Yes, prednisone can kill. I know, because it almost killed
me.
A few years ago I injured my back while working on a
psychiatric ward at a state hospital. When muscle relaxers and pain pills
didn’t help, my doctor decided to do a procedure called a facet block.
A facet block involves injecting prednisone and a numbing
agent into the facets of the vertebrae involved, in my case the lower five
lumbar vertebra, for a total of ten injections.
The first ten days after the procedure were like a miracle;
no pain! I could walk and bend and sit as I had prior to my injury. On the
evening of the tenth day all hell broke loose.
It started without warning, a burning metallic tasting
feeling on the inside of my mouth. I thought I had been poisoned by something.
The skin on the inside of my cheeks began to shred off. Over the days before I
could get an appointment with the neurosurgeon who had done the procedure fine,
white hair grew on both sides of my cheeks and my gums started to grow over my
teeth. My face was puffy and round.
The neurosurgeon said he had no idea what the problem was
and sent me back to my Primary Care doctor. By this time new symptoms were
emerging almost daily: night sweats two and three times a night, gallons of
clear urine, extreme fatigue. I became paranoid. And I became very frightened.
The doctor ordered test after test, some so unusual the lab
techs had to get out their manuals to know how to proceed. And finally, there
was an answer.
The prednisone had “turned off” my pituitary gland, the body’s
Master Gland. That in turn caused all the other hormone-producing glands to be
suppressed. Most important of all these was loss of adrenaline, the “fight or
flight” hormone that helps handle stress. It also suppressed…my immune system.
I was vulnerable on so many levels.
The next five months were round after round of lab work as
my doctor watched for any sign of returning adrenaline, which would be the
first to return. Finally, at the end of five months, my body began to
normalize. It was a slow recovery. I will never take prednisone again, and I
make sure I tell every new doctor I see this story.
-Fran (Zipper's Grandma)
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