Mood changes Description: mood changes caused by corticosteroids are usually minors (e.g. insomnia, anxiety, irritablity, short-term memory loss and difficulty concentrating). In very rare cases, severe symptoms do appear (e.g. depression, delusions, euphoria). Frequency : minor mood changes are commonplace. For example, 40 to 50% of patients reported insomnia, irritability or anxiety. Severe [...]
Weight and physical appearance Description: corticosteroids are known to frequently cause weight gain in patients. This gain is is usually moderate, consisting of 1 to 2 kilograms of added mass. In addition, corticosteroids enlarge certain aspects of the face. A "moon face" can result, meaning a large forehead and a large chin appear [...]
Other side effects Cortisone can cause some rare side effects that are less well known in the medical world. For example, a small tremble of the hands is reported by 20-25% of patients. When doses of cortisone are reduced, this symptom goes away. Changes in the voice and hair loss are other side [...]
Pregnancy There are conditions that are unique to pregnancy or triggered by it that may require the prescription of corticosteroids. The cortisone is then used in a carefully chosen form, alongside the expertise of an obstetrician. Pregnancy can occur in women already taking cortisone for a chronic condition. We know that pregnancy generally [...]
Diet There is little known about the optimal diet during corticosteroid therapy. Your eating habits should depend on your age, pre-existing conditions you may have (diabetes, etc) and the cortisone prescribed (dose, duration). Your diet will also depend largely on your physician's expertise based on your personal case. A low salt diet is [...]
Contra-indications There are no full contra-indications for a treatment with corticosteroids when this treatment is required. However, there are cases where corticosteroids are not recommended: Evolving infectious diseases Severe psychiatric disorder that has been unsuccessfully treated Individuals who have been recently received lived attenuated vaccines In addition, In cases of active peptic ulcer, [...]
How to take your cortisone medication? It is considered best to take corticosteroids in the morning as this is when the body usually produces the most cortisol. However, for certain diseases or severe cases, your doctor may prescribe you treatment in two separate doses (e.g. morning/afternoon or morning/evening). It is usually recommended that [...]
Skin disorders Description: corticosteroids may trigger adverse skin reactions that usually correspond to one of three types: trophic (skin fragility) -this includes stretch marks, bruises, dry skin, difficulties for healing. (Figure 1-2) infections others : e.g., acne (Figure 3), perioral dermatitis (Figure 4), increased hair growth, depigmentation Frequency: it is hard to estimate [...]
For what conditions? Many diseases are treated with corticosteroids. It would be difficult to include all of them on a single list. For example, when prednisoneentered the market, it concerned the treatment of over a hundred diseases. A study in the UK revealed that the main conditions frequently requiering long term (i.e. > [...]
Who is treated? A study completed in the UK shows that at any moment approximately 1% of the general population is treated with oral corticosteroids through either oral, intravenous or intramuscular administration. This figure does not take into account those patients that have received corticosteroids by other routes of ingestion (e.g. inhalation or [...]