our severe asthma tool to find out if you need a referral to a severe asthma specialist. If you need two or more short courses of steroid tablets in a year, or your symptoms come back once you’ve finished the course, you should ask your GP for a referral to a specialist clinic.

Steroids are usually only given for a short time to quickly treat flare-ups of your condition.
The risk of thinning bones and broken bones is much higher if you take high-dose steroids for more than three months.
It’s important to avoid being around anyone with chickenpox or shingles.
Because you’re only taking them for a short time, they’re unlikely to cause harmful side effects.

If you have any questions or concerns about this, talk to the healthcare professional who prescribed your steroids. If you’re taking high doses of steroids, or if you’re on them for more than three weeks, you’ll need to carry a steroid card. This will have information on your dose and how long you’ve been taking them for. These are more likely if you’re on a high dose or if you’re taking steroids for a long time.

General advice about antibiotics

But it’s important they’re up to date with other vaccines beforehand to avoid catching one of the diseases that vaccination prevents. Some people who take steroid tablets or injected steroids long term, may find they put on weight and notice they develop a “moon-shaped” face. This is a symptom of a condition called Cushing’s syndrome, linked to taking high doses of steroids. Anticoagulant medicines are medications that make the blood less sticky.

Dexamethasone or prednisolone may be prescribed along with other drugs in treating your condition.
Take the medicine container or packet with you, even if it is empty.
There’s no definite answer to this, as it’s harder to work out the risk to bone health in children and younger people who are taking steroids.
Taking steroid tablets for a long time can make you more likely to get infections.
It’s important for you and your doctor to discuss your bone health when you’re first prescribed a steroid, and to start treatment for osteoporosis as early as possible, if you need it.

For most people, steroid inhalers and steroid injections shouldn’t cause any bad side effects. Steroid tablets are generally prescribed with more caution, as these may cause more problems. Corticosteroids are mainly used to reduce inflammation and suppress the immune system. If you’re planning a family, you should discuss this with your doctor, as it’s important that a mother stays healthy during pregnancy and that flare-ups are avoided.

Changes in blood sugar levels

Keeping the card with you will help any other doctor who treats you to manage your care correctly. If you normally wear contact lenses, you might need to avoid wearing these while having treatment with steroid eye drops. Steroids can be taken in a number of ways for many different types of arthritis and related conditions, as shown in the table below. Steroids are a man-made version of chemicals, known as hormones, that are made naturally in the human body.

Anticoagulant medicines

Steroids might affect some medical conditions, such as diabetes, heart or blood pressure problems, or mental health issues. If you have any of these conditions, the person treating you will need to make sure the steroids aren’t making the condition worse. You might have regular blood and urine tests to check this.

Raised blood sugar levels

You can read more about ways to assess fracture risk in our fact sheet, ‘Bone density scanning and osteoporosis’. If you would like further information or would like to talk about any aspect of your lymphoma, please contact us. If you notice any changes in your vision, ask your GP or optometrist (optician) for an eye health check. Your doctor will work out the amount of Prednisolone (the dose) that is right for your child.

An Australian study used low-dose Prednisolone alongside blood-thinner Clexane to try to suppress natural killer cells in women with recurrent miscarriages. But the number of participants involved was https://nohairlosspharm.com minimal, making it hard to draw firm conclusions. The body’s ability to produce strong, dense bones is a balancing act between the process that builds up bone, and the process that breaks it down.

Age can also be a factor with young children and older people more commonly experiencing side effects. We list some of the less common side effects of steroids below. These are more likely if you take steroids for a long time. However, they can also happen with steroids taken at a lower dose for a long time.