The Side Effects of Steroids
If you get pregnant while you’re on steroids, don’t stop taking them before you’ve spoken to your doctor. If you’re taking high doses of steroids, or if you’re on them for more than three weeks, you’ll need to carry a steroid card. This will have information on your dose and how long you’ve been taking them for. You won’t be able to have steroid creams or gels if you have an infection that affects your skin.
However, you must never reduce your steroid dose on your own accord in order to minimise any potential side effects. Please contact your doctor or specialist nurse if you are worried about any of your side effects. Further medical treatments such as surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy (if applicable) can make swelling worse and steroids may be prescribed in anticipation to try to prevent this.
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Read on to learn more about anabolic steroids, their potential side effects and whether you can take them safely. Topical corticosteroids are medicines applied directly to the skin nohairlosspharm to treat conditions such as eczema or psoriasis. Patients can experience topical steroid withdrawal reactions after using these products at least daily for long periods of time.
- For some conditions, low-dose steroids may be needed for many months or years.
- Treatment for an addiction to anabolic steroids will be similar to that of other types of addiction.
- Many people who use anabolic steroids are aware of the dangers of taking them, and believe that by taking the drugs in certain ways they can avoid side effects.
- However, these should be used with caution in people with ongoing infections, like tuberculosis (TB).
Research is ongoing into new treatments for all types of severe asthma. Use our severe asthma tool to find out if you need a referral to a severe asthma specialist. It’s important to take your steroid preventer inhaler every day, even if you feel well.
Safety precautions while you are taking steroids
This type of scan, also known as a dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scan, measures your bone density. It can help your doctor understand how strong your bones are and if you might need an osteoporosis drug treatment. This means it’s hard to know how much inhaled steroids might affect the bones.
Increased risk of infection
If you are also having treatment with other cancer drugs, you may have some side effects that we have not listed here. Always tell your doctor, nurse or pharmacist about any side effects you have. A recent review compared the effectiveness and safety of oral and intravenous steroid treatments for people with MS. The review found that both treatments appeared to be equally effective and safe.
What are the possible side effects of tablets used for a short time or injections into a muscle or vein?
If you think you need dental treatment, talk to your cancer doctor or nurse. If you need medical treatment for any reason other than cancer, always tell the doctors and nurses you are having cancer treatment. Give them the contact details for your cancer doctor so they can ask for advice.
The NICE MS Guideline recommends that you begin taking steroids within 14 days of the start of your relapse. Steroids (also known as corticosteroids) may be used to treat relapses in multiple sclerosis. It’s important to avoid being around anyone with chickenpox or shingles. Catching chickenpox can cause you to become really unwell if you’re taking steroids.
Let your medical team know how you are feeling so that they can help to manage these side effects of steroids. If your side effects are severe, they might lower your dose of steroids. If you had diabetes before you started steroid treatment, your lymphoma medical team and your diabetes medical team work together to manage your treatment and blood sugar levels. Many children and adults rely on topical corticosteroids to manage eczema inflammation.