I've been taking 400 mg Plaquenil and 10 mg Prednisone for about a month now. For the past week or so I've been feeling wonderful, just like I was before getting RA. So I decided that I should try and taper off on the Prednisone and took 7.5 mg yesterday instead of 10 mg. What a difference that made! ... I woke up with the same aches and stiffness I had when I first got diagnosed with RA.
I guess the Plaquenil hasn't started working yet. I hate being so reliant on Prednisone. My father has PMR and his rheumatologist gave him Methylpredinosolone. His rheumy was out of town, so he went to his primary doctor who refused to give it to him because the doctor said Methylpredinosolone causes brittle bones. Does anyone know if Prednisone also causes brittle bones?
So now I hate Prednisone even more ... I am just so afraid of the side effects ... the only upside to it is that it gets me moving like a regular person ... but will I have to pay for it with other ailments later down the line?
Thanks for any comments,
Cindy
Welcome Cindy!!!
I took prednisone for 2 1/2 years.... I gained 40 lbs, it ruined my perfect vision, gave me diabetes but it did give me relief. I no longer take it ( thank goodness). I have read about brittle bones also. I haven't been tested for that yet.
I am glad you found us...there are a lot of knowledgeable and caring people here on this board. Pleasr keep posting and letting us know how you are.
I have been on prednisone anywhere between 30mg-5mg (currently at 8mg) for the past two and a half years. My doc tells me to take lots of Vitamin D and Calcium supplements to combat the effects on my bones while on this med. I am always trying to get off it but everytime i get to between 7.5-5mg things start to get so bad I can't ignore it and need to increase again
Good luck
Cindy. Welcome to the board and world of RA. It is a drag. To answer your
Cindy the simple answer is Yes pred will cause your bones to become brittle. But quality of life matters too. Pred is a dmard and will help protect your joints from being ruined by RA. It is a good temporary solution 3 - 6 months while other drugs like plaq build up to effective levels. It is also a wonderful rescue drug when you get a terrible flare (burst pack) or injection.
Also a bad day after reducing pred by 2.5 can just be coincidence. I know for sure it is possible to have a bad day even when I take 25mg.
What is sad is the 50 cents of pred works better for me than 4,500 dollars worth of Humira. I will only use pred as a rescue drug now, but I did take pred for 6 months 5mg per day when I could find no other relieve. I did find a combination that allowed me to get rid off the pred. It didn't work as well as the pred but I settled for safer.
It really is a personal choice. Many people do very well taking 5mg per day long term but for others it is a disaster. No one knows whether they can get away with taking pred or not until they end up in trouble.
Pred is the drug we all love and hate.
it manifests itself in the spine??? seriously that scares me bc the one area i didnt have pain was in my back however the last two days i noticed my back ached and felt really stiff . of course i rationalized it off as i worked to hard, didnt stand up straight or slept funny until i read this post and realized that i had tried to explain away all the other joint pain to, and i hadnt stood or slept or moved in any way different than before. i am also taking 2 vitamin d and calcium supplements a day which is supposed to help with that right? i am glad i see the dr tom, and hopefully he will take me off the prednisone !!! other side effects i have had were the common weight gain and ravaging hunger (mainly on the tapered 6 or 10 day course though) and round face. also my mood swings have been that of a psychopath and my temper and agitation levels are soaring. the tiniest things set me off on a murderous rampage and then 5 secs later i am fine again...then yesterday i noticed my gums were bleeding really bad (never had before) and i have 5 or so bruises on my arms and legs from no noticable injury so i called my dr and we backed the dose down to 5 mg perday.Hi, getting off of the Pred has made me feel so tired , so miserable, but i"m going to stay off of it unless the Doc says to take it again.
Wikipedia has the best site for all the negatives about this drug.
Lynda
10mg to 7.5mg is a pretty big drop.
Call your doctor and get a weaning scheduling and some 1mg pred pills.
Plaquenil takes 8-12 weeks (usually closer to the 12) to kick in
I just read that Fosamax is good for bones. Has anyone tried taking it? Will it help people on prednisone? Thanks.
When I took Pred I also took Boniva. I had a bone density test to see where my bones were at, they were fine, but my dr didn't want me to lose any ground so the Boniva. I think I was on Pred for 9 months and it really made a difference in how I felt.I've been on 35 mg. of Pred for several years and just recently I've been able to taper to 8 mg. My RD prescribed Boniva several years ago and I still developed osteopenia. It's imperative that you have yearly bone density studies and to taper off Pred. as quickly as possible. Please Google Prednisone for information about the medication.
I have a love/hate relationship with Pred. but I do know that I would have been housebound without it. In fact I was housebound before I started it and slowly became more active. Since I've tapered to 8mg. I've developed pain and inflammation in my writst, hands, fingers, knees, ankles and toes even though I'm on Remicade and MXT.
Call your doctor and have him RX 1mg. tabs of Pred. and taper at 1mg. weekly. Your body adjusts to a slow taper better than a sudden taper. Lindy