Please help.

My wife, mid 30's and otherwise healthy, was prescribed dexamethasone
(oral) to treat an inflammation related to a dental procedure. The dose
was 4mg taken 4 times daily and tapering through the week given by the
sequence 4,4,3,3,2,2,1.

Approximately 10 days following the end of the prescription she began
to experience tingling sensations and twinges in the hip joints and
muscular discomfort in the calves. These symptoms evolved in the
ensuing days to include pain or sensitivity to pressure on the side of
her hips followed by difficulty walking. At 20 days following the
dexamethasone treatment, pain in the knee joints developed which have
severely limited her mobility and chronic pain being treated with
Advil. At 25 days these symptoms related to joint pain now encompass
her ankle joints, knees and hips. Standing and walking are now both
difficult and painful.

Having reviewed articles related to the side effects of dexamethasone I
see a correlation to a progression towards avascular necrosis.

Does anyone have any similar experience or knowledge related to such a
rapid deterioration of joint integrity for such a short term exposure
to this glutocorticoid. I understand that in rare cases joint
replacement may be required however such comments have always been made
in the context of long term use.

An xray of the hip joints show nothing abnormal, however, after some
research I understand that a bone scan (results pending) or preferably
an MRI is required to diagnose AVN in the early stages.

Please advise.