Help - Prednisone wrecking stomach - suggestions??

95mg Pred daily @ Breakfast and stomach is just really unsettled. Nearing end of week two. Taking 20mg Omeprazole cap each morning about 30m < Breakfast. It's now almost 10p and I'm still hurting - feels like gas and/or acidic but nothing seems to resolve.

What works for you? I'll see my Hemo Wednesday and will discuss but perhaps your experience will help or guide me til then. If I keep trying to eat to cover it up (which isn't working) I'll be an elephant!

Do u take your pred before or after u eat in the morning, cause they do tell u to eat something first otherwise u can have an unsettled stomach

I've been taking immediately before Breakfast. Guess I'll shift to immediately after but I generally have a small Breakfast. Toast, bagel or that sort and milk. Didn't really get such guidance

Thanks

Okay so - I had this issue too when I was on Prednisone - highest amount I was on was 80mg. My doctor also prescribed Pepcid to be taken with the Pred and again later in the day if necessary.
Anyway, taking it after breakfast helped (I was initially taking it before I ate, just like you - because breakfast would then get rid of the taste).
But I started experimenting with what foods worked the best and - you're probably not going to like this answer - but pancakes helped the most for me. I don't know if it was the actual pancakes or the syrup - but something stopped it from tearing up my stomach.

So Pepcid and pancakes was my answer.
But then again - I'm still trying to get the 15 pounds off that my Pred diet caused.

Hope you find something that works for you!

SteveC wrote:

I've been taking immediately before Breakfast. Guess I'll shift to immediately after but I generally have a small Breakfast. Toast, bagel or that sort and milk. Didn't really get such guidance

Thanks

I don't have a big breakfast usually either, I usually only have 2 pieces of toast and a cup of tea, so it doesn't have to be a big meal.

Sorry to hear you didn't get much guidance on it. My doctor was the one who told me me i should take it in the morning after food to stop my stomach being unsettled, but most medications you take should be taken on a full stomach, especially painkillers with codeine.

my doc gave me Nexium (the purple pill) It works like a charm!

You can also take pred with just a glass of milk. I often do that. I'm also on a prescription stomach med.

Prednisone has to be taken with food. That was the difficult part for me because I don't usually eat first thing in the morning, I just have a cup of coffee. When I was on 60 mg's of Prednisone I would have a cereal bar in the morning, sometimes even just half of one. I also took 150 mg's of ranitidine (Zantac) along with it and I never had any stomach issues. I even dropped the ranitidine as I tapered from the Prednisone.
Try to eat something that will coat the stomach, like carbs or milk. Stay away from greasy foods first thing in the morning.
Let us know how it goes. Good luck, Steve!

Like Cindy said, taking Pred with milk is often helpful. That's what I did when I was on Pred (60 mg daily). I found Prilosec two times a day was helpful for me too.

You're not alone! It think the stomach thing happens to a decent number of people while on Pred. My Primary care, Hema and Gastro have told me that Pred can do this. They were all on board with me doing Prilosec to help

Hope this helps!
Amy

I was taking 90 mg of Presnisone when I was first diagnosed with ITP, I had many unwanted side effects from the steroids. One of which was an upset stomach. I also had quite painful heart burn. I was also on 20mg of Omeprazole. I asked my Dr. to up the dose of the Omeprazole to 40mg. The Dr. did this for me and the stomach pains and indegestion went away.
It may just be, that like me the 20mg dose of the Omeprazole isn't enough for you to combat the side effects of the steroids.

Steroids cause an overproduction of acid. I found that nothing worked; eating with the medicine, drinking milk, etc. I was always miserable. One time it got so bad I thought I was having problems with my heart there was so much pressure. I even had an ultrasound to check it.

There is no reason for you to have to suffer with stomach upset or acid reflux. Ask your doctor to prescribe an acid reducer like Zantac, Pepcid, etc in generic form. It is cheaper to get an Rx for 30 days than to buy it over the counter.

Believe me you will be much more comfortable and better able to deal with the rest of your life.

Best of luck to you.