How long? | Arthritis Information
As you all know I just started this journey with RA, and I am only on Prednisone 10mg, at this time, and as reported in one of my first posts it and I was amazed to see over night the pain and swelling go away, It was recommended that I take it each morning which I have done!
I noticed yesterday a twinge in my thumbs, but did not think much of it. This morning however the pain is greater in my thumbs and now again the knees are starting to hurt. Could this be? I asked my self a little over 1 week of relief and now back to square one again?
How long did Pred seem to work for you guys?
It makes it much better but once you have RA I don't think you are ever completely pain free
Ditto what wanttobe said. I am still only on Prednisone 10mg (won't start mtx and placquenil until another week) and I still have ocassional days where it feels like I am back at square one. Living with RA I am not sure I will ever be pain free again.
mom2threeinaz2008-07-20 13:22:17pred can only do so much.
i have had RA for over 20 years and it is severe but even I have pain free days
Ok I understand, I guess Pred, is helpful but not an answer, dang I was hopeful that I would have a longer stretch , I guess it' a grin n bare it kinda thing. Thanks
Hi Slo, yes, it's a grin and bear it sort of thing. You're on a relatively small dose of Pred. and it's not covering all the bases. Now, with that being said, why aren't you on RA meds? All Pred. does is mask the symptoms. You still have damage happening and unless you're on higher doses you'll still have some pain. When will you be starting a dmard? Lindy
I don't go back to the Doctor until Aug. 7th then I will find out more about what meds I will be on.
slo hand....
don't hesitiate to call your doctor if you are flaring on the pred alone...
SLO HAND,
Sometimes they give you prednisone alone to find out what is going on. If it helps than they know it is RA. Prednisone is not a safe drug to take long term. They probably will put you on plaquenil and non-inflammatory first.
The folks are right there will be always aches and pains. I was pain free my first months because they put me on prednisone, plaquenil (takes up to 90 days to start helping)and lodine. Try red wine, resveratrol (can buy it at Sam's) and Greek/Mediterranean diet. Olive oil, fish and red wine!!! IT WORKS FOR SOME PEOPLE BETTER THAN PAIN KILLERS. It works for me beautifully, but I didn't know that untill recently. Without all that pain comes in the worse way and RD starts pushing heavy duty drugs on me. Pepper, you may control the pain with Resveratrol, anti-inflammation diet, but you don't achieve clinical remission with these. You will still have damage occur. RDs push the heavy drugs because of damage that happens when RA is left untreated. I agree completely that you can help some of the symptoms of RA with diet but the disease is always with you. Lindy
Hey slo_hand,
I am on 10mg of pred and have been on 15mg of pred and neither takes away my inflammation. Or it does but within a week it comes back, even with the pred.
I take my pred at night when I am ready to go to sleep, which is usually early morning hours like 2am, 3am. It helps me to not be so stiff when I wake up and helps me to function a little better. But towards 6pm, it starts to wear off. I have more pain, more swelling and stiffness. I am like that until I take my next dose of pred.
However, when I have the Remicade infusion, I do not even notice the pred is wearing off. I have very little pain, stiffness and problems when I have the Remicade in me. I was at one point going to ask to wean off the pred, because the Remicade was doing so well for me.
But now, no Remicade... I have to depend on the pred and imuran to help me, which they do, but I still swell, have stiffness and all the other problems RA causes.
Without prednisone, I would not be able to move or even get out of bed, at this point.
I do not like being on pred, and hope to get off of it, but I still need it to help with the swelling.
Thanks for all the great responses, I appreciate all the input.
To get back to an earlier question this will be my first visit since I got the results of all the blood work.
You might remember that i was adamant about not taking any steroids when I spoke with my Doctor at the first visit so he only prescribed Naproxen 500 MG. and all that did was make me feel like I was a zombie , all drugged out. I since then had joined this forum and realized I should have taken his advice and tried the Pred. so after calling the Dr, he gave me a script for pred 10 mg.
It was a wonder as it took away 90+% of all the swelling and pain. but like I said the swelling started back in my thumbs a few days ago now , and in the knees as well.
I'm sure at my next appointment he will go over a list of potential meds for me to use.
I have read her a lot about a lot of different meds and I'm sure I will be able to discuss with some knowledge the meds he decides I should use.
BTW they all scare the H out of me. But I realize that this is a long long time battle that I want to win!
You guys have been a great help to me! and I always thank you each and every day that I found you here!
You're welcome and you're right it's a lifelong journey. LindyGlad to have you Slo hand!
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