Coping with Prednisone and Other Cortisone Related Medicines [Hardcover]

"Coping With Prednisone" is the saga of Eugenia, a concert flutist who is diagnosed with a potentially fatal illness. The only treatment is ...........(gasp!) Prednisone therapy for six months. Yes, Prednisone (cortisone) IS a wonder drug, but it has many side effects that can be devastating. Eugenia, a very talented and intelligent woman, has seen the ravaging effects of Prednisone therapy on a close acquaintance. She is determined that she will not fall victim to the dreaded side effects. As an illustration of the seriousness of these side effects, on page 11, we are treated to the observation that the doctor who invented cortisone, "was honored for discovering this wonder drug, but when his patients started getting all the nasty side effects, he committed suicide." Eugenia, lucky lady, has a sister who is a physician, who helps to plan a frontal attack.This book details some of those side effects. It begins with a tunnel-vision focus on the bloating aspect of Prednisone therapy. This, evidently, is what is what terrified the patient/author more than anything. However, after a few months into the therapy, she found that other side effects, such as mood swings, proved less manageable and more devastating than the bloating. The mood swings she describes involve anxiety and depression. In order to make unbiased judgment of Prednisone¹s role in Eugenia's mood swings, the reader would be advised to remember that the diagnosis of her illness was almost concurrent with the beginning of Prednisone therapy. In all probability, some of the anxiety/depression would have been evident even without the drug therapy. This type of anxiety/depression is normally present when facing a very serious illness, especially one from which recovery may not be possible. In this case, the author never did quite believe she would recover. This is NOT to say that Prednisone does not cause mood swings, but rather to show that other factors often affect the severity of the problem.The ex! planation, in almost lay terms, of what Prednisone is and what it does is one most people never get. It seems that those who understand what to expect are likely to be less frightened by the he drug. The book does explain many of the potential side effects, and therefore, leaves the reader alert for their occurrence. After reading this book, it seems that one vital point is not stressed. That point is that the effects of Prednisone will be different for each individual. Not everyone will have a problem with the mood swings.The focus of "Coping With Prednisone" is not short-term-Prednisone therapy. But it also is not the longer-term therapy of those patients who must be on moderately high doses of the drug for the remainder of their lives. I feel the book would have done well to point out that some of the side effects which are not so much a problem when the drug is taken for six months, could be severe when taken for two years or more. Most people have no idea that diet is a consideration when on Prednisone. It was high time that someone told them. This book does it well and simply. Sodium, carbohydrate, fat and even potassium in the diet all require careful attention. Some of the recipes are so simple that they rate high approval from people with limited energy. The Basic Yam recipe on page 132 is a perfect example.My review of this book has included perceptions from two different points of view, that of a nurse who has seen many patients on Prednisone, and that of a patient who is now on long term therapy. I could say that I would suggest this book for anyone who will be undergoing Prednisone therapy, and I do. But, after seeing the struggle of many physicians to understand the true effects on their patients, I would go a step further, and also suggest it as required reading for physicians who prescribe the drug. It gives a face to the patient who is "coping with Prednisone".

I found the Zukerman's description well written and descriptive, but not very applicable to the general Prednisone user. She is a professional musician and television personality, so she was rightfully very concerned about her appearance changing because of the Prednisone. She radically changed her diet, almost completely eliminating salt and sugars, and closely monitoring her caloric intake, despite her ravenous appetite resulting from the drug. While this is an admirable ideal, it is somewhere between impractical to impossible to use this approach. She also described her personal struggle with the emotional and behavioral effects, but these effects vary so widely from person to person that, again, I found it mostly inapplicable.

Ingelfinger's medical information was just excellent. She was very frank in saying that there is precious little hard medical information about the side effects of Prednisone and other steriods, despite a veritable warehouse of information about their direct effects as an anti-inflammatory, anti-immune drug. This is refreshing and realistic, as most medical professionals would be hesitant to make a statement like this. The myriad positive effects of Prednisone are listed, and a partial list of diseases that are helped by is also here. The appendix of the book is loaded with tables of background information, technical/chemical descriptions, and other references. I learned a lot, and I can recommend this book most highly based just on this part of the book.

I purchased this book after having been on Predisilone for over 18 months. It has been an excellent read. I only wish i had found it when first prescribed the high dose of 60mg per day of prednisilone. 18 months later and now on 5 mg, i found this book was so helpful in expalining the side effects and symptoms from firts hand experience of the patient and of a member of her family. The way it has been written, with both views and experiences made it informative and helpful for both me and my closest family. I would recommend it to anyone has been on this medication long term...regardless of the condition they have. It provides far more insight than any of the advice and /or information provided by medical profession on prescribing or the leaflets available about side effects of steroids. Although it is written by an American and so the list of help organisations at the end of the book covers America, the book is certainly worth every penny.

Marsha56 (UK)