I was wondering if anyone has taken a prescription NSAID for inflammation. My prednisone dosage had been reduced from 40mg to 10 by my regular doctor and I was having a lot of aching/stiffness for 3-4 hours every morning. I finally got in to see the rheumatologist and he gave me a prescription for Feldene since ibuprofen didn't help at all. Feldene worked wonders, but gave me constant indigestion and raised my blood pressure.
I stopped taking it a few days ago.....indigestion is gone and BP has returned to normal, but I could hardly get out of bed this morning. I know I'll have to call the rheumy to fess up and probably get scolded for not calling him before I discontinued. Maybe he'll have another magic trick up his sleeve, but for now I'm feeling frustrated and discouraged.
I've read most of the archives and know a lot of you have days like this and will understand......it's good to have a place to share feelings and complaints. I'm not sure those around me really understand and I try not to be a whiner.
Thanks for listening and I wish each and every one of you a wonderful holiday season! Judy Judy, I so understand that it is hard not to be whiner....most of mine comes from frustration and confusion. Other ailments like a cold, flu, sprains, strains, etc. usually have an expected duration time and a definte medicine routine. The playing around with prednisone and tapering makes me nuts. And you are right, no one understands the pain.......and why do we have pain @ 10 mg of pred...I cannot and won't stay on that forever. I will take advil, and that is the only NSAID that works for me. Aleve and tylenol never have helped with pain............even non related PMR pain. I pray that all of us have a pain free, and peace of mind Holiday! Janet--from California ho ho ho.......just to lighten up a bit,,,,,,I finally got through the PMS phase and not its PMR......poor hubby have a good day &nb sp; rose Ho Ho Ho.....to you also.
You made me laugh...yep, we just get through PMS, now it's PMR,,,this to shall pass. We're having a couple over for dinner....maybe that will get me in the Christmas spirit.....with the help of a "spirit or two" Have great, pain free weekend! Janet Hi all I've taken loads of NSAIDs over the years: some better than others. Presently I am on Lodine, which just takes the edge off my RA inflammation. I really did well on the COX-2 types that were withdrawn a couple of years ago. They were so much better for my poor old stomach. I'm tolerating the Lodine OK at the moment as well as the prednisolone with all the other junk I have to take. I'm not having a good few days at the moment. I'm having to supplement alll the meds with dihydrocodeine to keep me going as the pain is quite bad. May go up on the pred if it carries on much longer. Hope you are all having a great weekend. Don't get doing too much preparation for the holidays so you are too tired to enjoy everything. I'm taking everything as slow as I can and delegating to the "staff" (my girls!). Have a very Happy Christmas. God Bless Judi xx Thanks to all of you for your comments......it helps to know that others have experienced the same thing with NSAIDs. It's bad enough dealing with the side effects of prednisone without adding more to the mix. Right now the morning aching/stiffness seems preferable to the all-day upset tummy and worry about rising blood pressure, so I'm going to wait a bit before trying another NSAID. I also need to start taking Actonel for osteoporosis....another potential for gastrointestinal problems. But all this after the holidays......I can hardly wait to dig into the Swedish Meatballs, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy! Warm Holiday Wishes.....Judy Hi Judy, my experience with NAIDS for 13 years, prior to PMR was to get Esophageal Ulcers. Being treated with 40mg Nexium for this for the past 5 years... So no more NAIDS for me. I cannot tolerate Actonel or Fosamax for osteoporois and as I have already got osteo and taking 10mg Pred, for nearly 1 year, this will be making it worse, so I am now trying Evista for 2 weeks every day and so far I am managing okay. For pain relief during the day I take 2 Panadol and that seems to work for a few hours. Digesic, Tofrinal & sleeping pills at night. God I sound like a junkie!!! This mixture helps heaps to get some sleep and helps to cope with the day and whatever works is fine by me! Its all trial & error to get something that dos'nt burn your gut, good luck with the Actonel. Merry Christmas and enjoy those Swedish Meatballs.. Lyn
judy YOU ARE NOT ALONE.... you have every reason to feel like u do....xmass stress sometimes doesn't help....my rheumy said to take no more that 6 tylenol super strength a day,,,,didn't help me am down to 3 mg pred. but still have a hard time,,,,so went back on ibuprophen 400 mg..I think I am an addict big time,,,,,pray each day someone comes up with a cure,,have it so bad in neck shoulders and back of skull....but try to keep busy, rest in the p.m., hard to explain to others who don't have any pain. & nbsp; good luck rose
just reread my msg to you I didn't put & NBSP in my original,,,don't know where that came from or what it means rose
I just got back from 2 weeks in Texas, and have missed
you all. Went caroling for a couple of hours this
morning. That was a lot of fun, and the 30 degree temps
and frost on the ground when I got up this morning made
things seem more "holiday-ish".
Just got done reading all the new posts from the past 2
weeks. Judi, I think you did the right thing quitting
the feldene. I had a couple of herniated discs 9 years
ago and took several different NSAIDS (including
Lodine), none of which seemed to work as far as I could
tell. The only thing that helped the low-dose trazodone
I took at night for sleep. About 7 years ago I was
prescribed feldene for some shoulder
bursitis/tendonitis. It did pretty well for the pain,
for a change - even the back pain!! - but after 10 days
on it, I had such bad chest pains, I thought I might
have heart problems. I read up on feldene, learned that
it is one of the worst of the NSAIDS for causing
gastro-intestinal problems that I quit it right away. I
think I was well on the way to having an ulcer from it.
Was on zantac for a few months, and eventually back to
"normal". Too bad that most of the things I've taken
that actually help relieve the pain do so many other
nasty things, that I can't take them.
Georianne, I still have the 2 protruding discs in my
back, which are causing a mild stenosis (hope I don't
end up like my mother who has severe stenosis, with
permanent nerve damage, numb feet, and had an operation
2 years ago which helped for a while, now she is
getting bad again). I, too have constant back pain,
mostly on the left side, which is the direction the
discs are protruding. The rheumatologist wants me to
send him a copy of the MRI report from 4 years ago, as
he's thinking my current hip and groin pain are
probably from the back. Will see him again in Feb and
find out what he thinks. Although - it depends on what
dr. one goes to - last rheumy didn't think the back had
any bearing on the pain, but the orthopedic dr. a few
years ago did. I know what you mean when you say they
don't know what to do with us, but back pain can have
so many causes, and hard to really figure out.
Glad to hear that so many of you are having success
with tapering the prednisone. Keep up the good work!!!
I'd better start thinking about getting the house
decorated for the holidays. Will have our son and his
girlfriend here for a couple of days at Christmas, and
our daughter is here already, on winter break from
college, and working again at the candy factory near us
where she worked all last year. How convenient to have
a part-time job "dropped" in her lap, so to speak. My
husband and I both have birthdays coming up in a few
days, so can really celebrate('').
Enjoy the holidays, all!!
Reni
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