Appt today | Arthritis Information

In the last few weeks, I've had some increased pain in my feet and some stiffness in my hands - not horrible, but definitely noticeable, so I was a little nervous about my appt today. Since March, I've gone off my meds for three weeks due to illness and tried reducing my mtx slightly (and bumped it back up mid-May) My RD felt it may be a combination of being off meds while ill and the decrease of my mtx and the bump back up not being that long ago, so prescribed me a medrol pack. (that's a prednisone, correct?) I prefer to not take unless necessary, so she said I can wait a week or two, but should fill if things don't improve. Am I being too stubborn about the med - especially since it's just short term and low dose (4 mg) ? I resisted earlier attempts at prednisone when first diagnosed 1 1/2 years ago and appears I'm still stubborn about it.

Thanks to this board, I also requested to be tested for Vitamin D, so anxious to see how that test comes out.

It may to be too soon for MXT to start working again. What dose of MXT are you taking? Also if the pain and stiffness is tolerable you can try and wait it out, but you don't want to wait too long. No one on the forum can tell you what meds to take or how to take them. We can tell you if you're taking them incorrectly but RA treatment is such an individual thing and it's different for each of us. Prednisone has it's place in treating RA and it's your choice. LindyIt sounds like a low dose and a short coarse pack...it would likely give you the boost you need to get over this hump. Try not to let all the horror stories scare you; it's very helpful in cases such as this with very few problems. Give it some thought.I was on 20mg up until March, when I reduced it by one tab - then went back up to 20mg mid-May as it was causing problems. You are right, it's a personal decision on the medrol - I think I'll just hold out for another week and see what happens. CathyMN were you reducing your meds by doctors orders or on your own?it is a personal decsion about the medrol pack. I've dealt with this for over 20 years w/o ever doing pred, which is virtually unheard of...however I have tried a couple of short term medrol packs. they can be quite helpful w/o all the side effectsWannabe - it was okay'd by the doctor to reduce, with strict instructions to bump it back up if I had increase in symptoms. Now, my instructions are that we'll leave it at 20mg for awhile and not mess with it. Short and low dose - so will keep that in mind.

Thanks

CathyMN - good luck with your appointment. I always dread going myself. Take care CathyFLI've only used a short-term medrol pack once and that was when I was in such bad pain that I couldn't even get out of bed. It really helped an immense amount, but I completely understand not wanting to use it if you can bare without. Good luck with your appointment and I hope you start feeling better soon! I've used Medrol dosepacks frequently since I was a teenager for asthma. They're fairly low dose and don't have a lot of long term side effects, since they're only taken for a few days.

Be warned, however, that for many people they're about like drinking ten cups of coffee all at once. Bit of a rush, there. And they aggravate my OCD tendencies to hell. (The last time I took medrol, I cleaned my whole bedroom including organizing my closet and chest of drawers.)

So what happened?

Thanks for asking CathyFL - hope you're doing good as well. The hot, humid FL weather is approaching so take it easy.