I never had many gastrointestinal issues during my 12 years of being on Prednisone. My PCP started me on "stomach protection" almost as soon as I started long term Prednisone for PMR. Maybe the stomach protection helped me.

I had a serious norovirus infection while on Prednisone. That caused me to have all kinds of gastrointestinal problems and I ended up in the intensive care unit for a couple of days. My immune system went bonkers when I had the norovirus infection. The intensive care doctors said Prednisone was a "contributing factor" for my being seriously ill. My PCP said people get gastrointestinal infections all the time but they don't usually need intensive care.

I can't speak for Kevzara. However, when Actemra was started to control PMR, I don't seem to have as many medical problems as I used to have. I don't get so many infections anymore. I can't say that I'm completely off all medications but my stomach protection medication was stopped. Several more medications to control my blood pressure and cholesterol levels were also discontinued. Part of the reason I needed intensive care during the norovirus infection was because of a major cardiovascular event. The risk to my cardiovascular system and my gastrointestinal system is less since I stopped prednisone.

I believe both Kevzara and Actemra can cause an exacerbation of gastrointestinal problems ... especially diverticulitis. It seems unclear whether IL-6 inhibitors like Kevara causes this problem or chronic corticosteroid use causes the problem.