Prednisone Pharmacology

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Prednisone is a commonly used medication for its antiinflammatory and immunosuppressive action. On this episode I discuss prednisone pharmacology, ADRs, and much more.

In the episode, I discuss how prednisone affects the HPA system in the body. Cortisol production can be greatly impacted by long term use of prednisone.

GI adverse effects can be problematic with oral prednisone which is why we often give this medication with food or milk.

Hyperglycemia is a complication from the use of prednisone. I’ve commonly seen blood sugar spike by 50-100+ mg/dL due to this medication.

Osteoporosis is a long term risk with the use of prednisone. Prednisone can also impact the benefits of vaccination. I discuss this in greater depth in the drug interactions portion of the podcast.

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Inhaled Budesonide Pharmacology

On this episode of the podcast, I cover budesonide (Pulmicort) pharmacology. Our sponsor (Pyrls.com/rlp) for this episode is providing a FREE PDF of their inhaled corticosteroid categorizations chart (i.e. low/medium/high dose ICS) when you sign up for a free account!

The onset of action of inhaled budesonide is several hours up to a few days. Patient education is critical to ensure that patients stick with its use.

Budesonide does have a nebulized formulation that is often used in pediatrics and geriatrics.

There aren’t a ton of critical drug interactions, but you should think about medications that inhibit CYP3A4 and may have additive immunosuppressive effects.

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