Thursday, February 24, 2011

Side effects of Prednisone on a 12 year old

My son has asthma.   He was diagnosed when he 2 and 1/2 year old.   He was born 5 and 1/2 weeks early and I’m pretty sure that attributed to his asthma.   

Whenever he gets sick, his asthma usually flares up.   He has never had an actual “asthma attack”.   He has problems with exercise induced asthma which makes him cough.  A lot.   We have been fighting all of the bugs that have been going around.   In order to get his asthma under control, the doctor prescribed Prednisone. 

Now, our family has had experience with this medicine.  My husband took it once and swore he would never take it again.  He said it made him want to kill people.  Literally.    That’s an adult talking.  

Now, we are giving this to my 12 year old son.   Now, after the five days are over, it’s kind of humerous; but the way he acted while on Prednisone was anything but funny at the time.  

Day one:  After the first dose, I could tell a huge difference in his attitude.  It was like he wasn’t the same kid.  He was mean to me, his Dad and his sister.  With each additional dose, he was meaner.   It was prescribed 3 pills a day for 5 days.  The first day we gave him all of them at once.  Maybe not such a good idea.

Day Two:  We decided to spread the doses out because he seemed to get better (his breathing) and then towards bedtime, he started coughing uncontrollably again.    After the second dose, he started complaining that he felt like he was on fire.   My husband then told me it had made him really hot when he took it too.  

Day Three:  Each dose brought on the hateful attitude.  It was sad because you could tell he couldn’t control the things he was saying.  He told me that he was tired of living in a dump.  Our house stinks, he said, inside and out.  Now this was after I had mopped and cleaned.  It didn’t stink. 

Day Four:  Oh, we are almost done.  I was so thankful that we only had 2 more days.   My little boy, who is normally quiet and meek, was loud and mean. 

Day Five:  Still having hot flashes, crying, uncontrollable attitude.  The crying is really getting to me.   It doesn’t matter what I say, he cries.   

I’m so thankful that we live in a time that we have medication that can help my son breath.  But, why can’t they make one that has less side effects? 

3 comments:

Hidden Jewel said...

That must be so frustrating! You might research using essential oils for his symptoms. Some people have had really good success. Email me if you want.

Cynthia

hiddenjewelalaska AT gmail DOT com

Angie said...

The first time i was prescribed Prednisone, i was cautioned by my nurse-neighbor about how 'ugly' i would be (Southern term for 'mean'). Instead, i felt calm, energetic, and happy! I got soooo much done!!!! :^\ She told me something is wrong in my brain for me to NOT have the common side effect of hatefulness. Hmm. Then my hubby took it last month, and sure enough, he was a pill! Not as bad as your son and husband, but a pill nonetheless... so my thoughts after reading your experiences (and i am soooo sorry you guys went through that!! How awful!!) are: what is the steroid DOING in the brain and why are so many affected the way they are while some of us are made better for it!?!?

I'm sure it's a sign that i am as mentally deranged as some might think, but it's sure interesting.

Thanks for sharing your story - i bet other moms will think twice before putting their kids on this when not absolutely necessary!

Trish said...

Our daughter was on this medication more than once from age one to four. We have seen huge behavioral issues when she's on any of the asthma steroids, Albuterol or even the lower dose of Xopenex.

We use a lot of nature medicine now, and since she was 4 1/2 we have only needed the nebulizer once...and that was this past week because she ended up with pneumonia.

It seems crazy to me that most doctors are unwilling to look at nature medicine, it works.

Seriously, by the time our daugther was 18 months old, she was on three different steroids to try to control her asthma. I finally weened her myself and went looking for alternatives. At 2 1/2 we found a pediatrician that was finally willing to listen to me and stop fighting my desire for something natural.

This stuff is horrible. Yet, they need to breathe...and we need to give them this sometimes. It is a blessing even if there are major side effects. We have been going through major behavioral melt downs for the same reasons.

Blessings,
Trish
PS. Sorry, this is disjointed, too many little ones grabbing my attention while commenting. *smile*

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