Deltasone helped relieve cervical pain Deltasone was prescribed to treat an eye problem (optic neuritis). The treatment helped with the cervical condition (degenerative disk disease) pain and inflammation. For the time I was on the prednisone, it felt as though my neck problems were in a remission. However, the effects wore off and the neck pain and bad headaches returned. The side effects were constant hunger, weight gain, and contact dermatitis so its not a treatment that anyone would want to undergo regularly. But for a short period, it did give some relief.