long term treatment for Addison's - medication

[reemu]

I have been taking prednisone for a month and a half now (down to 5 mg) to treat Addison's disease and am now looking for a longer term plan. I feel great on the prednisone but have heard it can have ill effects in the long term. Does anyone have any recommendations? I'd like to hear other opinions besides the doctor's.

i also take florinef.

p.s. For anyone who is interested, the only side effects i've had with prednisone are slight weight gain ( a good thing in my case, as i went undiagnosed for a while), a little bit of sweating, and less body hair.

[making777]

Hi Reemu!

Are you taking any supplements at all? Long term wise, you need to supplement your body with Vitamin D and Calcium, as the Prednisone causes a depletion of the absorbtion of calcium, thus weakening bones and eventually causing osteoporosis. Prednisone also decreases the immune system, so Vitamin C daily is very beneficial. I also take DHEA as more recent research has shown that adrenal insufficient people are also DHEA insufficient. DHEA has a lot of benefits to the hair, skin, mood, and sense of well being which can be robbed from us at times. Don't know what I would do without the DHEA! I also take another supplement, but some reason this website does not allow me to talk about it! Anyways, before I started taking all these supplements, my AD was quite out of control. It has taken me a while to figure all this out, but all these, with a high amount of salt intake, keeps me level!

Hope that helps! Here's to better health for you!
MaryAnn

[reemu]

I take vitamin d and b12 so far. very interested in the DHEA. my doc hasn't mentioned this yet, so i will bring it up.

do you take florinef in addition to all that salt? sometimes i still crave salt even though it is meant to balance my levels.

[making777]

Reemu,
I don't take Florinef. I tried it for a few days, but it made me quite irritable. So I stick to my chicken broth, and I am good!

[matt9999]

What about Cortef?