Are the heart palpitations and pain withdrawal symptoms of the drug Budesonide?

Question

Hello doctor,

I have been taking the tablet Budesonide for eleven days to treat COVID-19. The symptoms started eight days before taking this medicine. It has helped my breathing a lot. My doctor advised me to stop taking it because I was developing swelling in my sinuses and eyeballs, so I discontinued the drug. Two days later, I started having chest pain and palpitations, lower oxygen levels, and shortness of breath, so I thought I was still having COVID symptoms. Hence, I started back on tablet Budesonide, but now the side effects of heart palpitations and heart pains are worse. How do I safely taper off this drug? Kindly share your suggestion.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com. I can understand your concern. According to your statement, you were on a steroid tablet Budesonide, but you stopped using this medication because of developing some side effects like swelling of sinuses and eyeballs. 1 ml of suspension contains 0.25 mg Budesonide, so 2 ml contains 0.50 mg Budesonide. Tablet Budesonide's gradual withdrawal may be started by reducing the daily or alternative daily doses. Further reductions should be made one to two weeks later. The decrease of Budesonide should exceed 25% of the Budesonide dose. So, as you use 4 ml of Budesonide daily, you can initially use 3-3.5 ml of Budesonide daily for seven to fourteen days according to your body's response to the reduced dose, then 2.5-3 ml of Budesonide for another 7-14 days. In this way, you can stop using Budesonide gradually by tapering its dose to avoid withdrawal syndrome.

Answer 2

Hello,

Welcome back to icliniq.com. Cardiac rhythm problems like rapid heartbeat or palpitations, irregular heartbeat, slow heartbeat, or bradycardia are known as cardiac arrhythmia. Cardiac arrhythmia may be noticed in 1% to 82% of people on steroids like Budesonide. Again, some people can also experience chest pain or chest discomfort and heart palpitations as a side effect of Budesonide. Heart palpitations and chest pain may also occur as a result of withdrawal syndrome of Budesonide along with other symptoms like weakness, tiredness, nausea, vomiting, sweating, anxiety, headache, loss of appetite, weight loss, etc. Withdrawal syndrome of Budesonide may persist for a few weeks to months. As you are suffering from palpitations and heart pain, you can undergo ECG (Electrocardiogram) and ECHO (Echocardiogram) to exclude other causes.