Guest guest Posted July 4, 2003 Report Share Posted July 4, 2003 My Rheumy had given me the option to start Prednisone as a more aggressive treatment with my Plaquenil and Vioxx, but I declined due to the mixed reviews about weight gain. I am already overweight and having trouble losing the existing pounds. Now I am wondering if I made a mistake!!! Do the benefits outweight the side effects? Doc also claims that vitamins and/or supplements like Glucosamine will not make a difference in my condition. Do any of you take regular supplements? Also, if I may ask, how are your significant others dealing with the disease? My new husband hasn't really said much since I was diagnosed, even though he encouraged me to see the doctor. I've asked him how he feels, but he is avoiding the subject. Thanks for all your support! This board is wonderful! Yolanda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 4, 2003 Report Share Posted July 4, 2003 I've ended up having to take prednisone for the last year since first enbrel and now remicade have stopped working for me. I don't like doing it, but it does keep me functional and able to get up and go to work and make it through the day. For me the weight gain has been 2 lbs for every milligram of pred. Right now I'm at 10 mg, and have put on 20 lbs. I also find that I'm more moody and less patient, particularly when I'm tired. And since the RA isn't really under control, I'm tired a lot more. While I take vitamins and a few other supplements, I didn't notice any difference with glucosamine. I took it for a year to see if it would help, but stopped when I didn't notice any effect. My podiatrist's wife has RA and he says that glucosamine is the one thing that helped her (for some reason she couldn't take methotrextate and several other more common drugs)- we're all different in how we respond. I've been challenged with RA for over 4 1/2 years, and it hasn't been easy on my husband or my son (who's now almost 9). I've slowed down a lot and am not able to do many of the more strenuous things that I used to do. When the disease is out of control I end up spending a lot of time resting on the weekend (I work full time and I'm usually pretty wiped out by then). We manage, and enjoy what we can do. I try not to complain too much or let on how bad I feel - no one likes to be around a whiner. But I've also learned to say that I need to rest or ask for help with things that I didn't used to. When we first got the diagnosis, my husband's comment was " Well, it may be a chronic disease, but at least it's not fatal " . It's an adjustment for the entire family. > If you can tolerate the pain and still function reasonably well, you made the right decision. My main problem with Prednisone is that it makes me feel good without slowing down or stopping the joint damage. I had to take it for my first year to avoid being bedridden but now Methotrexate and Remicade together control my RA so I am off Prednisone except for flares. I hope your RA medicines work well enough so you don't need Prednisone. > > I have heard that Glucosamine and Chondroitin help Osteoarthritis but not RA. Also I have heard that vitamins and other supplements do not specifically help RA but you should take them for general health. I take vitamins C, D, E, and a multivitamin plus a low-dose adult aspirin and extra calcium for my general health. > > My significant other and I have been married for 51 years so we know each other pretty well. My wife is a RN and she goes with me to almost all my doctor's apointments so she understands RA quite well and is very supportive. There is a lot of general information about arthritis on the ArthritisInsight web and your husband could learn a lot by becoming familiar with that site. http://www.arthritisinsight.com/medical/disease/ There is also a very active message board on that site. http://www.arthritisinsight.com/cgi-bin/wsmbb/wsmbb.cgi? SB+KYWRJLLXVS/AKFCLKZQUN+config Good luck and God bless. > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Yolanda Piper > Rheumatoid Arthritis > Sent: Thursday, July 03, 2003 4:58 PM > Subject: Prednisone > > > My Rheumy had given me the option to start Prednisone as a more > aggressive treatment with my Plaquenil and Vioxx, but I declined due > to the mixed reviews about weight gain. I am already overweight and > having trouble losing the existing pounds. Now I am wondering if I > made a mistake!!! Do the benefits outweight the side effects? > > Doc also claims that vitamins and/or supplements like Glucosamine > will not make a difference in my condition. Do any of you take > regular supplements? > > Also, if I may ask, how are your significant others dealing with the > disease? My new husband hasn't really said much since I was > diagnosed, even though he encouraged me to see the doctor. I've > asked him how he feels, but he is avoiding the subject. > > Thanks for all your support! This board is wonderful! > Yolanda > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 17, 2004 Report Share Posted October 17, 2004 In a message dated 10/17/2004 2:33:41 PM Central Standard Time, broot@... writes: Hi Deborah, I think it's more a case that different doctors use steriods in different ways. They have a lot of nasty side effects, particularly if taken long term and in high doses. The challenge is that 'long term' and 'high dose' vary from person to person. Most docs seem to prefer to use them only as a short term to tide you over a flare up or until you get under control. Once you've been on them for awhile it's very hard to taper off and stop taking them. Steriod injections into a joint can be very helpful in a flare up, but can also be rather painful. Over time they can break down some of the tissue in the joint, so the docs typically limit the number of shots you can have in any particular joint. Beth My Rheumy said it was standard precedure (at least at his clinic) to put newly dx'd patients on Prednisone to see how they respond, then keep them on it and taper down until the other meds start to work. I guess it depends on how bad the symptoms are. My general practioner did nothing for me, except write me a prescription for Naproxen Sodium and refer me. The Naproxen did nothing for my hands, just helped the pain a little. I've had cortisone shots in a frozen shoulder in the past, but it the shot was very painful and made my shoulder hurt even more right after. Although, I would have tried anything to get my hands to close. Becky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 17, 2004 Report Share Posted October 17, 2004 Hi Deborah, I think it's more a case that different doctors use steriods in different ways. They have a lot of nasty side effects, particularly if taken long term and in high doses. The challenge is that 'long term' and 'high dose' vary from person to person. Most docs seem to prefer to use them only as a short term to tide you over a flare up or until you get under control. Once you've been on them for awhile it's very hard to taper off and stop taking them. Steriod injections into a joint can be very helpful in a flare up, but can also be rather painful. Over time they can break down some of the tissue in the joint, so the docs typically limit the number of shots you can have in any particular joint. Beth --- In Rheumatoid Arthritis , " dkj " <outpost@c...> wrote: > sorry, forgot to change the subject line: > > Lots of talk about prednisone... > When I first went in for symptoms, my family doctor would not prescribe steroids in order to alleviate symptoms, and when I saw the rheumy for the first time - after diagnosis I got 2 shots of some kind of corticosteroid to tide me over until the DMARDS started working, and after that, it was made clear that corticosteroids were not an option for treatment. Are there 2 schools of thought in rheumatologist land? Those that do and those that don't? Curious... > Deborah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 18, 2004 Report Share Posted October 18, 2004 Thanks all... your replies make sense to me. Deborah ----- Original Message ----- From: oregonbeth Rheumatoid Arthritis Sent: Sunday, October 17, 2004 2:32 PM Subject: Re: Prednisone Hi Deborah,I think it's more a case that different doctors use steriods in different ways. They have a lot of nasty side effects, particularly if taken long term and in high doses. The challenge is that 'long term' and 'high dose' vary from person to person.Most docs seem to prefer to use them only as a short term to tide you over a flare up or until you get under control. Once you've been on them for awhile it's very hard to taper off and stop taking them.Steriod injections into a joint can be very helpful in a flare up, but can also be rather painful. Over time they can break down some of the tissue in the joint, so the docs typically limit the number of shots you can have in any particular joint.Beth> sorry, forgot to change the subject line:> > Lots of talk about prednisone...> When I first went in for symptoms, my family doctor would not prescribe steroids in order to alleviate symptoms, and when I saw the rheumy for the first time - after diagnosis I got 2 shots of some kind of corticosteroid to tide me over until the DMARDS started working, and after that, it was made clear that corticosteroids were not an option for treatment. Are there 2 schools of thought in rheumatologist land? Those that do and those that don't? Curious...> Deborah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.