They may also look to change the steroid to an alternative such as prednisolone if you are currently taking dexamethasone. Topical treatments work to target the area of inflammation directly, such as inflammation in your rectum and the lower part of your colon . When cells in your body get damaged or infected, they release chemicals that try to protect you from any further damage, or from the infection. Steroids also slow down your body’s production of these chemicals.

This means they can only legally be sold by pharmacists with a prescription. It is legal to have anabolic steroids for personal use, but it’s illegal to possess, import or export anabolic steroids with the intent to supply. In competitive sport, most organisations ban anabolic steroid use and test competitors for these performance-enhancing drugs. If your child is in contact with someone who has chicken pox and they haven’t had it before, contact your IBD team straight away.

Some younger people use them to try and look more attractive, despite risking the negative effects on their looks. In medicine, they can be used to treat anaemia and peptide muscle weakness after surgery. Dr. Chia Tan is a UK trained medical doctor that specialises in cosmetic and aesthetic medicine and testosterone replacement therapy.

• You might try budesonide MMX, beclometasone dipropionate or rectal steroids.
• If you’re taking steroid tablets you might need to avoid live vaccines, such as yellow fever.
• Some side effects may be more serious and need treatment.
• This is where levels of your body’s own stress hormone cortisol drops dramatically and can make you feel very unwell.

If you experience any of the following symptoms whilst taking steroid medication please contact your doctor, nurse or health care professional immediately. You must keep this with at all times whilst you are having the treatment. You should then keep the card on you for 12 months after stopping the treatment. This is important as if you come in contact with another health care professional you can show them the card and they are aware you have had steroids in the past 12 months.

Very strong topical steroids aren’t usually prescribed during pregnancy and breastfeeding. If you have systemic sclerosis, prednisolone could cause problems with your kidneys at certain doses, so you might not be able to take this type of steroid. Usually inflammation is the body’s natural reaction to infection or bacteria.

Budesonide for Crohn’s and Colitis

O Temporary increase in your blood sugar leading to sugar in your urine . You must inform your GP immediately if you think you may be developing symptoms of diabetes. If you already have diabetes, you should increase your blood monitoring frequency and inform your GP if you have persistently elevated blood sugars.

Raised blood sugar levels

Speak to your IBD team to make sure your vaccinations are up to date before you start taking steroids. If you have recently had a live vaccine, you should wait at least 4 weeks before starting steroids. It’s important to follow your doctor’s advice on stopping steroids gradually. This is usually only a problem for children taking long courses of steroids.

You may have heard of the term steroid-induced hyperglycaemia before. This is different to steroid-induced diabetes because it affects people who already have diabetes. Coming to terms with having diabetes can be difficult, especially if you are already living with another health condition.

Ask the Nurse: Steroids

Your doctor might prescribe them in combination with 5-ASAs or immunosuppressants to help control a flare-up. Or you might have a short course of steroids while taking your usual Crohn’s or Colitis medicines. Your IBD team will consider all your medicines when prescribing steroids. Your doctor will want to limit how many steroids you have.

See the section on Alternatives to steroids for more information. This includes psychosis, severe depression, or bipolar disorder. Steroids can trigger these conditions or make existing problems worse. Do not make any changes to your dose or how you take your steroids without talking to your IBD team or GP.