Are Steroids Ever Safe?

If you are using steroids, you should get the help of a professional to make sure you don’t do irreparable damage to your body and hormone levels. As well as speaking to a medical professional about your use of steroids and monitoring your body’s reaction to them through blood tests, you should also consider post cycle therapy (PCT). This is a card which lets healthcare professionals and emergency workers know you are prescribed a steroid and has the details of your medicine and dose. In these situations, you will only be prescribed oral corticosteroids if the benefits of treatment outweigh any potential risks.

The person treating you will make sure you’re on the lowest possible dose to keep your condition under control. You might also be given a drug called a proton pump inhibitor or another medicine to protect your stomach. If you think you need dental treatment, talk to your cancer doctor or nurse.

Side effects of steroid injections

Talk to your nurse or your dietitian about how to safely control your weight. Steroids can cause a reaction called steroid induced psychosis. People can become excited, confused and imagine things that aren’t real.

• For further information on using topical corticosteroids safely please see the full Drug Safety Update article and Patient Safety Leaflet.
• Using a device called a spacer with your medication can help to prevent many of the other problems.
• Monitoring changes in your health data typically provides greater insight than a single isolated result, and will allow you to track any improvements or declines in performance.
• It opens up the airways and also gives a dose of preventer medicine to deal with inflammation.

This might be from an infection, surgery or injury for example. Knowing this allows the healthcare team to give you prompt medical treatment. The use of steroids can be managed with blood tests to check for potential side effects.

Why people misuse anabolic steroids

If you’re planning a family, you should discuss this with your doctor, as it’s important that a mother stays healthy during pregnancy and that flare-ups are avoided. If you get pregnant while you’re on steroids, don’t stop taking them before you’ve spoken to your doctor. However, some drugs can interact with steroids, so you should discuss any new medications with your doctor before starting them, and you should tell anyone else treating you what you’re taking. Your doctor, rheumatology nurse or pharmacist should give you a steroid card if you need one.

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. There aren’t usually any severe side effects if you take steroid injections, a steroid inhaler, or a short course of steroid tablets. However, prolonged treatment at high doses can cause problems in some people.

They are sometimes used very occasionally to stimulate muscle regrowth after surgery or as part of  treatment for an unusual type of anaemia. The researchers call on GPs to regularly monitor and help reduce cardiovascular risk for patients where can you buy steroids taking glucocorticoids, even those on low doses. Many people may be able to reduce their risk by making lifestyle changes such as stopping smoking or losing weight. Most glucocorticoid prescriptions (96%) were for prednisolone.

Side effects of steroids

A steroid card lets healthcare professionals know you take steroid medicines and provides life-saving information in the event of an emergency. But if you’re taking high doses for a long time, you may be at risk of some of the same side effects as steroid tablets. Other signs include burning or stinging, intense itching, peeling of the skin, or oozing open sores. These signs may occur days or weeks after stopping treatment and are known to occur after as little as 2 months of continuous treatment in children.

Different Addiction Treatments You Can Access Today

During the post-cycle healing phase or if you have decided you no longer want to use steroids, you might experience steroid withdrawal symptoms. Corticosteroids can weaken your immune system and make you more vulnerable to infection. This means you should avoid any live vaccine until at least 3 months after your course of corticosteroids has finished.