I understand it is normal. For me, I've always had edema in my ankles and the high dose of Prednisone gave me ankles again. I was THRILLED.

Ask your doctor about it. There probably isn't a ton you can do about it. Consider any time you are sitting to elevate your feet. The less time dangling, the better.

What's weird is that as a diabetic the only time I had numbness in my feet or toes was if I elevate my feet too long. Then when I was in the hospital I started getting the tinkling in the toes of my right foot and they had already started me on Neurotin which I take three times a day. Then smart me decided to sleep sitting up the last few nights to try to stop the night sweating that soaks thru every 2-3 times a night and that is probably why my feet are swollen. I have to laugh at myself. I am going to soak them. Of course I also sweated sitting up, but it was easier to get up each morning.

Foot and ankle swelling can be an indicator of several things, and your doctor should know about it. Also: have you had sudden weight gain?
Are you having any difficulty breathing? There are several things that can be done about the swelling if needed. It may be ( and probably is) benign, but only your doctor can determine this. I hope the doc can solve some of these issues - I'm sure it isn't fun to wake up soaking wet every night.
blessings, Kathy

I am pretty sure it is because I decided to sleep sitting those two nights. I didn't have the swelling before them. I also sit at my computer for work for 10 hours so for a 48 hour period I did not lie down. I haven't had any swelling anywhere else. In fact I fill as if I have lost weight. I go to my new primary doctor on Tuesday and I am now elevating my legs and will sleep flat tonight. I stand up often while working and to elevate my legs on a small stool that I have. I plan to go with my daughter tomorrow to check out a gym so I can get some exercise. My toes and the feet look good other than the swelling.

I bet that is it. I usually work from home and often work with my feet elevated. When I have to work in the office, after 6-7 hours, my feet and ankles are miserably swollen. In fact, I went in the office Thursday and my feet are still swollen some.

If you sleep sitting up, maybe get an ottoman or chair with a pillow to put your feet on.

Another choice is to get some compression socks. You put them on before you swell and they help hold it all in. That is what was recommended to me when I could no longer take water pills (when I got sick I had to stop those).

I hope you are able to get them down this weekend. I know how uncomfortable it is.

I soaked in epsom salt tonight and have been elevating my feet. No more sleeping sitting up. I still sweated just as much. The doctors have told me it is normal with Prednisone but not how annoying it would be. I will deal with it.

Brenda,
I sweat a lot a night, too, when I'm on high doses of prednisone. Right now I'm only on 5mg, so it's not too bad, but I know how annoying that is.

I never tried sleeping sitting up (!) but I found a couple other things that helped a bit: got rid of the memory foam mattress pad; stopped eating after 6pm so my metabolism wasn't fired up at night; switched to 100% cotton night gowns, sheets, and blankets; and put several changes of clothing out on the bedside chair, so I could get rid of my soaked gown quickly.

Things got better as I tapered prednisone, but it doesn't help to know that right in the middle of a bad night. Wish I could do more to help. Take care!
~Lucky

Sounds like you are just having normal prednisone swelling made more pronounced from all the sitting. Good!

Every time I go to my GP he always checks the swelling in my ankles and legs. One time the swelling went all the way up to my knees and I ended up taking Lasix for a couple of days. I have the feeling my doc kinda doesn't want to tell me what was going on with that. (I'm a nurse, so the imagination can run wild at times . . ..)
Anyway, besides prednisone, there are other medications that can cause this problem; notably calcium channel blockers (for blood pressure)

I hope you have no further problems with this - the advise given here (by others) is good - wish I could offer something for the night sweats, but I have no idea how to handle that.

Blessings, kathy

I have problems with ankle swelling as well. I try to cut down on my sodium intake and drink more water but still have them. I heard on a movie once someone refering to thier ankles as cankles as they blend right into the calfs.....that's what I have "cankles" lol
I think the heat could possibly cause some additional swelling as well. Keep us posted,
Blessings,
Kim

Brenda, I also have swelling around my ankles. My knees swell a little too. I sweat at night. I sleep with a fan on but I wake up and turn on the air conditioner when I sweat. (I try to keep the AC off because I am a cheap skate on saving money.) I noticed that I have celulite on my legs too. My blood sugar has become higher. I am not a diabetic, but I now have osteoporosis and glacoma from prednisone. I am worried that I also may get diabetes too. My dad is a diabetic (type I) and I do not need that "exciting" disease. My dad actually does not mind his diabetes. Dad once told me that if Jesus was here curing people, he would not get in line for the cure. Anyway, you are in good company with the swelling & sweating. I wish I could sleep through the sweating.

The idea of cotton bedding is a good one. That is what I have. I also keep my air conditioning on all the time. At night, it is at 68 degrees and I still sweat even with just a sheet. In the winter, I keep it on 70 degrees and use a light cotton blanket..still sweat. But I don't sweat through my clothes. I couldn't stand that.

I would talk to your doctor about it just to make sure it is the Prednisone and not something else.

I've been on lots of Prednisone, but never had swelling in the feet , ankles, and legs until I started Neurontin. It also made me very dizzy. So I got Lyrica, which had the same side effects. It seems we don't all react the same way to these meds. Hope you get this taken care of soon.

I never had problems with swelling or numbness in my feet until now and never considered that it was the Neurotin. Once they put me on it in the hospital that is went I notice the numbness around the top of my left foot, but I do believe that I caused it by sleeping up.

I also have problems with swelling feet and ankles. By the end of the day I have a lot of swelling. Like another poster, my doctor also put me on lasix. I have taken it for 3 days (as of yesterday) and by day 3 the swelling is gone. Now I should only take it as needed. Hopefully, I won't need it very often. Hope you can get your swelling under control as well. I know how uncomfortable it can be.

I am hoping that the doctor gives me lasix or something. I soaked my ankles for the past 2 nights and elevate my legs. The swelling had gone down a little and then I went out for a few minutes, which meant I had to go up and down my stairs and now they are swollen again. I sleep under a ceiling fan and have my ac on, but my body doesn't heat up when I am sweating. In fact I wake up when I sweat because I am freezing. I also was wondering what was the best type of bedding to use. I also am looking at purchasing a new mattress in a few months and was wondering what is the best since I need support to stand up.