Prednisone and severe gastritis

Hello @ncgal, I didn't experience the severe gastritis when my PMR was active and I was on prednisone but a quick search of Connect shows that you are not alone. @juneh, @lmoross, @isc, @gretchie and others have mentioned gastritis while taking prednisone in other other discussions and may have suggestions or information to share with you.

Here's some information on the topic that may be helpful:
--- Can Prednisone Cause Stomach Pain?: https://www.healthcentral.com/drug/predisone-stomach-pain

"Take prednisolone with breakfast so it does not upset your stomach. Taking prednisolone in the morning also means it's less likely to affect your sleep. If your prednisolone tablets are labelled as "enteric coated" or "gastro resistant", you can take these with or without food but make sure to swallow them whole."
--- How and when to take prednisolone tablets and liquid - NHS: https://www.nhs.uk/medicines/prednisolone/how-and-when-to-take-prednisolone-tablets-and-liquid/

Do you take the prednisone with any food or do you take it on an empty stomach?

Thanks for the information, John. My gastroenterologist did increase my Omeprozole from 20 mgs once a day to 40 mgs twice a day . I thought that was rather extreme, but after reading one of the articles you posted it seems the right thing to do. Thanks.

I read somewhere that the risk of gastritis was 4 times greater if NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) were taken while on prednisone, which is why there's a warning not to use NSAIDs on prednisone. You may not be taking them, but it's surprising how many people here mention using them.
Common NSAIDs are:
- aspirin (such as Disprin)
- ibuprofen (such as Nurofen)
- naproxen (such as Naprosyn)
- diclofenac (such as Voltaren)
- celecoxib (such as Celebrex).

You might just want to be cautious with the omeprozole or PPIs because I learned in helping my dad that it can also have long-term side effects when taken for a long time, like malabsorption of calcium and magnesium. Some studies link them to increased risks of dementia, but there are still questions.

You might already have known this, since you mentioned a GI doctor, but I was completely unaware so figured I’d mention it. PPIs can also be difficult to stop taking, and also requires tapering because it causes rebound symptoms when you stop cold turkey, which I did not know. His doctor suggested Pepcid instead because it doesn’t have the same risks, and we didn’t want him to be tapering the prednisone, only to end up having to taper the PPI.

There are some discussions about it: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/i-need-help-getting-off-of-80mg-omeprazole/

I hope the gastritis calms down.

Yes, I was told by rheumy just to use Advil if I needed a pain reliever.

I have Large cell arteritis or GCA and am currently on 8mg of prednisolone which I take with breakfast with other drugs. Very recently I have been diagnosed with drug induced diabetes and my doctor put me onto Metformin . I very quickly developed severe diarrhoea with dehydration and was hospitalised for 3 days. My BP plummeted and all in all it was a terrible experience. I will certainly not go back onto Metformin. I have an insulin injection each day and take 5 mg of linagliptin each evening. My. rheumatologist and GP try to reassure me that the diabetes MAY go once I am off the prednisolone but the jury is out on that one. This all started back in 2015 when I was diagnosed with PMR and warned about the possibility of LCA developing. It has been a long road with no end in sight yet.