Prednisone can be a tough one. Some have more physical symptoms than others.

First you should know that prednisone, especially while tapering can make us more moody as it affects the hormones in our body and this does affect our mood swings and attitudes. Of course this can make how we feel about ourselves a bit worse and more critical of our own appearance.

With this in mind be cognizant of teh potential to develop some temporary depression. If this is problematic talk to your doctor about short term use of a antidepressant, it does help.

As far as when the symptoms go away, I will be honest for most that is below the 5 or 10mg level, this is when our own adrenal glands can kick in again; prednisone suppresses them while we are taking the higher doses.

After you reach the 5-10mg level things do start to improve over a period of a couple of months. I know this is not the news you want to hear, but keep in mind these meds are keeping you out of a crisis right now and the physical side effects are only temporary. I have been through the prednisone cycle 5 times now, I fully understand your frustration, but it does get better, that I promise you

Be cautious of tapering too quickly as that can lead to an adrenal crisis which also not a good thing. Follow your doctors advice and be sure to let him know if the taper side effects are too much and as mentioned if depression is an issue let your doctor know. I found the antidepressant Bupropion worked great and I only took it while I was dealing with the prednisone. It had no real side effects except helping with mood in a gentle way.

Hang in there and feel free to vent your frustrations here....it actually helps a bit :-)

Take care

Joe

my face got better at about 30
it will be better soon.
If you cut out salt and sugar that will help.

I t was definitely better at 20 and 15

My side effects began decreasing gradually when I was at 60 every other day, and I had only a tiny bit of moon face and extra belly fat at 20 every other day (probably not noticeable to anyone except me). If I ate something sugary, I would feel uncontrollably hungry and eat a lot, but if I avoided sweets I felt only a little hungrier than normal, but it was easy to ignore. I could minimize bloating and water retention by avoiding salt and exercising regularly. I don't know if you're well enough to exercise, but something light like walking might make you feel better. Exercising helped even out my mood too.

How long have you been taking prednisone?

It seemed the circles under my eyes got darker with prednisone. So, I felt more comfortable in glasses. I wore narrow ones that hit my eyes just at the dark spots. Besides the muscles in my fingers wouldn't work so I had trouble wearing my contacts. I found a stylish pair of glasses and it made me feel better. Maybe get a new hair style (not that you need one) but a new cut always makes me feel better. It does get better. I hope you have a quick response to your treatment. Big hug! Vent here anytime. We are here for you.

Thank you all so much for your replies, all were very helpful!! @annkemp that is a relief to know that your symptoms got better around 30 mgs I know everyone is different but that gives me hope !! @vIeve I have been on prednisone since mid March 60 mgs. My doctor is tapering me off so I'm doing 50/60 for two weeks then 50 for two weeks than 50/40 for another two weeks and so on. My muscle strength is great so I have been taking a lot of walks lately. @Barnel I know exactly what you mean I used to wear my contacts all the time but I feel so much more comfortable in my glasses the dark circles are much less noticeable! Thank you all for the support I truly appreciate it :)

I used to be on 50mg but after my thymectomy 2 weeks ago my neuro started tapering it off to 5mg in 2 weeks. So currently im on 45mg.

I know how you feel!! :( my face is breaking out and its so round i dont even recognize myself in the mirror. I talked to my neuro if i could have a facial but he didnt allow it because im on prednisone and it might infect my face. I dont even want to go out of the house anymore because of how i look. :(

Hi, my moon face and stomach start to reduce around 22 mg. I also use Clinique for the acne, Proactiv has similar ingredients so should work. I get very self conscious but whatever you do hang in there and wait for it to work on your MG. Try not to reduce because of the appearance, being patient is one valuable lesson MG taught me. I try to cut out salt and sugar that helps a lot with the moon face. Take care, time does make a huge difference.

As usual, I learn so much reading all the advice here. Thank you @Joe for the prednisone advice, I'm currently at 12.5. I was at 10 and realized that was not quite doing it for me, so I bumped up to 12.5 and it's working much better for me. Soon I will start alternating 12.5/10. I want to get to 10 and under!

@abrooke, I want to add a little to @vieve's advice about exercising. I have found that exercising helps tremendously because it increases the pulse rate, stimulating blood flow and good things happen to your muscles. I start feeling much better and my weak arm and knee get a little life in them and feel more normal for hours after I exercise.

But, I find walking does not quite get the blood pumping enough. I discovered bike riding to really stimulate the muscles from the increased pulse rate. I ride a bike, but a stationary bike would also work, I'm sure. As you taper down on prednisone to much more manageable, and less frustrating levels, be sure and get plenty of exercise, it also decreases the prednisone-induced depression, too!