I could share many stories about this masking effect of steroids. Some personally involved me but many more stories about other people on prednisone being admitted to the hospital. Classic examples are when signs and symptoms of an infection may be masked by prednisone.

One personal experience when the mask was removed involved severe spinal stenosis. I had acute onset neurological changes involving my legs. Foot drop and a tendency to drag one leg was the most concerning problem. My legs were numb but that was nothing new. An urgent MRI was done and soon an emergency lumbar spine surgery was being offered to me. The surgeon asked about pain and I had to confess to having "intermittent back pain but prednisone always relieved it."

The surgeon showed me the MRI and even I could see the extensive arthritic damage to a lumbar spine. Then I asked the surgeon if he was sure it was my MRI because I had no idea that I had a bad back.

Another incident was more embarrassing. I was being "detained" until an ambulance arrived. I was having "some breathing problems" but no chest pain. After the ambulance took me to the emergency room I proceeded to tell a doctor it was "all a big mistake." I was very calm thinking the doctor would agree with me.

A chest CT scan was done anyway. After the scan of my lungs, I was allowed to walk back to my room. I was wearing a portable heart monitor with telemetry. I was thinking someone else's alarm was going off when doctors and nurses raced past me but then they circled around me. I was instructed to sit in a wheelchair to be wheeled back to my room.

A doctor showed up with the result of the CT scan. He asked me about chest pain which I denied. I suggested that I be allowed to go home thinking it was nothing serious. The emergency room doctor said no I could not go home because there was a bed waiting for me in the intensive care unit.

Both my lungs were filled with many blood clots. A pulmonary doctor in the intensive care unit said he had seen everything but even he was "impressed" with my CT scan. He was also amazed I wasn't having any chest pain since I wasn't dead!