My daughter was prescribed a course of prednisone in August when she had pneumonia and then again in October when she had a serious respiratory infection with wheezing and rapid breathing. Our specialist said that two courses of prednisone in a year is too many. Any opinions or stories?

It kind of depends - two courses of prednisone in a 3 month period is a lot for someone who doesn't have ongoing respiratory issues - is she on other meds for asthma, allergies, etc. or did she just have the prednisone?

For people with serious asthma/life threatening allergies, etc. it wouldn't be that unusual to take a short course of prednisone several times a year but it's typically the last resort, not the main course of treatment.

There are some people who have such serious asthma/allergies that they take prednisone on an ongoing basis but it has lots of side effects and the number of people who have to rely on it seems to have decreased dramatically since the introduction of inhaled steroids (that get directly to the lungs/sinuses without being absorbed into the bloodstream) and better bronchodilators.

If the specialist you mention was a pulmonologist, did he/she recommend any ongoing treatment to help avoid another course of prendisone?