I have just a quick question while I compose my thoughts for a longer post.
I s four months of 5 milligrams of prednisone considered long term use?
Would appreciate your thoughts,
Hi, That's a really good question. I've been on 15mgs, then 10mgs,now 5 mgs. for the last 7 months. The 5 since March 5-1/2. I tried to get off of it, had pain in my foot and hands, so my doctor said don't go completely off, stay at 5. This week I have pain before I can get my remicade treatment and he said you cna go up to 10mgs again! I'm not going to do it! I want off. LyndaHI mine is about the same as lynda m i have been on 5mg a day
for the last 5 months. I told my rhuemy i wanted to see if i can
get off the stuff so last month he gave me 1 mg tablets 4 times a
day 1 mg don't seem like much but it's a start but i have not been
able to go any lower yet i can tell it's still helping me because my
hands and knees hurt to bad when i tried to drop anymore. I figured if
i could drop any one pill out of all he has me taking a day would help.
hope you have a pain free day.Dotty I bumped a thread that has a REALLY good article about pred. It should be on the first page now! Hope it helps a little!
Thanks so much for your helpful replies and good thoughts.
I read the article and it reinforces my hope to get off prednisone very soon.
But there in lies the dilemma. It really works. My hands were swollen, painful, and hard to use for several months. Now they are pretty much back to normal.
One problem, prednisone is my only therapy. I told the rheumatologist I would feel more comfortable taking something that would actually slow the progress of the disease. But he thought my results were great and all I needed was prednisone.
Im scheduled for a second opinion in November. I had my gp prescribe a tapering dose last month, but I haven't tapered. I'm think ing with no other medication my hands are sure to be hurting again.
But I'm worried if I go to the new rheumatologist with no swelling or obvious signs of disease she won't prescribe anything either.
I do have my recocords as the 1st rheumy sent detailed notes to my GP. T hey indicate a verbal report of swellin, etc.
So should I stay on 5 milligrams or taper before the appointment.
I fsne prescribes something I m sure it will take awhile to kick in so Im thinking of thar also.
My dilemma is so small compared to what you face that I'm a little embarassed but Id appreciate your opinions. I think tjis is the best place to come.
Thanks.
If it were me, I would taper before the appt. Just so they can see your true swelling and symptoms. I don't believe that it's nessicary that you taper, but that's just my personal take. You really can go either way with this one, whatever you feel is more comfortable.
I don't think 4 months is a terribly long time to be on 5mg of pred. To be on 30mg, yes, but 5 is a fairly low dose. However, you do want your goal to either be to come off the pred completely, or be on as low of a dose as possible.
I have heard that your body produces about 5mg itself in a day so while that is not a high dose, 4 months may have been long enough for our adrenal glads to have gotten lazy!!! That being said, I stopped, cold turkey, after more than a year and a half! It sounds to me though that you need something else to control your symptoms so going off it before your next appt sounds like a reasonable answer to me!!Thanks for input.
I have one question for you michelb. If I am put on a slow acting medication, is it possible she may put me back on prednisone to wait for the new therapy to kick in?
Thanks so much for taking an interest in my concerns.
Pred is used to help control fast flares - the kind that pop up overnight, when no other medication seems to be denting them. So it's possible to be thrown on pred from time to time. And it's okay to be used that way. It's the long term heavy dosing that you want to avoid (several months at high doses, or years at a low dose etc etc)I've been on 10mg. a day for 10 mos.....whenever I try to taper, I can't move. It's horrible.I have been on pred for almost 2 years now. I am unable to get below 5mg (right now at 10mg) as I end up in a bad RA or Crohn's flare. Neither are fun. I just added another medication and am waiting for that one to kick in before I try, once again, to ween off the pred. My mom was on it for 16 years straight and is no longer on it and doing better then I ever remember her, so keep trying! Katie is right, I think 5mg although not great to be on is not really too bad. Being on it sometimes outweighs the effects otherwise.It is true that 5 mg is a pretty reasonable dose, but then there are times you will need more, so I would want a non-steroid for my main med and the ability to use pred only occasionally so you do not have so many side effects. I had below normal blood pressure before pred and now it is too high and I have to be on a bp med. My dr is trying to get me off prednisone, but it is difficult since I have been on it so long. I'm going to taper only 1 mg a month, that means it will take 5 months to get off it. Wow-that's a long time.
In spite of that, I really needed it to get through some times when I was very sick and I would take it again. It is something to be used when needed but with caution.
Hope that helps,
Laker
Hi Dotty , I took Prednisone 10 mg for a bout 7 months. I am a prednisone hater! I gained 15 pounds got that terrible fat hump on my back and my hair thinned horribly. I weaned in 10 days off and have been off for 10 weeks. I did need that dose though until the enbrel kicked in, it was a life saver.
Don't worry I am sure you will be off of it when your body gets adjusted and your long term medicene starts working. gOOD LUCK!