Since prednisone is an inactive drug precursor that must be converted to prednisolone in the liver to become active, why is it the most widely used prescribed drug (rather than prednisolone) when an oral glucocorticoid is indicated?
Prednisone vs prednisolone?
Question posted by bar46den on 7 Sep 2011
Last updated on 7 September 2011 by silmarien
This question has also been asked and answered here: What's the difference between prednisone and prednisolone?
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silmarien
8 Sep 2011
Probably because doctors have more experience with Predisone than glucocorticoid. Medrol (Methylprednisolone) tends to have less side-effects, so this is also a popular steroid prescribed by doctors.
In my experience doctors usually are most comfortable prescribing medications that they've had long experience with, to avoid malpractice, and just in general because they are more comfortable prescribing medications that they know a lot about.
For example, my Psychiatrist refused to prescribe me Valium simply because he had bad experiences with former patients on the drug, which pissed me off royally, but nothing I could do about it.
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