Pred, NSAID or both | Arthritis Information

Are those of you that are down below 2 or less, still taking NSAID'S? I am at 1.5mg of pred and have been having a lot of problems with NSAID's and have decided that I can't tolerate them, so I stopped taking them, thinking that the pred would be enough.....wrong! I took an Aleve today and am feeling pretty good again. Are those of you that are at 1.5, 1mg or less able to sustain yourself on pred alone or are you taking an NSAID? I find that pred alone is not enough for me. Will it ever be? It is amazing how just one little Aleve a day does the job. Are those of you that are off pred taking something to ease the continued discomfort?

Thanks, Susan

When I was on pred I still had to take an NSAID. WHen I dropped the pred I took the nsaid alone. I could only go three days without one and that third day was pretty darn bad. I have now gone one week without an nsaid. i think i am through with them. There is hope. Dont give up. I am not perfect physically - i go to the grocery store and the employee asks me if i want an electric shopping cart!! I always walk. I am uncomfortable but the pain and mostly stiffness is bearable. My main goal was to get off meds so i am a happy camper. I can see the progress I am making as this beast leaves my body. I am able to do more and more simple yet important things. The NSAID i used was Arthrotec - it has a stomach protector in it. But I am glad to be rid of it (knock on wood). Also, have you tried the natural cox 2 inhibitors? I am taking Source Natural's Inflamarest - it was on sale so i am giving it a try. Check some of the links i posted - there are some natural things you can try - just get good brands and make sure you use the right dosage that the research says works - which is usually higher than what is on the bottle. I know i sound like a parrot but what i think helped me the most was mangosteen juice, high grade fish oil, and pycogenal (spelling??) Thanks Smartie. I have taken Zyflamend in the past and take Carlson liquid fish oil daily plus my daily vits. I also bought a bottle of Mangosteen from Costco and take a couple of oz.'s daily. I took one Aleve yesterday around noon and this morning I still feel pretty normal.....just a little stiff. I will not take another aleve unless I absolutely have to. I think that the body gets use to the NSAID's and when we start to reduce there is a reaction. I remember the day that I stopped the 150mg of diclofenac daily and I could barely get down the stairs. I will continue to reduce the pred by .5mg monthly, which will take me to 1mg the end of April.....I'm excited about that.

I have a lot of problems with feeling cold. My husband sits around in shorts and golf shirt and I'm sitting there with long pants, shirt and coat watching tv and still feel the goose bumps. What is that....PMR? I remember that when this disease first began I was so cold and would put two down comforters on me at night.

I'll check out the Pycogenal........Thanks, susan

I used to be the one always cold. Now I am the one always warm. I sometimes wake up and have to change my pj top and/or bottoms. I have not had to do that since a long time ago menapause. I like to sleep with it cold and just one sheet. I have never done that in my life!

Another funny thing is that i would really be feeling bad and then one day I would notice feeling way better. And then later another way better step forward. Since i got off meds i like it better cause i know the pain is pmr and i am not fighting some other drug. And i can measure the little improvements. I have been able to lay on my side in bed for a little while and that is huge for me. Turning over is still very hard but I used to get in bed and not be able to even move my head until morning when i would agonize to get up. No more of that. I would have to use my toes to inch by inch pull the covers off of me. Would take forever. No more. Little victories can really help the mental toll of this thing. Hang in there. I also took the zyflamend and still have some - I just switched to the other cause it was such a good sale. It has about 30 mg of white willow bark which is basicly herbal asprin. I am only going to take this one bottle. Keep doing what you are doing. You have the same mindset I do - one day you will be surprised to feel better and then it will just snowball.

Hi Smartie, Really appreciate your reply. I have only taken one Aleve in four days and no other NSAIDS. A few of weeks ago I stopped taking Decoflenec and called the pharmacist to ask if I needed to taper down and he said "No"..........wrong! I could hardly walk the next day, so I taped down over the next week, taking asprins only when needed and now I can go for days before another is needed.

My next pill was Prilosec. I called the pharmacist and ask if I needed to taper down and he said that it was probably a good idea. He suggested one everyother day for a week....see how it goes.....stomach will let me know.

It appears that each of the pills that my rhumey prescribed will eventually cause me harm. We all understand the dangers with pred and NSAIDS, but Prilosec......I was surprised to read that it interfers with the absorption of calicum in the stomach and could cause hip fractures. I will be anxiouis for the first of May to arrive when I will reduce my pred to 1mg.

I too have problems sleeping....laying on my side bothers my shoulders and I seem to do better some nights than others. I have never experienced a doctor telling me that I have an ailment with no end in sight....I find it sometimes very sad. I have a cruise to Alaska planned in August with my daughter and grandson....I hope I don't dissapoint them.

Hope you are having a great week......Susan

Going back to Susan's original question - In the 3 weeks between symptoms starting and diagnosis, my GP first tried me on a NSAID. It was difficult to find one which didn't have contraindications with my asthma. The one he got me to try had no effect at al. After 3 weeks I moved onto pred, with miraculous results, and have never taken anything else, and I'm now (16 months later) down to 1.5mg a day

Margaret

You and I are at the same mg of pred, but I don't find that it helps me completely. In fact I'm beginning to wonder if it helps at all........I guess I would only find that out if I stopped taking them. I took an Aleve Monday and another today....it hasn't kicked in yet....we will see within the hour. I have gardening to do and Monday I wanted something to help with my golf game. Since not taking the NSAID's daily I've discovered that I'm much more stiff and sore.

I've only fought the good fight for the past year and I believe that it's wearing thin on my mental out look I judge when to taper the dose by how I feel - so I won't go down unless I feel comfortable at the dose I've been on for a few weeks. When I'm in process of going to a lower dose (which takes me about 2 weeks), that's when everyone has learned to avoid me - including the dog!

Margaret Yesterday I went to lunch with my girl friend of many years. After spending several hours with me, she suggested that I might think about reducing my steriods. She thought that I was taking anabolic steriods .

I cut the dogs a lot of slack....they seem to do as well as they can with what they have.

The Aleve worked and so do I.