Re: Prednisone Question/Ira...

[Guest guest]

Hi Ira.

     I know you are fearful about long term. Pred. use.  I just wanted to

tell you that from day one I have taken Pred. daily for almost 7 years now. 

For me, it is a miracle drug, and the only thing I hate is the weight gain.  I

chose pain relief over vanity.  Although I have tried many times to get off the

Pred. I have not been successful.  But after that great article that was posted

to get off Pred., I will try the new way.  I truly have no fear about the RA

meds. I take.  I am in a total medicine induced remission for over 1  1/2

years now, and I am very thankful for that.  i guess you have to really decide

what you want more.  A painfree life or a suffering partial life.  Before my

remission, I could hardly take the daily RA pain.  When I got struck with this

ugly beast of a disease, in 5 days I went from a totally functioning woman to

someone who could not do a damn thing.  I could not dress myself, feed myself,

brush my teeth

myself.  I was totally crippled with RA pain, and could not even stand or walk

without help.  I was almost in a wheelchair in 5 DAYS!  You can well imagine

the condition I was in.  I had no life nor a quality of life either.  Before I

got diagnosed 5 days  later, I really thought I had a brain tumor and was going

to die very, very soon.  My PCP sent me to a Rheumy right after Ieft his

office.  I had never heard of RA.  That very appt. she gave me 2 Pred.

injections, a RX for MTX, and Pred.  She started me on 60mg. of Pred. a day. 

That medicine is a god send to me.  I felt like I was on deaths door before I

started taking it.

 

I personally do not  care about any side effects of all my RA meds. or about

long term use.  I had to get out of all that pain, which I could hardly

endure.  I have a high threshold for pain, and believe me I was over what I

could endure.  The only side effect I had from Pred. was eye cataracts.  They

are not the same as what the elderly get.  I had both eyes done a week apart,

and now have 20/20 in one eye and 20/15 in the other.  My eyes are healthy and

I can see great. I just buy reading glasses over the counter.  The eye surgery

only takes less then a minute for the surgeon to do.  No recovery time at all.

 

I wish you could give a lot of thinking about your Pred. use.  I think you will

have to really decide if you want a pain free life or worry about something that

might not happen.  I have my blood tested every 2-3 months and it is always

good and no liver problems.  I decided from day one that I would take whatever

the Dr. wanted me to try without any thoughts about side effects etc.  I wanted

a life more then I cared about that.  Believe me Ira, I am a worryer.  But not

about the Pred.  My Drs. all know that I take it daily, have had 4 successful

surgeries on it, and have healed wonderfully.  For me, it has worked wonderful

from day one.

 

I know you are in a lot of pain now, and I am sure you need to be on a much

higher dose of Pred.

Have you also thought about taking the MTX in injection form?   I could not

take the pills due to stomach issues and 24/7 nausea.  I tried the pills for 8

weeks and could not stand feeling like that.  I was a wreck to start taking the

needle, but it is so easy and the needle does not hurt.  You really can't feel

it at all.  I use my thighs and it is really painless.  Ir does not bleed

either.

 

I sure wish you better days ahead.  I hope this post is not too long.  I just

wanted to reassure you that life can be good with RA.  I am living proof of

that.

 

Hug,

 

Barbara

From: irabrightman <searcher100yy@...>

Subject: [ ] Prednisone Question

Date: Monday, August 16, 2010, 2:14 PM

 

Hi All,

I was on 3mgs.prednisone daily along with 15mgs. MTX weekly, and was doing OK.

Went off the prednisone because of fear of side-effects of long-term low dose

prednisone, and increased the MTX to 20mgs. but that didn't help, just caused

more digestive problems. I tried the MTX alone at 15mgs. for a few months but

now my symptoms are seriously worsening. On advice of my rheumy I restarted the

prednisone at 5mgs. four days ago (to eventually work back down to 3mgs.)

How long will it take for the prednisone to start having an effect? If it

doesn't should I start the prednisone at a higher dose and work down? (When I

first started it, a year ago I began at 15mgs., then worked down to 5mgs. and

finally 3mgs.)

Best to Everyone,

Ira Brightman