I've posted my story on here before but here is the short story - Had a baby six months ago. Four months ago got some sort of virus on top of bronchitis and woke up and could barely walk. Since then I've had pain/stiffness in the morning in my wrists, shoulders, fingers, ankles and knees. The pain comes and goes all day and it's always equal-meaning if it's in one wrist the other is in pain too. At night I am in extreme pain. No swelling as of yet. RA test was negative and sed rate was a 19 out of 20. I have to see a Rheumatologist but I'm waiting on a referral for that. In the mean time my primary doctor (who says she thinks I am a sero negative RA patient) had given me a six pack of MethylPredniSolone-4 mg/21 tabs. This worked WONDERS!!! But I finished the last dosage Friday and now I'm starting to feel the pain again. She says no more Prednisone as it's "dangerous" to stay on. Where I live it can take a month or more to see a specialist as we're in a big city and I'm on an HMO so my options are limited. I don't know what to do....should I talk to my primary directly and tell her I cannot live like this and I need some more Prednisone? I read on here that others have been on it more than six days so what's the big deal? On top of all this my hubby is out of state on business and I've got my daughter to myself and I'm hurting very badly.... sometimes I just feel like I don't know how to get through to doctors these days...it's like if the blood tests are negative then they can't justify treating you....any suggestions?There are people who have been on Prednisone for years. I'd call and directly talk to her. If you can't get anywhere with her, can you get to another doctor? Have you done absolutely everything from your end that needs to be done to see a rheum? If not, do it, then call your primary. If so, call your primary, say you've done everything you need to do to further your care, but you need some help from her in the interim because you have to be able to care for your child. To me, pred would be better than pain killers in than situation, even if your primary doesn't like to use it longterm. You are asking for something short term, and I think she should help you. I hope everything works out okay! I agree 100% with what's been said. Also, explore every non-med option you can in the meantime. This means using ice or heat packs for pain or swelling, taking supplements (Chondroitin Glucosamine and SAM-e are two that can help joints), taking over-the-counter anti-inflammatories, balancing exercise/activity and rest, making sure you're sleeping well, and that sort of thing. And don't be afraid to keep calling the dr until you get results. It's unfortunate, but we patients really need to advocate for ourselves. I hope you get some relief soon.Yep-I got a written referral for a Rheumy by mail from my primary doc but when I called that Rheumy's office they said they won't take on any new patients w/ Blue Cross HMO so I just called my primary's office again to let them know I need a referral to a different Rheumy and I'm waiting on that. I've called my primary just a little bit ago and left a message that I'd like to speak directly to her. A friend just told me that Prednisone is highly addictive?!? I've never heard of that before... is that true?
I haven't ever heard of pred being addictive. You have to taper off of it, but I think that's so that your adrenal gland can get back to doing it's job alone again. Or something like that. Maybe that's what your friend was talking about.
As for the advice in the previous posts, I agree totally. You can't go on like you've been. Hard enough when you only have yourself to care for, let a lone a little baby. Hope you can get relief soon.
i am so sorry you are struggling. by all means call your primary doctor explain your pain. i have taken prednisone for more than 10 years straight. now when i have a flare i will put myself back on it. maybe you can ask for a prescription and take one every other day. everything is dangerous.... but we gotta be able to move. tell the doctor you can not care for your baby properly because of the pain. when i got ra my second child was 2 weeks old i could not even lift him out of the baby bed. many, many times i let him slide to the floor because i could not hold him. he learned to walk early i am not suprised.Some dr.s don't want to perscribe pred, my primary was that way, talked about it, but always said no, because it makes diabetes hard to control. Then an orthopedic surgeon was visiting DH and he pulled me aside and said DH said your RA was really bad, why aren't you on Pred, I said my primary said it would make my diabetes worse and he said you already know how to manage that, ask your dr for pred, so I asked the internist I see for the RA and she gave it to me. The relief was incredible, I stayed on it a year, 10mg all summer, so I could use my hands at work and then weaned off really, really slow. I had to take Boniva, it's supposed to be hard on your bones. I remember the flare I had when our 2nd DD was born, it is a black hole when you have RA and a baby to take care of, all that small motor stuff, and having to hold on tight so you don't loose your grip. I hope you dr helps you get some relief.Ask your primary if she will make a call to the Rhuematologist's office and get you at the top of the waiting list due to the level of pain, you have a baby and no one to help you with the care.