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| Pronunciation |
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 (PRED
ni
sone) |
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| Brand Names |
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| Deltasone®; Liquid Pred®;
Meticorten®; Orasone®; Prednicen-M® |
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| Foreign Brand
Names |
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| Apo-Prednisone® (Canada);
Jaa-Prednisone® (Canada); Novo-Prednisone® (Canada);
Wimpred®
(Canada) |
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| Therapeutic
Categories |
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Corticosteroid, Oral |
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| Reasons not to take this
medicine |
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- If you have an allergy to prednisone or any other part of the
medicine.
- If you have a serious
infection.
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| What is this medicine used
for? |
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- This medicine is used for the treatment of inflamed areas of the body,
severe allergies, skin problems, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,
organ transplantation, leukemias/lymphomas, brain swelling, ulcerative colitis,
sarcoidosis, spinal cord injuries, Addison's disease, and arthritis.
- This medicine is used in other diseases where the anti-inflammatory or
immunosuppressant properties are needed. Talk with healthcare
provider.
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| How does it work? |
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- Prednisone is a man-made form of an important chemical produced in the
body.
- Prednisone puts down the body's response to the allergen (the cause of
the allergy) and reduces swelling, redness, itching, and other symptoms of
allergy.
- It also reduces the body's ability to fight
infection.
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| How is it best taken? |
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- Take with food. Take in the morning if you are taking this medicine
once a day.
- A liquid (concentrate, syrup) is available if you cannot swallow
pills. Those who have feeding tubes can also use the liquid. Flush the feeding
tube before and after medicine is given.
- Do not suddenly stop using this medicine if you have been taking it
for a long time. Medicine should be slowly
decreased.
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| What do I do if I miss a
dose? |
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- Take a missed dose as soon as possible.
- If it is almost time for the next dose, skip the missed one. Return to
your regular schedule.
- Do not take a double dose or extra doses.
- Do not change dose or stop taking medicine without talking with
healthcare provider.
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| What are the precautions when
taking this
medicine? |
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- Wear disease medical alert identification if you have asthma, lung
disease, or are an allergy sufferer or if you are going to be on this medicine
longer than 3-4 weeks.
- Tell healthcare provider if you are currently being treated for any
infections.
- Unless healthcare provider told you to stop, it is dangerous to run
out of this medication. Get it refilled today!
- Avoid alcohol (includes wine, beer, and liquor). Alcohol increases
risk of stomach irritation/ulcers.
- If you have had a stomach ulcer or bleeding, tell healthcare provider.
Can cause ulcers.
- Use caution if you have a weakened heart. Salt and water can
accumulate. Talk with healthcare provider.
- Use caution if you are diabetic. Talk with healthcare provider.
Diabetic medicine may need increasing.
- Use caution if you have high blood pressure. Your blood pressure may
increase. Talk with healthcare provider.
- Tell dentists, surgeons, and other healthcare providers about this
medicine.
- Tell healthcare provider if you are allergic to any medicine. Make
sure to tell about the allergy and how it affected you. This includes telling
about rash; hives; itching; shortness of breath; wheezing; cough; swelling of
face, lips, tongue, throat; or any other symptoms involved.
- Tell healthcare provider if you are pregnant or plan on getting
pregnant.
- Tell healthcare provider if you are
breast-feeding.
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| What are the common side effects
of this
medicine? |
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- Risk of infection. Avoid crowds and people with infections, colds, or
flu.
- High blood sugar. Can cause diabetes mellitus while on medicine,
usually reverses when stopped.
- Menstrual changes. If you are premenopausal you may not have period.
If you are postmenopausal you may have bleeding or spotting.
- Weakened bones. Take calcium and vitamin D as recommended by
healthcare provider.
- Weight gain. This is because of salt and water gain or because of
hunger and eating more.
- Muscle weakness, especially in the thighs and upper arms.
- Skin changes (pimples, stretch marks, slow healing if cut, hair
growth).
- Cataracts, glaucoma with long-term use.
- Changes in fat distribution. Fat stores can move to face and trunk.
- Belly pain and cramps.
- Nausea or vomiting. Small frequent meals, frequent mouth care, sucking
hard candy, or chewing gum may
help.
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| What should I monitor? |
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- If a child is using this medicine, monitor growth carefully.
- Watch for swelling of legs or belly, shortness of breath, weight gain,
exercise tolerance. If any of these worsen, talk with healthcare provider.
- Check blood sugar as ordered by healthcare provider. Watch for high
blood sugar. Causes many trips to the bathroom, thirst, weight loss.
- Watch for signs of
infection.
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| Reasons to call healthcare
provider
immediately |
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- Signs of a life-threatening reaction. These include wheezing;
tightness in the chest; fever; itching; bad cough; blue skin color; fits;
swelling of face, lips, tongue, or throat.
- Any signs or symptoms of infection. This may include a fever greater
than 99 degrees, chills, sore throat, cough, increased sputum or change in
color, painful urination, mouth sores, wound that will not heal, anal itching or
pain.
- For females, vaginal discharge and/or itching.
- Chest pains, fast heartbeats, shortness of breath, or decreased
ability to walk.
- Severe nausea, vomiting, and/or diarrhea.
- Menstrual changes. This includes lots of bleeding, spotting, or
bleeding between cycles.
- Feeling weak, tired, irritable, trembling, having rapid heartbeats,
confusion, sweating, dizziness, especially if you missed a dose or recently
stopped this medicine.
- Any rash.
- No improvement in condition or feeling
worse.
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| How should I store this
medicine? |
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- Store in a tight container at room
temperature.
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| General statements |
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- Do not share your medicine with others and do not take anyone else's
medicine.
- Keep all medicine out of the reach of children and pets.
- Keep a list of all your medicines (prescription, herbal/supplements,
vitamins, over-the-counter) with you. Give this list to healthcare provider
(doctor, nurse, pharmacist, physician assistant).
- Talk with healthcare provider before starting any new medicine,
including over-the-counter or natural products (herbs,
vitamins).
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