Couple ?'s From An Old Poster | Arthritis Information

Hello to all,

?#1. I've been on 5mg of daily oral pred for almost 3yrs. I have gained 11#'s in the past month.

When I saw the RD this week, I told her that I've been experiencing rabid hunger lately, from morning to night, consuming anything that isn't moving and contains mass quantities of fat & calories. She responded that it sometimes takes a long time (3yrs?) for the prednisone A/E's of hunger and weight gain to manifest. What do you think?

?#2. I started on Oriencia, 500mg infusion back in March, '09. Didn't do much for me. Still had swelling, pain, yada, yada and my ESR & CRP levels were still very high. In December, '09, I increased the dosage to 750 (which, btw, is the recommended amt. for my weight) and within a couple of weeks, I felt like a brand new person. Still had a minimal amt of a.m. stiffness but generally much much beter & labs have returned to almost normal. Now, just a couple days following my 3rd infusion at this amt., MIP joints on both hands blew up like marshmallows; nasty stiffness & pain have returned in knees & feet and I feel like an icepick has stabbed my beautiful, protective bubble.

Do people still have flares even when on the big gun meds? Tell me about it.

Thanks....K.

Have you had a thyroid check lately. Its possible you have some imbalance going on. It is always easy to blame every issue on the RA or the meds but when something unusual is going on you should always rule out other possible causes as wellHi Katalina, I'm Waddie, how nice to meet you! Buckeye's suggestion is a good one! As to the Orencia, I can't address that directly because I am not on Orencia. I am on Humira and, while I do have achy days, I don't have big flares. This was the way it was when I was on Enbrel as well. I only had big flares when I had been off the medication for some reason.

I am sorry you are having trouble and will be interested in knowing what you discover! Take care and visit more often!

The pred hunger for me was worse at higher doses. I guess I would get spurts of extreem hunger at 5 mg. I always gain weight on pred. To me it seems strange that it would take three years but what do I know?

Yes, you can flare while on the big guns. Ideally being on the stronger meds lessens the frequency and severity of them. Remember, autoimmune diseases are tricky...who knows what could be causing you to flare up. If it does continue...let your dr. know. My rd always says to expect the ups and downs. He doesn't pass judgement on a med until many months go by. Changing a med will bring a change, but it takes a while for that change to occur. The increase in Dec. could have had a minimal change, but it is cummulative. Give it a few months(3 or 4) for the dosage increase to play with your system. I am assuming you have had 2 or 3 infusions at this new dose. A pred or pain med change is pretty instant...the big guns affect you at a cellular level.

Hope you feel better soon...It's miserable to be playing with meds and feeling rotten.