Antibiotics & Steroids for Chest Infection

Muscle relaxants are sometimes used during an operation or in an intensive care unit. Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are taking, have recently taken or might take any other medicines. This includes medicines obtained without a prescription, including herbal medicines.

  • Corticosteroids are mainly used to reduce inflammation and suppress the immune system.
  • If you have epilepsy this could become worse when taking steroids.
  • Treatment with steroids may cause changes in mood – you may feel very high or very low.
  • You’ll need to keep taking the steroids while you’re waiting to be considered for biologics.
  • Corticosteroids can also be used to replace certain hormones that aren’t naturally produced by the body.

If you think you need dental treatment, talk to your cancer doctor or nurse. You may get some of the side effects we mention, but you are unlikely to get all of them. If you are also having treatment with other cancer drugs, you may have some side effects that we have not listed here.

Treatment for bronchitis

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. These are more likely if you’re on a high dose or if you’re taking steroids for a long time.

  • Find out more about your preventer inhaler and possible side effects here.
  • If you’ve been taking corticosteroids for a while, you may also need tests before you stop taking them.
  • The risk to your health is increased by drinking any amount of alcohol on a regular basis.

Steroid tablets may not be suitable in these cases,  although your doctor may recommend them if they think the benefits outweigh any risks. Your doctor will be able to provide more advice about how to safely stop taking steroids. They can be used to treat problems such as allergies, asthma, eczema, inflammatory bowel disease, Addison’s disease and arthritis. Taking Prednisolone can mean that you get infections more easily than usual, and these infections can be more serious.

Treatment for other conditions

These are not the same as the steroids that some bodybuilders use, which are called anabolic steroids. Tell your doctor if you take any other medicines, including herbal remedies and supplements, before starting steroid tablets. The association between NTM-PD and inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) use was found to be statistically significant for fluticasone but not for budesonide or “other” ICS. The association between ICS use and tuberculosis was not found to be significant.

Talk to your nurse or your dietitian about how to safely control your weight. In some cases, further tests – such as a chest X-ray, breathing tests and testing phlegm or blood samples – may be needed. Most bronchitis cases are caused by viruses, whereas most pneumonia cases are due to bacteria.

Your doctor may advise you to take drugs called bisphosphonates, or calcium and vitamin D supplements, along with the steroids to help prevent this. Regular exercise, especially things that involve your bones steroids for muscle growth uk carrying the weight of your body, such as walking, can also help to reduce the risk of getting osteoporosis. Steroids are usually only given for a short time to quickly treat flare-ups of your condition.

If you think this is happening to a child, tell your doctor. Like all medicines, this medicine can cause side effects, although not everybody gets them. Talk to a doctor if you (or someone taking this medicine), show any signs of mental problems.

High blood pressure

Treatment with inhaled steroids may slightly increase the risk of pneumonia in patients with asthma, as well as those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, according to Canadian researchers. The risk of inadequately treating an asthma exacerbation is highly likely to be worse than the risk from Covid-19 in most people with asthma. Current evidence supports up to quadrupling inhaled steroids from standard doses until symptoms improve in adults.