Steroid Side Effects and Pictures
- Monday, July 20, 2009, 10:37
- Asthma
- 1,029 views
Cynthia:
I have been taking steroids, between 60-120 mg a day, for the last four years. I just wanted to know what the side effects or the results would be?
Andrew:
We all have the image of weight-lifters who take those anabolic steroids, and then we hear that they have problems, I guess, to their liver?
Dr. Shapiro:
Yes.
Andrew:
So is there any correlation?
Dr. Shapiro:
The problems with the steroids that are used for asthma are bad, but different. That’s a very big dose, and people certainly can gain weight. They can develop a very characteristic puffy face and thickness in the middle of their body–we call it “trunkal obesity.” Their middles sort of fill up and their arms and legs get kind of thin. They can lose their ability to respond to infections as well as they should. They can develop high blood-pressure, cataracts in the eyes, and problems with sugar metabolism, so they develop diabetes. And the problems go on and on. So it’s very important to try to control asthma with medications aside from the oral, by mouth, steroids. There is a small subgroup of people who are steroid resistant, and they can take 60-120 mg a day and not have these side-effects. Their body just doesn’t process the steroid like most people do, and I’m hoping maybe you’re in that category since it’s not healthy to be on that high dose of steroid. But having said that, breathing is the most important thing, and if you’ve just got absolutely terrible asthma where you need that to breathe, you certainly have to take what you need to breathe.
Andrew:
Again, you’re making the distinction between oral steroids and inhaled corticosteroids, correct?
Dr. Shapiro:
Yes, Andrew, I’m glad you mentioned that again, because there’s a tremendous difference. Oral steroids like Prelone, if they’re used for any period of time, cause problems with growth in children, and then that long list I mentioned of high blood pressure and cataracts and obesity, etc. But the inhaled corticosteroids that are used for asthma control are used typically in doses that don’t have side-effects. They have to be watched and people need to have their dose tapered to the least dose that is effective. That’s certainly very, very important. Most people can be treated with doses that don’t put them at risk of being difficult.
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