You may not be able to start taking steroids if you have an infection or if you have a wound on your body, because steroids can slow your improvement or cover up some of your symptoms. Steroids can affect some medical conditions, such as diabetes, heart or blood pressure problems, or mental health problems. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. If you have been taking steroid tablets for more than a few days, you usually need to reduce the dose gradually.
Stopping doing so suddenly can cause the adrenal gland, which produces important hormones for the body, to stop working. This is known as adrenal insufficiency. Standard therapy is a superpotent course (e.g., moderately or mild-strength steroids) are preferred for pregnant women. 1 There is no evidence to support hormone therapy (e.g.
for steroid treatments that last longer than a few days), it is VERY important not to miss a dose and stop treatment. only under medical supervision. This is because, after a few days or weeks of taking steroids, the body stops producing enough of its own steroids to maintain important functions (such as blood pressure). A sudden withdrawal of medication can cause a sharp drop in blood pressure and affect blood sugar levels.
You will need to “reduce” (gradually reduce) the dose so that the adrenal glands have time to start producing their own steroids again. Sometimes, rapid withdrawal of steroids can cause a more severe adrenal insufficiency syndrome. This can cause symptoms and health problems, such as drops in blood pressure, as well as chemical changes in the blood, such as high potassium levels or low sodium levels. Sometimes, this can be caused by injuries or by a surgical procedure.
So make sure your doctors always know if you've been treated with steroids in the past, especially in the past year, so they can watch out for the development of adrenal insufficiency at times like a surgical procedure. Unfortunately, sometimes when people reduce their dose of steroids, IBD symptoms return (known as steroid dependence). About one in five people do not respond to steroid treatment (this is known as steroid resistance). Oral steroids usually improve symptoms in one to four weeks, while intravenous steroids take four to 10 days.
Steroid tablets are different from anabolic steroids used illegally by some people to increase their muscle mass. The goal for people with IBD is to reduce and stop steroids and move to alternative treatments as soon as possible. The following information does not refer to steroids for muscle building or to “androgenic steroids” (such as testosterone), which share some chemical similarities but work very differently from anti-inflammatory steroids. At the beginning or before steroid therapy, many patients will be asked to have a bone density test, especially if the steroid dose is high.
