prednisone

A powerful corticosteroid drug sometimes prescribed for the treatment of severe asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, or other disorders. This drug is generally given in a short course of high doses (2/day for about three days), as prolonged use causes bad side effects, including diabetes, peptic ulcers, and high blood pressure.

Because asthma attacks are basically episodes of acute inflammation of the bronchi, a short course of prednisone can suppress the inflammation and speed recovery. Prednisone, like most corticosteroids, causes a limited form of dependence very slowly over a long period of time. Thus, short courses of fairly high doses are common for asthmatics (especially when sick with colds, bronchitis, etc). Dangers of withdrawal complications (due to suppression of natural hydrocortisone production) generally occur only with long-term treatment.

(Summarized from AMA literature)

prednisone: the generic name of one of the synthetic glucocorticoid hormones, used therapeutically as a substitute for cortisol from the adrenal cortices.

Dictionary of Sexology Project: Main Index

I have been prescribed Prednisone several times over the years to help treat my Crohn's Disease. While the medicine does help heal the intestines, it does cause many nasty side effects including acne, mood swings, depression, increased facial hair growth, weight gain, food cravings, increased hunger, rash, stretch marks, and intense anger.

One cannot just stop taking Prednisone, instead you must be weaned off it by gradually lowering the dose over the course of weeks. It is not uncommon to go from a 50mg dose down to a 45mg after three weeks, then down to 40mg after three more weeks, and so on down to an eventual 0mg. It should be noted that the medication stays in the body for up to six months after the final dose, which means that the side effects do tend to linger on during this time.