How to Beat Some of Pred's Side Effects

[pberggren1]

Thanks Sangye,

That all makes sense to me.

[Sangye]

Thanks Sangye for the info on Ayurveda. I am from the home land of Ayurveda India, Now a days their is much talk about Ayurveda in this forum. In my sons case I met a Ayurvedic professor, he told ask your alopathy doctor ie, Rhematologist to tapper the pred as quick as possible and he will plan to put him on

1 .Best immune modulators available in Ayurveda (made of herbs)
2. Strict Diet (as per the priniciples of Ayurveda)
3. Life Style changes (he need to be reduce/avoid maximum contact with electro magnifying forces ie, like watching TV, food cooked in electric oven etc.) must do yoga,meditation and pranayama

Since I thought I should consider these things only once I am out of danger phase .

Now I consider you as Ayurvedic Pandit (Ayurvedic expert). what is your opinion on cosidering ayurvedic immune modulators along with present dose of 5mg pred and 100mg imuran

LOL Nagesh, I'm definitely not a Pandit! They are highly trained-- I only know a bit about Ayurveda (what I've been able to teach myself over about 15 years) and what a Pandit in Arizona taught me.

It's only recently that I've been able to piece together how pred affects our constitutions. Just as I was coming up with my hypothesis, I had the chance to try it out on myself by being back on high dose pred the past few weeks.

I think it's great to have a Pandit helping you directly. Having said that, I want to caution you. Wegs is very different from most other autoimmune diseases. With others (eg RA, Crohns, Ulcerative colitis) you can use Ayurveda to control the disease. They have a great track record of doing it, in fact. So when Ayurvedic practitioners and other holistic physicians advise you, they'll be thinking of those other AI diseases and everything that must be done to bring the body into balance. However, if you do all that with Wegs, it will counteract the treatment and cause the disease to flare.

Why is Wegs different? The other AI diseases do not have the same potential to kill, do not progress as quickly, and they don't do silent damage. You have some room for experimentation. But with Wegs, you can go from no kidney involvement to complete kidney failure in one weekend.

This might be difficult to convey to your Pandit. Mine in Arizona understood the limits immediately and she was able to help me tremendously without causing the Wegs to flare. Dietary and lifestyle changes were the main things we did. We used herbs only to reduce Pitta and briefly for liver congestion due to excess Pitta. She was extremely thorough and checked every single ingredient in the herb mixtures to make sure they weren't too powerful and didn't affect the immune system. It's most important to avoid immune-modulating herbs or supplements. (Immune-modulating is not the same as immune-boosting, but it will not work well with the Wegs.)

Please only let your rheumy decide how fast to taper the pred, etc.... Our holistic docs view the meds as a temporary interference that we should abandon quickly, but with Wegs, we need what we need to keep the disease under control.

I speak from personal experience on this. Before the Wegs was dx'ed, I was under intensive holistic treatment and it nearly killed me. And last year when a flare was brewing, a single acupuncture treatment (aimed at the immune system) landed me in the hospital the next day with lungs hemorrhaging. Then it became a severe flare that required cytoxan, pred, and rituximab to put it out.

[Jack]

I knew you would give a thorough and well considered answer Sangye. Thanks.

[nagesh]

Thanks Sangye

I understood the limitations

[Col 23]

Thats frightening Sangye but thanks for the info.
cheers col 23

[Col 23]

Hi Phil
Just wondering how your are going??
Col 23

[Kunka123]

I'm a new guy. I need something to help me. I am my own "evil twin". I am driving my wife crazy. Help.

[elephant]

What can we do for you? Welcome? Will help all we can.

[Jack]

Are you suffering from mood swings due to steroids (Pred)? If so, you need to warn everyone close to you that this is a side effect and will lessen as your dose is reduced. If things are getting really bad, there is medication available to counter the imbalance - ask your specialist.

Don't be tempted to reduce the Pred dose without careful supervision and advice. It can have dangerous consequences.

[Col 23]

Hi Kunka new guy, If your on high dose of Pred you may have lots of melts downs, has your wife read the side effects of Pred or discussed with your doc? Being informed of side effects
can help. I lost count of the number of times my poor husband had to calm me down as I lost the plots lots on 80mg. My Rheumy kept saying Im so sorry but you just have to stay on this for
a bit longer, it was bloody awful.. what do you think you need to help you? Hang in there.
cheers Col 23