
Asthma Support Group
Asthma is a disease of the human respiratory system where the airways narrow, often in response to a "trigger" such as exposure to an allergen, cold air, exercise, or emotional stress. This airway narrowing causes symptoms such as wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and coughing, which respond to bronchodilators.
See other past posts on this subject under the "discussions" link. This is the number one side effect patient complaint and reason for noncompliance (particularly by females) about this classification of drugs.
Take heart! Though this is a big problem right here and now there a drugs in the works down the pipeline that will bypass this altogether.
Til then the only thing is to modify diet and hit the gym, if you're well enough to.
I'd recommend antidepressants but guess what the number one side effect is - yep!
In the meantime, try and cheer up. There's always the old vaudville one-liner "I may be fat, but you're ugly, and I can diet" :-)
Well, works for me anyway.
life is guuuurd!!
First of all, steroids (whether oral, inhaled or injected) have the potential to create many side effects -including raising BLOOD SUGAR, (not insulin) levels.
However, oral (pred) and injectible (salumedrol) steroids definitely increase blood sugar to dangerously high levels, (as opposed to inhaled steroids which don't create as drastic a swing and are better tolerated).
And yes, inhaled and oral steroids (and obviously injectibles) do cause weight gain based on how these work. As with blood sugar, the effect is more drastic with oral and injected than inhaled.
So the best thing to do is carefully monitor your blood sugar levels regardless of what type of steroid is being used. Weight gain, especially in diabetics, should also be carefully monitored as this could be related to or caused by many factors.
Best of luck in the difficult balancing act of stabilizing diabetes and asthma. Be sure to discuss all your meds with all with doctors as some have the potential to interact or counteract each other.
However with iral and iv seriods the amount iof steriod is so much higher and therfore side effects are much greater. However i find that the effects the oral and iv steriods has on my chest is si much btter than the side effects. I would mind putting oin 20stone if it meant i was able to breathe better rather than not taking my steriods and notbeing able to breathy. I am sure that others who are steriod dependant will agree of course i want to get off it and not take it but the effects of it are too powerfula and have such an effect that i need to take it.
So the side efefcts of it are much more minimal than the effects on the lungs. Also alot of the side effects are temporary and will go and subside once the steriods are finished.
What i ahve said was alot of what was discussed in a convo between me and my specialist who is a specialist in difficult and severe asthma so he knows what he is talkign about he also does alot of reserach into steriod use so this topic interets him alot that where i got my info.
Olive