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- Whether or not to use systemic corticosteroids to treat a skin disease - This Changed My Practice
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By Dr. Eileen Murray on October 3, Eileen Murray MD FRCPC biography and disclosures Disclosures: Served as a consultant for the pharmaceutical industry and participated in clinical research evaluating new therapies for psoriasis and atopic dermatitis. When I started out in dermatology, corticosteroids were the only systemic drug available to treat patients with severe allergic contact dermatitis ACDatopic dermatitis ADdrug reactions and those with bullous diseases.
Corticosteroids are potent and excellent immunosuppressive agents. The main problem with systemic use is the high risk of drug interactions, as well as multiple serious acute and long-term side effects. It was the belief at the time that patients treated oral corticosteroids for short periods, two weeks or less for instance were not adversely affected by treatment.
Severe ACD caused by poison ivy was the disease I treated most frequently with systemic corticosteroids. Patients were given a two-week course of oral Prednisone, 50mg daily for seven days and 25mg daily for another seven total dose of mg.
Two weeks of treatment was necessary to prevent recrudescence and completely clear the eruption. The following article made me change the way I treated ACD and stimulated me to try to avoid using systemic corticosteroids when at all possible. McKee et al 1 reported a group of male patients who had developed osteonecrosis six to thirty-three months after a single short-course of oral corticosteroids within three years of presentation.
The mean steroid dose in equivalent milligrams of prednisone was range — mg. The mean duration of drug therapy was Osteonecrosis is a known complication of systemic corticosteroid use and was initially believed to occur only in patients who received high doses equivalent to more than mg of prednisone for extended periods 3 months or longer. Each patient with ACD is instructed to apply a wet dressing 3,4 see Patient handout three times daily for 15 to 20minutes followed by the application of clobetasol propionate cream — the most potent topical corticosteroid.
The patient continues the wet dressings daily until they are no longer itchy. Soon after changing my practice, I had a series of patients with severe, generalized ACD appearing two days post surgery. Systemic treatment would have interfered with post operative healing.
All of them were treated with the topical regime and had quick relief of itching. Their ACD cleared just as quickly as those patients I had previously treated with systemic corticosteroids. Psoriasis and chronic urticaria: do not treat either of these diseases with systemic corticosteroids! Do not treat undiagnosed skin disease or itching with systemic corticosteroids:. A young man in the middle of the night presented to the emergency with a generalized rash and severe itching; so severe he was begging for relief.
Three weeks previously he had been seen in a walk-in clinic and prescribed a one-week course of oral prednisone.
A week later, no better, he saw his family physician and was given an antifungal cream. Within the week, he was seen at another walk-in clinic and given a topical corticosteroid. The rash continued to get worse culminating in his visit to emergency where he was being treated with IV Solu-Medrol and antihistamines. He had the most severe case of pityriasis rosea PR I have ever seen. I discontinued his corticosteroids, prescribed a day course of erythromycin and a compounded cooling lotion containing 0.
By then his itch had subsided. His rash cleared within five days. In this case, the initial treatment with oral corticosteroids had increased the severity of the disease so much that none of the physicians he saw subsequently were able to make a clinical diagnosis. The etiology of PR is still not known.
It may be a reaction to unknown triggers. Most cases are mild and resolve spontaneously without treatment. Recent studies have suggested an infectious etiology might be responsible.
Both oral erythromycin and acyclovir have been reported to clear patients with severe disease 5. An older male patient, within hours of inadvertently ingesting one cloxacillin capsule, presented with fever, facial swelling, diffuse erythema and numerous pin-sized non-follicular pustules. He was otherwise well. I suggested that he be admitted and observed overnight.
That evening, I found an article describing a series of patients with the same presentation — an unusual and rare drug reaction designated as acute generalized exanthematous pustulosis. The good news, it resolves spontaneously within a few days. I stopped at the hospital early the next morning.
I was too late; his physician had treated him with overnight with IV solu-medrol. Treating with topical corticosteroid is sometimes as effective for skin disease as the systemic drug:. There is evidence to show that treating severe bullous diseases with potent topical corticosteroids can be as effective as treating with systemic. Topical treatment is very much safer as very little of the drug is absorbed even with open lesions.
Also, as the skin heals even less corticosteroid is absorbed. Bullous pemphigoid most common in elderly patients is now often treated with topical corticosteroids alone or in combination with high doses of tetracycline and niacinamide 6,7. Patients who may require systemic corticosteroids include patients with severe or unresponsive disease or those intolerant to other treatment. Diseases most frequently treated include drug reactions, AD, nummular dermatitis, ACD, bullous pemphigoid and lichen planus.
From: Murray Eileen, Diagnosing Skin Diseases: A diagnostic tool and educational resource for pediatricians and primary care givers.
Note: Wet dressings are cool and soothing, antipruritic, and antiseptic. They also enhance absorption of topical medications. They are the epitome of a treatment that always helps and never harms.
For skin diseases with weeping or crusting a wet dressing open to the air dries the lesions. If the skin is dry an occluded wet dressing increases moisture retention. Physicians began using wet dressings several hundred years ago. Solutions were compounded by surgeons treating wounded soldiers. Many lives were saved because the wet dressings greatly reduced the risk of infection.
Karl August Burow, -a German surgeon, an inventor of both plastic surgery and wound healing techniques. Whether or not to use systemic corticosteroids to treat a skin disease. View Results. Read More 2 Comments. The information presented here is interesting, but anecdotal. If I am to weigh the risk and benefit of offering oral steroids to my patients I need to get a sense of how likely such adverse events are.
I agree with Dr. Murray that it is important to know that this complication happens in the 50mg per day dosing range, and I thank her for her contribution — but a decision to abandon a traditional and highly effective treatment requires a better sense of absolute risk. The orthopaedic surgeon who put together the osteonecrosis case series discussed in this article sees a highly select population of those who suffer such complications.
What was the denominator? Having written perhaps prescriptions for oral steroids I have never seen this complication — although clearly that is too small a sample size to be meaningful. The next time your local Division of Family Practice gets together count heads, and years of practice, and ask how many cases of osteonecrosis secondary to oral steroids the group has seen.
I thank Dr. Scott Garrison for his thoughtful comments. Statistics are not my thing so am not able to provide a sense of absolute risk. I do think that the large cohort study by Dr. Feng-Chen Kao provides compelling evidence for the association of systemic corticosteroid use with both fracture-related arthroplasty and fracture-unrelated surgery. In a group of 21, users matched with non-users followed over 12 years, the hazard ratio HR was double for steroid users over non-users.
The HR increased with increased steroid dosage, particularly in those with fracture-unrelated arthropathy. The adjusted HR increased from 3. I think the most important point is that systemic corticosteroids are not a substitute for topical corticosteroids. They are a potent, broad-spectrum immunosuppressive agent and need to be prescribed with the same cautions you would use with any other immunosuppressive agent. Topical corticosteroids are potent immunosuppressants but with normal use, rarely cause systemic symptoms.
Our skin is an excellent barrier. I remember seeing a sixteen-year-old girl who had been prescribed clobetasol cream to treat her atopic dermatitis. It cleared her disease. However, she continued to apply it to her skin every morning after her shower to prevent the eczema from coming back. She continued the daily treatment for a year. By that time, she had developed severe striae over her arms and legs.
She was assessed by an endocrinologist and had no evidence of adrenal suppression. Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. You can also subscribe without commenting. Whether or not to use systemic corticosteroids to treat a skin disease By Dr. Eileen Murray on October 3, Dr. What I did before When I started out in dermatology, corticosteroids were the only systemic drug available to treat patients with severe allergic contact dermatitis ACDatopic dermatitis ADdrug reactions and those with bullous diseases.
What changed my practice The following article made me change the way I treated ACD and stimulated me to try to avoid using systemic corticosteroids when at all possible.
What I do now 1. Allergic contact dermatitis: Each patient with ACD is instructed to apply a wet dressing 3,4 see Patient handout three times daily for 15 to 20minutes followed by the application of clobetasol propionate cream — the most potent topical corticosteroid.
❾-50%}For Hives, A New Study Suggests Many Can Skip The Steroids | WBUR News.
And we can try that approach, and I might use a higher dose of the antihistamine. He might also suggest that the patient call him if there's a problem, and that he could still phone the steroid prescription in to the pharmacy.
And medicine is always trying to improve, in part by reexamining current medical dogma, as this French study did. I'm leaning toward skipping the steroid, at least at first, if I get another hives attack.
But one lingering concern: The study did find that in one patient among the 50 who got a placebo rather than a steroid, the hives progressed to an anaphylactic allergic reaction. Vukmir said he wasn't sure the report was a full-fledged anaphylactic reaction, and in any case, there's usually good warning: The classic anaphylactic reaction, he said, typically occurs within 20 minutes, and involves a blood pressure drop or significant breathing problems.
So if you're prone to hives, would you try skipping the steroid yourself? The good news is that hives usually pass on their own anyway — they're "self-limiting," in medical parlance. The better news is that whether you take steroids or not, the risks they'll turn life-threatening are exceedingly low.
And maybe the best news is that in current medical culture, you're likely to have a choice. Skip to main content. Listen Live. It's Boston local news in one concise, fun and informative email Thank you!
Clinical Pediatric Dermatology. Philadelphia: WB Saunders Company; Bernhard Jeffery D. Itch: Mechanisms and Management of Pruritus. Litt, JZ, Topical treatment of itching without corticosteroids. Comparative study of effectiveness of oral acyclovir with oral erythromycin in the treatment of Pityriasis rosea.
Nicotinamide and tetracycline therapy of bullous pemphigoid. Pemphigoid diseases: Pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment. Eileen Murray June 22, at pm Permalink. This communication reflects the opinion of the author and does not necessarily mirror the perspective and policy of UBC CPD. Comments are moderated according to our guidelines. Visit ubccpd. Previous Next. Click here to print this article. Read Later. Adeera Levin Dr. Alexander Chapman Dr. Alice Chang Dr.
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Heather Leitch Dr. Hector Baillie Dr. Hugh Anton Dr. James Bergman Dr. Jan Hajek Dr. Jane Buxton Dr. However, pediatric patients are more likely to have slower growth and bone problems if prednisone is used for a long time. Recommended doses should not be exceeded, and the patient should be carefully monitored during therapy.
Appropriate studies performed to date have not demonstrated geriatric-specific problems that would limit the usefulness of prednisone in the elderly. However, elderly patients are more likely to have age-related liver, kidney, or heart problems, which may require caution and an adjustment in the dose for elderly patients receiving prednisone.
There are no adequate studies in women for determining infant risk when using this medication during breastfeeding. Weigh the potential benefits against the potential risks before taking this medication while breastfeeding. Although certain medicines should not be used together at all, in other cases two different medicines may be used together even if an interaction might occur. In these cases, your doctor may want to change the dose, or other precautions may be necessary.
When you are taking this medicine, it is especially important that your healthcare professional know if you are taking any of the medicines listed below. The following interactions have been selected on the basis of their potential significance and are not necessarily all-inclusive.
Using this medicine with any of the following medicines is not recommended. Your doctor may decide not to treat you with this medication or change some of the other medicines you take. Using this medicine with any of the following medicines is usually not recommended, but may be required in some cases. If both medicines are prescribed together, your doctor may change the dose or how often you use one or both of the medicines. Using this medicine with any of the following medicines may cause an increased risk of certain side effects, but using both drugs may be the best treatment for you.
Certain medicines should not be used at or around the time of eating food or eating certain types of food since interactions may occur. Using alcohol or tobacco with certain medicines may also cause interactions to occur. Discuss with your healthcare professional the use of your medicine with food, alcohol, or tobacco.
The presence of other medical problems may affect the use of this medicine. Make sure you tell your doctor if you have any other medical problems, especially:. Take this medicine exactly as directed by your doctor.
Do not take more of it, do not take it more often, and do not take it for a longer time than your doctor ordered. To do so may increase the chance for unwanted effects. Measure the oral liquid with a marked measuring spoon, oral syringe, or medicine cup. The average household teaspoon may not hold the right amount of liquid. Find out more about how prednisolone can affect you and your baby during pregnancy. Tell your GP if you are breastfeeding or about to start breastfeeding before taking prednisolone.
Prednisolone can get into breast milk. Tell your GP if you're taking oestrogens. These are found in the contraceptive pill or hormone replacement therapy HRT. Your GP will decide on the dose. They might tell you to take it on alternate days. In children, the dose is calculated based on their height and weight. So it may be lower than for an adult. If your prednisolone tablets are labelled as 'enteric coated' or 'gastro resistant', you can take these with or without food.
Make sure to swallow them whole. Do not take indigestion medicines 2 hours before or after taking enteric-coated or gastro-resistant tablets.
Prednisolone can cause extra side effects and withdrawal symptoms if you stop taking it suddenly. Not everyone who takes prednisolone gets side effects. But the higher your dose, the more chance you'll experience some. Some side effects, such as stomach upset or mood changes, can happen straight away. Others, such as a rounder 'moon' face, happen after weeks or months. Keep taking your prednisolone but tell your GP if any side effects bother you or do not go away.
See the patient information leaflet that comes with your medicine for a full list of side effects. Taking prednisolone for many months or years can have harmful effects on your body, including:. Ask your GP to check the height of your children and teenagers regularly. This can pick up any stunting of growth quickly. Making lifestyle changes can help you control the possible harmful effects, for example regular exercise and a calcium-rich diet.
Drug information provided by: IBM Micromedex. Prednisone provides relief for inflamed areas of the body. It is used to treat a number of different conditions, such as inflammation swellingsevere allergies, adrenal problems, arthritis, asthma, blood or bone marrow problems, endocrine problems, eye or vision problems, stomach or bowel problems, lupus, skin conditions, kidney problems, ulcerative colitis, and flare-ups of multiple sclerosis.
Prednisone is a corticosteroid cortisone-like medicine or steroid. It works on the immune system to help relieve swelling, redness, itching, and allergic reactions. In deciding to use a medicine, the risks of taking the medicine must be weighed against the good it will do.
This is a decision you and your doctor will make. For this medicine, the following should be considered:. Tell your doctor if you have ever had any unusual or allergic reaction to this medicine or any other medicines. Also tell your health care professional if you have any other types of allergies, such as to foods, dyes, preservatives, or animals.
For non-prescription products, read the label or package ingredients carefully. Appropriate studies performed to date have not demonstrated pediatric-specific problems that would limit the usefulness of prednisone in children.
However, pediatric patients are more likely to have slower growth and bone problems if prednisone is used for a long time. Recommended doses should not be exceeded, and the patient should be carefully monitored during therapy.
Appropriate studies performed to date have not demonstrated geriatric-specific problems that would limit the usefulness of prednisone in the elderly. However, elderly patients are more likely to have age-related liver, kidney, or heart problems, which may require caution and an adjustment in the dose for elderly patients receiving prednisone.
There are no adequate studies in women for determining infant risk when using this medication during breastfeeding. Weigh the potential benefits against the potential risks before taking this medication while breastfeeding. Although certain medicines should not be used together at all, in other cases two different medicines may be used together even if an interaction might occur. In these cases, your doctor may want to change the dose, or other precautions may be necessary.
When you are taking this medicine, it is especially important that your healthcare professional know if you are taking any of the medicines listed below. The following interactions have been selected on the basis of their potential significance and are not necessarily all-inclusive. Using this medicine with any of the following medicines is not recommended.
Your doctor may decide not to treat you with this medication or change some of the other medicines you take. Using this medicine with any of the following medicines is usually not recommended, but may be required in some cases. If both medicines are prescribed together, your doctor may change the dose or how often you use one or both of the medicines. Using this medicine with any of the following medicines may cause an increased risk of certain side effects, but using both drugs may be the best treatment for you.
Certain medicines should not be used at or around the time of eating food or eating certain types of food since interactions may occur. Using alcohol or tobacco with certain medicines may also cause interactions to occur. Discuss with your healthcare professional the use of your medicine with food, alcohol, or tobacco. The presence of other medical problems may affect the use of this medicine. Make sure you tell your doctor if you have any other medical problems, especially:.
Take this medicine exactly as directed by your doctor. Do not take more of it, do not take it more often, and do not take it for a longer time than your doctor ordered. To do so may increase the chance for unwanted effects. Measure the oral liquid with a marked measuring spoon, oral syringe, or medicine cup. The average household teaspoon may not hold the right amount of liquid.
Measure the concentrated liquid with the special oral dropper that comes with the package. If you use this medicine for a long time, do not suddenly stop using it without checking first with your doctor.
You may need to slowly decrease your dose before stopping it completely. The dose of this medicine will be different for different patients. Follow your doctor's orders or the directions on the label. The following information includes only the average doses of this medicine. If your dose is different, do not change it unless your doctor tells you to do so. The amount of medicine that you take depends on the strength of the medicine.
Also, the number of doses you take each day, the time allowed between doses, and the length of time you take the medicine depend on the medical problem for which you are using the medicine. If you miss a dose of this medicine, take it as soon as possible. However, if it is almost time for your next dose, skip the missed dose and go back to your regular dosing schedule. Do not double doses. Store the medicine in a closed container at room temperature, away from heat, moisture, and direct light.
Keep from freezing. If you will be taking this medicine for a long time, it is very important that your doctor check you at regular visits for any unwanted effects that may be caused by this medicine. Blood or urine tests may be needed to check for unwanted effects.
Using this medicine while you are pregnant can harm your unborn baby. Use an effective form of birth control to keep from getting pregnant. If you think you have become pregnant while using this medicine, tell your doctor right away.
If you are using this medicine for a long time, tell your doctor about any extra stress or anxiety in your life, including other health concerns and emotional stress. Your dose of this medicine might need to be changed for a short time while you have extra stress. Using too much of this medicine or using it for a long time may increase your risk of having adrenal gland problems. Talk to your doctor right away if you have more than one of these symptoms while you are using this medicine: blurred vision, dizziness or fainting, a fast, irregular, or pounding heartbeat, increased thirst or urination, irritability, or unusual tiredness or weakness.
This medicine may cause you to get more infections than usual. Avoid people who are sick or have infections and wash your hands often.
If you are exposed to chickenpox or measles, tell your doctor right away. If you start to have a fever, chills, sore throat, or any other sign of an infection, call your doctor right away. Check with your doctor right away if blurred vision, difficulty in reading, eye pain, or any other change in vision occurs during or after treatment.
Your doctor may want you to have your eyes checked by an ophthalmologist eye doctor. While you are being treated with prednisone, do not have any immunizations vaccines without your doctor's approval.
Prednisone may lower your body's resistance and the vaccine may not work as well or you might get the infection the vaccine is meant to prevent. In addition, you should not be around other persons living in your household who receive live virus vaccines because there is a chance they could pass the virus on to you. Some examples of live vaccines include measles, mumps, influenza nasal flu vaccinepoliovirus oral formrotavirus, and rubella.
Do not get close to them and do not stay in the same room with them for very long. If you have questions about this, talk to your doctor. This medicine may cause changes in mood or behavior for some patients.
Tell your doctor right away if you have depression, mood swings, a false or unusual sense of well-being, trouble with sleeping, or personality changes while taking this medicine. This medicine might cause thinning of the bones osteoporosis or slow growth in children if used for a long time. Tell your doctor if you have any bone pain or if you have an increased risk for osteoporosis.
If your child is using this medicine, tell the doctor if you think your child is not growing properly. Make sure any doctor or dentist who treats you knows that you are using this medicine. This medicine may affect the results of certain skin tests.
Do not take other medicines unless they have been discussed with your doctor. This includes prescription or nonprescription over-the-counter [OTC] medicines and herbal or vitamin supplements. Along with its needed effects, a medicine may cause some unwanted effects. Although not all of these side effects may occur, if they do occur they may need medical attention. Some side effects may occur that usually do not need medical attention.
These side effects may go away during treatment as your body adjusts to the medicine. Also, your health care professional may be able to tell you about ways to prevent or reduce some of these side effects. Check with your health care professional if any of the following side effects continue or are bothersome or if you have any questions about them:.
Other side effects not listed may also occur in some patients. If you notice any other effects, check with your healthcare professional. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. All rights reserved. Information is for End User's use only and may not be sold, redistributed or otherwise used for commercial purposes. Any use of this site constitutes your agreement to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy linked below.
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localhost › Right Care › Symptoms and Conditions. Prednisone starts working a couple of hours after you take it, but it may take a couple of days before you see its full effects. Common. You might feel better after a couple of days of taking prednisolone. But it depends on your illness. For some illnesses, you may not notice any difference in. Prednisone usually works very quickly, within a few hours to days of taking the first dose depending on the condition you are treating. Doctors often prescribe an oral corticosteroid, like prednisone, along with an antihistamine to treat mild itchy rashes. Topical corticosteroids are potent immunosuppressants but with normal use, rarely cause systemic symptoms. Heather Leitch Dr. Biopsy a lesion if you are not sure If possible, eliminate the cause drug or herb, allergen Treat with a super potent topical corticosteroid before considering systemic treatment. Learning to meet my patient where they are at - how letting go changed my practice Fecal incontinence: just ask! Although not all of these side effects may occur, if they do occur they may need medical attention. If your dose is different, do not change it unless your doctor tells you to do so. You know, normally we would prescribe steroids in this situation.The baffling, itchy red welts began in early fall, cropping up in odd places: on my torso why would a mosquito bite a spot that wasn't exposed? Every day or two, a new one would appear; some in clusters and others alone; some as small as pimples, but one swelling almost to the size of a ping pong ball. Finally, I went to urgent care. It took a seasoned doctor about 10 seconds to diagnose me with hives: the often-mysterious allergic reaction that affects about one-fifth of us at some time in our lives.
He prescribed an over-the-counter antihistamine, Benadryl, and a steroid, prednisone. I knew vaguely that steroids were not-to-be-taken-lightly drugs. They carry the potential for significant side effects: 'roid rage, blood sugar spikes, long-term risk of infection and bone loss. But this was a "Make it stop! The treatment worked beautifully, ending the itch and beating down the swelling within a day or two. I never did figure out what triggered the hives. Hold The Steroids.
The press release about the Annals Of Emergency Medicine study included this:. With the addition of prednisone, the relief scores were actually worse.
Levocetirizine — better known by the brand name Xyzal — is a non-sedating antihistamine that lasts 24 hours. It got federal approval earlier this year to be sold over the counter. So maybe, I wondered, I didn't need to take those slightly scary steroids after all? The French study was small -- just patients with basic hives, no puffiness of face or feet — but high quality: patients were randomly assigned to steroids or placebo, and "blind" to which they got.
On the other hand, hives can be a little scary too: They can — rarely — progress to a potentially life-threatening anaphylactic reaction. So couldn't steroids help prevent that? What does this study mean for the next time you or I see those nasty itchy red bumps breaking out?
First, as always, ask your doctor if you're in any doubt: Is this hives? Should I be seen? Editorializing here, but if you can't send a smartphone photo to your primary care office, something's wrong. Rade Vukmir. Both say the study is unlikely to shift the current standard practice of offering both an antihistamine and a steroid — and often a Pepcid or Zantac as well, which block an additional kind of histamine, Vukmir said, for a " punch.
But each found value in it nonetheless. Hsu Blatman says that for patients with relatively mild cases of hives, the study underscores the option of simply taking antihistamines at home. But if you continue to have symptoms or it doesn't seem like it's turning around, then you should be seeking medical advice.
She called the study "nicely done," and further evidence that histamine is a key element in the hives allergic reaction, "so it makes sense that if you take an antihistamine, that that would help with blocking the histamine, which is what's really driving that itch. But, I asked her, doesn't it make sense that if an allergic reaction like hives is an overreaction of the immune system, and steroids ratchet down the immune system, they should be helpful against hives?
The steroid "is trying to help decrease that inflammation kind of slowly," she said. So for patients who may have a bigger presentation, the steroids can be helpful in that way. Vukmir said the study offers more fodder for a discussion between doctors and patients as they consider the options. In the wake of the study, he said, his script might sound like this:. You know, normally we would prescribe steroids in this situation. It's been done for years. There's a good track record.
Some people get a little concerned about steroids. So there is this other alternative: There's a new study that said maybe we don't need to give steroids, in that you don't get better that much more quickly. And we can try that approach, and I might use a higher dose of the antihistamine.
He might also suggest that the patient call him if there's a problem, and that he could still phone the steroid prescription in to the pharmacy. And medicine is always trying to improve, in part by reexamining current medical dogma, as this French study did. I'm leaning toward skipping the steroid, at least at first, if I get another hives attack.
But one lingering concern: The study did find that in one patient among the 50 who got a placebo rather than a steroid, the hives progressed to an anaphylactic allergic reaction. Vukmir said he wasn't sure the report was a full-fledged anaphylactic reaction, and in any case, there's usually good warning: The classic anaphylactic reaction, he said, typically occurs within 20 minutes, and involves a blood pressure drop or significant breathing problems.
So if you're prone to hives, would you try skipping the steroid yourself? The good news is that hives usually pass on their own anyway — they're "self-limiting," in medical parlance. The better news is that whether you take steroids or not, the risks they'll turn life-threatening are exceedingly low. And maybe the best news is that in current medical culture, you're likely to have a choice.
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