Prednisone Articles:

Facts on Prednisone as a Cortisosteroid

As one of the corticosteroids, Prednisone is a powerful supplement to your body, which naturally produces cortisol in a natural cycle, releasing the hormone early in the morning. Corticosteroids are a synthetic version of this natural product with Prednisone being one of the strongest — one 5mg tablet is equivalent to a single day’s output from the average person’s adrenal gland. Thus, taking a 5mg tablet immediately doubles the amount of cortisol working in your body. Any larger dosage scales up the level of cortisol.

Because of its capacity to reduce inflammation, this rapid increase in cortisol is highly beneficial to your body. It gives a boost to your natural defenses to injury. The problems come if you want to use it as a treatment for arthritis or other chronic conditions.

There is immediate relief from joint pain and reasonable mobility can be restored. The swelling associated with the joints is reduced and the mood can be lifted, bringing a new sense of energy to replace the previous fatigue. This produces the risk of psychological dependence. For these who have been in pain, finding their joints increasingly frozen, this relief is potentially addictive.

The fact there may be weight gain and water retention are small prices to pay for this relief. Unfortunately, as use continues, the adrenal gland can stop working. This produces physical dependence and, should you want to stop taking Prednisone, you will have to taper the use very slowly to wean yourself off while stimulating the adrenal gland back into action.

These side effects can be delayed if you only take a low dose or adopt an alternate-day regime where you take a slightly larger dose every other day. But even at very low dosages, the suppression of your adrenal gland’s activity will start in about two weeks. This is not said to make you fear this drug. Prednisone produces remarkable results and the benefits of taking it are very real. But you must respect it and use it wisely.