Steroids

[Lowdown3]

Getting ready for a surgery and a few before a CT scan, doc gave me a prescription of steroids. Damn if that doesn't help! At certain doses I felt zero inflammation anywhere in my body, including all the parts that always seem to have inflammation. I have not had any issues getting to sleep on them.

I realize the potential problems in using them long term and that's NOT at all what I am suggesting. However I think having a small qty of these in your med supplies or even your BOB could prove very helpful. Day 2 of a bugout and your potentially sick, the world crashing around you type of stuff. Yes I would take a few days worth of them at that point.

To be clear, I'm talking about stuff from the pharmacy, not from some gym rat.... Methylprednisolone . I don't even know what the hell the gym rats use, nor do I care.

Have an older family member that was in the hospital years ago, she had checked out, wasn't eating, death's door was wide open and she was halfway stepped through. New doc came in, gave her some steroids and in just a few days she was like a new person. Problem was, he prescribed her that for an extended period of time, and complications later came up. Bone breakage, etc.

Adrenal failure/problems can evidently come from high doses of this stuff, again not what I'm talking about.

You can even feel the little 4mg tablets do something, a larger dose prepping for this surgery was like "weeeeeeeee!" Figured I would be up at night building rocking horses (Movie reference Elf), but I've slept fine even on the higher doses.

[Bill Foster]

Several years ago, a work friend (female) developed an intestinal problem. Her doc wanted to do a colostomy bag for a short period of time. She decided on a second opinion and found that c-bags are not always reversible. He suggested a round of prednisone. Cured! The drawback was weight gain, which she needed. A family member took it for fibromyalgia, didn’t work, weight gain as well. Other friends in the past took high doses for MS. It will arrest it, hallelujah, but again, weight gain and short-term digestive track problems. It can be a great medicine, but some side effects with high dosages. I got a couple of shots in the elbow many moons ago for tendinitis. Day 2, you jump out of bed in the morning with no nagging pains ready to take on the world! It’s just that liver and kidney thing...

[Lowdown3]

I've definitely put on a few lbs. on them, but it is just a temporary thing getting ready for a procedure. 2-3 days of barely being able to eat and then probably a week of not wanting to eat after the fact should more than take care of that.

This is methyl prednisone - maybe @PSD or another med expert can explain the differences in the two.

[Benn Gleck]

Prednisone is a corticosteroid which is usually prescribed for inflammation or that type of problem.

The types of steroid used by athletes are known as anabolic steroids and they mimic the action of the male hormone testosterone. They were originally developed for people with a wasting disease or severe burns that needed to gain weight/muscle mass.

There are many different types of anabolic steroids used illegally by athletes not to mention HGH (human growth hormone) and other synthetic compuonds.

[protus]

I went from cripple to. " holy _#$ , I can kinda walk " over night...after 3 days..even better.
Pain went away as well.
But as said there's some issues.

[Lowdown3]

I think I definitely put on a few lbs. while on them pre-surgery. But I'm two days out of surgery and back down to 183 already- couple of days of not really eating much took care of that pretty easy. 179-185 is my normal range.

The steroids certainly have a place in the med supplies, definitely not something that should be taken regularly though.

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

I just saw this thread, so sorry for the late reply...

Steroids are very potent anti-inflammatory agent. Advil and the like are called NSAIDs which stands for Non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. The true steroids are much more potent. Steroids can be used at very high doses for certain conditions, but low doses are very effective for most things. I will prescribe as high as 80mg/day for a few days and then taper down 10mg-20mg every few days depending on what I am treating. I will taper to 10mg/day for the last few days before stopping. High doses will override your normal producing hormones so tapering is essential when dealing with a high dose. The common one that is prescribed is a Medrol dose pak. It is usually a 4mg pill and starts at 6 tabs per day (24mg) and tapers down one pill per day.

Storing a few doses of these would be very wise if you can get them. Due to the potential negative effects, having a medical provider give you a Rx for storage will be rare.