Seniors On Prednisone

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A 90 year old woman was diagnosed with penumonia about 4 weeks ago which required hospitalization. She was placed on an antibiotics was not getting any better. Was rushed by ambulance to the hospital for choking and was placed on prednisone of 50 mg/day for a week with a plan to have the prednisone decreased by 10mg/day every week there after, until weaned. She starts today with 20 mg(s)/day for the next week, but has not regained any of her energy. I am praying for a miracle that she will regain her strength, but it does not look very promising. Was the initial dose of 50mg/day too much for her system. Her pneumonia appears to have cleared up, but she is so short winded, fatigued, always wants to sleep and has lost interest in her usual activities. Prior to the pneumonia, was washing pots, folding laundry, conversed, loaded and unloaded the dishwasher and basically had endless energy. This has now gone. Can we expect her energy to return once she is weaned off the Prednisone?

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1

Well, it could be due to the Prednisone, being so ill, or a combination of both. At her age, she is really not going to recover that fast from any illness and there are also the side effects of the Prednisone to take under consideration.

Learn more Prednisone details here.

I'd suggest keeping a close eye on her and seeing if things improve, as the medication is discontinued.

However, if you are extremely concerned, then by all means contact her doctor and you should definitely do so, if things don't improve once the medication is finished.

Does anyone else have any advice to add?

Is she on any other medications?

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Thank you for your response. She is also on Advair (twice/day morning & night), Spiriva (night) & Salbutomol (as Required). Yesterday, she was reduced to 20mg/day for a week. We are anxiously waiting to see if her energy levels will improve.

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