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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Arthritis / September 2005Prednisone
Well time to come out of lurker mode....need more info on prednisone. Was prescribe 5mg/25mg a day prednisone ( 2 in am, 2 in pm, and 1 at bedtime)for 5 days then 20mg for 4days ect. My problem is I fear meds so much, I have lived with increasing pain the last couple years just using advil, because of reaction to nsaid ( palms of my hands, and sole of my feets burn and itch about 20 minutes after taking med) this after using it for 3 years. Because of panic attacks i sit here tonight crying, am so scared of starting this med. So am asking anyone who has been on it if this is a safe amount....also i do take 1/2 tablet .5 mg of clonazepam for anxiety..that is down from 2 tablets a day I have Poly arthritis..but last month 2 lumps came out on the side of my wrist and i have extreme joint pain plus scleritis in both eyes. So this am i went to my gp, well it was pouring rain, so i tried to run well golly gee down i went face first in the sidewalk my knee lock up on me..to cap off my day the gp says its RA and that I must start this med now and then we will look at others once the flare up is over... i have no RD yet in this province, just move back in 2001, my RD in vancouver said i had fibromyalgia and inflamatory arthritis Sorry for such a long post ..hope someone can give me some info on this drug and if the dosage is safe thks the prednisone dosage is a safe one i have lupus, scleroderma, and a couple more autoimmune diseases when they started me on it, it was @ 60 mg a day and my doc had me takin it all at once somehow to lesson the possible side effects - guess he just wanted me to get it over with was on 60 mg a day for several months, and have been trying to get off the stuff for about 4 years down to 5 mg a day now - can't get any lower for some reason without having some setbacks good luck !!!! >Well time to come out of lurker mode....need more info on prednisone. 25 mgs is not terribly high, and if it works you should soon be feeling much better. Forshort term use it is relatively safe and effective. Where in BC are you? I am also anotheer BCer and there are two more (that I know of) hiding somewhere. Welcome to the group. It can be a long wait to get in to see an Rd (rheumatologist) as they are prety scarce. You need something, because living with pain and associate problems is not good. Rose @}>->-- Being educated means that rather than fearing the unknown, one seeks to understand it. RB Please remove "Ima" to reply. >Well time to come out of lurker mode....need more info on prednisone. >Was prescribe 5mg/25mg a day prednisone ( 2 in am, 2 in pm, and 1 at [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >safe amount....also i do take 1/2 tablet .5 mg of clonazepam for >anxiety..that is down from 2 tablets a day 25 mg. of Prednisone is a safe amount, especially if you are having such severe pain. Some people are on it for long periods of time and that can be a different story. At one time I was on 60 mg. a day for an MS flare-up, and from time to time have been on varying doses short term for RA. It is usually better to take it all early in the day though, and with food. It can be hard on the stomach, and tends to make you feel as if you have more energy. But it does decrease inflammation. If you have RA you need a DMARD, that's a disease modifier that slows down the RA and prevents a lot more damage. The Prednisone is a stop-gap measure. This is a very short, incomplete answer to your questions, I am certain others here have already said far more, I just saw you message and decided to say hi. What province are you in now? I take it you have left BC. Stick around, this is a great group. >I have Poly arthritis..but last month 2 lumps came out on the side of >my wrist and i have extreme joint pain plus scleritis in both eyes. So [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >Sorry for such a long post ..hope someone can give me some info on this >drug and if the dosage is safe thks --- Joan The dosage is a good one -- I was once on 80 mg a day [will never do that again]. Just ask those that remember me on that. BUZZZZZZZZ ing along I was. Be prepared to have some issues like lessoned fatigue, boundless energy. Also be prepared to try and curb your tongue. You will be more apt to say what is on your mind instead of just thinking it. It is a drug we all love to hate. It is a great drug and it is a bad drug if taken for too long. So take it to tide you over and enjoy the relief from pain, if only for the few weeks you are on it. Lots of us also have scripts for 1mg tablets so cutting the dosage after we get under 10mg is easier -- but that is for some of us who have been on it a long time. I am down to 4mg per day. BTW, you might find that taking it all in the morning will let you sleep better at night than spreading the dosage out through the day but you will have to judge that after you start taking it. Good luck to you and please keep us Updated Duckie > Well time to come out of lurker mode....need more info on prednisone. > Was prescribe 5mg/25mg a day prednisone ( 2 in am, 2 in pm, and 1 at [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > Sorry for such a long post ..hope someone can give me some info on this > drug and if the dosage is safe thks  Signature_('> (_<_) _ _('< -quack (_<_) _ __('< *QUACK!* <_{__) _('< "|,,|_" (_<_) _('< "AFLAC!" (_<_) None of the NSAID worked for me and so Prednisone was all that has done anything for the RA joint pain I had. I was on 20mg a day for a little while then 15mg a day for a while as well. I have been on 10mg a day now for about 4 months and cant get it any lower yet, each time I put it down 1mg I flare up again. I took the bigger dose just once a day in the morning but the only way I have been able to get it down to 10mg was to take 5mg in the morning and 5mg in the evening. It works wonders for the pain but I have put on about 10-15kgs from it and noticed my face is rounder then before. I'm just awaiting having my baby then im going to be going on Methotrexate to see if that does anything for me so I can get the prednisone down even more. Don't be scared of it short term it works so well to get rid of the pain, its just longer term and if you cant get the dose down to really small that it seems to have nasty side effects. Good luck and I hope you find a RD soon as seeing one of those (and one I liked at that) made a huge difference to me. Kim > Well time to come out of lurker mode....need more info on prednisone. > Was prescribe 5mg/25mg a day prednisone ( 2 in am, 2 in pm, and 1 at [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > Sorry for such a long post ..hope someone can give me some info on this > drug and if the dosage is safe thks Jo, As the others said, it is a safe dosage. But the use of prednisone should be temporary-though for some temporary can be a matter of years. It is a powerful steroidal antiinflammatory, and I don't know where I would be without it. Usually it has to be tapered off, rather than stopped all at once. Joan is right, though...prednisone is usually used short term to gain some pain relief-however it does nothing to stop the progression of the disease. NSAIDS, DMARDS and biologics are the main groups of drugs which are used to treat RA, (or in my case, AS, ankylosing spondylitis). The lumps of which you speak sound like rheumatoid nodules. ARe you making an appointment with a rheumatologist? Is there one available in your area? Even inflammatory poly arthritis (my second diagnosis) needs to be treated so that it won't progress and cause permanent damage. Good luck to you, please let us know how you make out, Charlene welcome, jo. sorry you have to be here. i think you're our third jo. . . almost as many jos and dianes, now. as others have said, your prednisone dose makes sense. i don't understand, however, why your doc is spreading it out over the day, since it is usually taken in the morning. you might ask him/her that. the good news for you is that there are many good treatments these days for RA. back in the ol' days when i was first diagnosed a mere decade ago, there were fewer choices and many of us are left with a lot of damage even tho our disease is now under better control with the new meds. so if it's possible to be lucky having RA, you're lucky to be getting it now when you have better options. i'm glad your anxiety is being treated. panic attacks are no fun at all, and i say that as a veteran of them. come here when you feel panicky and afraid and just chit chat if you need to. that's what we're here for. good luck, diane Thank you all so much...I went ahead and began the med yesterday morning, everything went well...ouf what a relief. I find it strange that after my 3 rd dose I noticed a difference physically ..is that possible???? If it weren't for the fall I had Monday which left me quite sore...I might even say that the pain is now down by at least 40% which is incredible after the last 2 years of saying to myself that I just have to live with discomfort may I say even a level of pain that I wouldn't have taken as acceptable a couple years back... Anyhow you guys are great..for info I now live in Quebec after residing 25 years in Vancouver ..B. where I had an RD. That was in 2001 and my RD in vancouver tried Viox and again I had side effects..so you see why I was so fearfull Monday night.. But this prednisone so far so good, a little bit of shaking after my afternoon dose yesterday..but nothing so far today... We will try to find an RD in Quebec but the wait list is long...my GP wants me to try Methotrexate after this prednisone Thanks again to all of you for your kind words :-))) appreciate the time you took to support a newbie to this newsgroup.. chat later.. off to take my dose of prednisone but since I feel so much better physically ( which I just don't get after 8 pills ???) I don't mind so much TaTa for now Definitely possible Jo. I couldn't get out of bed from pain one day and the dr started me on prednisone and by the next day I had virtually no pain at all. In regards to splitting the dose so you have it morning and night I think most people take it only in the morning but I know my dr changed it to twice a day as it allowed me to get the dose lower per day then taking it all in the morning. Methotrexate is also the next step for me after I've had my baby next April so I just have to make do with Prednisone until then. Good luck and I'm glad your feeling better already Kim > Thank you all so much...I went ahead and began the med yesterday > morning, everything went well...ouf what a relief. I find it strange [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > physically ( which I just don't get after 8 pills ???) I don't mind so > much TaTa for now As you've heard, mild dose especially for a short term use. Advil causes more side effects than a pure opioid would. Pain managment is critical to putting up with this disease and not losing your mind. I don't use steroids for pain. I use pain medication. I am currently using a dose pack cuz my most recent flare won't end. My stomach has been SO messed up, I haven't been able to even take my meds. Today is the first day in almost a month I haven't been nauseaous or vomited. YAY! for me, if I'm worried about a medication, it's because I haven't researched it enough or I don't have the confidence of my doctor in rx'ing it. Even having private insurance, it has taken me a while to get a good team of docs. I still don't have a rheumy but right now, my family physician can manage me. Take care > Well time to come out of lurker mode....need more info on prednisone. > Was prescribe 5mg/25mg a day prednisone ( 2 in am, 2 in pm, and 1 at [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > Sorry for such a long post ..hope someone can give me some info on this > drug and if the dosage is safe thks
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