Guest guest Posted October 8, 2000 Report Share Posted October 8, 2000 Your lucky jean that the cortizone was short term and that you feel you have reaped a benefit of it........ Unfortunately your experience does not speak of the over use and abuse of this drug. You should be counted as a fortunate one, for there are many in this group that struggle with getting off of this drug and its complications Pierre is quite right about its in effectiveness in the spondyloarthropathies .... I being one diagnosed with that and having one experience with cortizone that sent me through the roof and worsened my condition I am thankful to my doctor for his strong beliefs on the problems this drug causes and its ineffectiveness in my disease. I am a female and am diagnosed with PA. I was first diagnosed with AS.... I feel I am better shape without cortizone and I did do worse the one time I used it June Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 8, 2000 Report Share Posted October 8, 2000 on 10/8/00 6:07 AM, PSY333CHE@... at PSY333CHE@... wrote: > Your lucky jean that the cortizone was short term and that you feel you have > reaped a benefit of it........ > Unfortunately your experience does not speak of the over use and abuse of > this drug. > You should be counted as a fortunate one, for there are many in this group > that struggle with getting off of this drug and its complications > Pierre is quite right about its in effectiveness in the spondyloarthropathies > ... I being one diagnosed with that and having one experience with cortizone > that sent me through the roof and worsened my condition > I am thankful to my doctor for his strong beliefs on the problems this drug > causes and its ineffectiveness in my disease. I am a female and am diagnosed > with PA. I was first diagnosed with AS.... > I feel I am better shape without cortizone and I did do worse the one time I > used it > June Hi June, Once again, I think we need to be careful about generalizing one person's experience to all with a similar diagnosis. I looked up the use of cortisone in PA, and read that it is particularly inappropriate on an on-going basis for PA because of the skin involvement of psoriasis. It seems that the use of oral cortisone can exacerbate skin disease by requiring increasing amounts to control skin inflammation. Sounds like this is a potential vicious cycle which it is very important for a psoriasis patient to steer clear of. I don't think on-going steroid use would be appropriate for me either. ( I would not even consider it.) The really interesting thing for me has been to see how much more effective short-term cortisone is AFTER I started the AP. I think in my case, it may be somewhat as Dr. Brown described: controlling the inflammation to a certain degree seems to make the minocycline more effective. For reasons which are unclear to me, I do not respond to ANY of the NSAIDs, so when things do get out of control, this is my only option. I would never use cortisone for any but a limited purpose, and would definitely not use it if I were not addressing the big picture with the AP. Last fall, when I had been on the AP about 4 months, I was particularly disappointed to have to have cortisone injections for shoulder bursitis. One of Dr. Franco's patients with ReA very kindly reassured me, saying he had just done the same for her. I felt less defeated morally, and soon felt much better physically, too. I have continued to improve with minocycline since then. Jean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 8, 2000 Report Share Posted October 8, 2000 My psoriasis diagnosis comes only from a small patch in my scalp... thats it All my other symptoms are that of AS My doctor told me that I was not to have steroids because of that either AS or PA.... I will again say that they are just starting to see the damage cortisone does long term and short term and it is not being used as widely as it has in the past because of that.... I think that many trusting patients have been unneedingly hooked on steroids for a moments comfort not knowing how equally damaging cortisone can be ..... I have heard time and time again in this reading group someone talking about how well they are doing and then mention the amount of cortisone they are taking and it scares me because it isnt easy to come off of and it really can cause worse problems that I do not have the time to go into at present. I will again say you are fortunate and that it is important that everyone be careful with this drug no matter what there diagnosis is.... June Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 8, 2000 Report Share Posted October 8, 2000 I agree, also. I could elaborate for hours, but would just caution anyone. In the original " The Road Back " , Dr. Brown talked about this. He only gave it in small doses and for short periods of time. He didn't plan on you staying on it for the rest of your life. Carol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 8, 2000 Report Share Posted October 8, 2000 on 10/8/00 6:03 PM, psy333che@... at psy333che@... wrote: > I will again say you are fortunate and that it is important that everyone be > careful with this drug no matter what there diagnosis is.... > June I agree. Jean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 9, 2000 Report Share Posted October 9, 2000 In a message dated 10/08/2000 7:04:59 PM Eastern Daylight Time, psy333che@... writes: << My psoriasis diagnosis comes only from a small patch in my scalp... thats it All my other symptoms are that of AS My doctor told me that I was not to have steroids because of that either AS or PA.... I will again say that they are just starting to see the damage cortisone does long term and short term and it is not being used as widely as it has in the past because of that.... I think that many trusting patients have been unneedingly hooked on steroids for a moments comfort not knowing how equally damaging cortisone can be ..... >> June, When I used to see my old RD and he wasn't sure if I had RA or PA, he used to give me a cortizone shot, and I never felt any different at all. I have the patches of flakey skin on my scalp and behind the ears but not itchy. I always thought psoraisis was itchy because my mom had it on her legs and was always scratching it. Bev Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 10, 2000 Report Share Posted October 10, 2000 Hi everyone, I have been on prednisone for 10 years and have many related problems. Again, it can be a life saver when taken properly and not long term, depending on the illness. A few weeks ago, while at my rheumatologist, he told my husband and I that they are seeing heart attacks and strokes in Lupus patients who have been on prednisone. The bad thing is that he said they are seeing this in women who are only in their 20's and 30's. I am sure that these are high doses and long term use. I have been on long term, high doses and plan on getting a new test for heart disease that is non invasive. It is suppose to detect coronary artery disease. This is why the antibiotic therapy is even more important. Carol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 10, 2000 Report Share Posted October 10, 2000 Carol, if you remember the name of the test, please let us know. Heart disease runs in one side of my family, and I think I should be screened for early signs. I plan to ask my doc about this soon, and the name of the test would help. I've had shortness of breath in the past, not too much trouble with it lately since starting the AP. I wrote it off to recurring respiratory problems, but one thing it can also be a sign of cardiac problems. Since I'm on hormones, I think I should bug the doc to check out my status. One more thing to bug him about, he's probably going to think I'm hypo, LOL, but I don't care. I'm never going back to the past when I used to let doctors put off my concerns. Remember not long ago that article that said RA patients tend to have their other health concerns neglected to some degree because the focus was always on the RA? I've never even had a cholesterol test done. Good luck, and let us know how the test is and how the results turn out. Liz G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 10, 2000 Report Share Posted October 10, 2000 Liz, I will look for the prescription that my doctor wrote out for it. It is to be done at a UCLA facilitiy in Torrance, Ca. They were suppose to call me to schedule and I haven't heard from them so I need to find the papers and call them. My doctor said that if they find blocked arteries on the first part of the test (which I think is some kind of a scan, but not sure) then they put a tube or catheter in the arm and look further. He said it is $400 - $500 and insurance doesn't pay unless they find something. Then it will pay. There is another test he told me about that is non invasive, but it only checks for calcification. He said there could still be the possibility of a blocked artery even if you don't show calcification, but usually calcification is present if that is the case. The advantage of this test is that it also scans most all of your organs and can pick up other problems. I believe it costs the same as the above and I'm not sure about insurance, but I don't think it pays for this either. Apparently, both tests are fairly new. My alternative doctor told me about them. I have had really bad shortness of breath, also. Doctor Franco's xrays showed that I had scarring of my lungs, so maybe that is the cause. I'll let you know about the tests. Carol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 10, 2000 Report Share Posted October 10, 2000 DearLiz. It is called a heart scan but this non invasive procedure is not very good it only detects calcium deposits in the coronary arteris which does not fully correlate with narrowing of arteries i.e.you may have calcium with no blockage but have narrowing/blockage but no calcium. It is at best a screening test. hope this helps. sonny Re: rheumatic Re: Cortisone for AS or RA ?? > Carol, if you remember the name of the test, please let us know. Heart > disease runs in one side of my family, and I think I should be screened for > early signs. I plan to ask my doc about this soon, and the name of the test > would help. > I've had shortness of breath in the past, not too much trouble with it > lately since starting the AP. I wrote it off to recurring respiratory > problems, but one thing it can also be a sign of cardiac problems. Since > I'm on hormones, I think I should bug the doc to check out my status. One > more thing to bug him about, he's probably going to think I'm hypo, LOL, but > I don't care. I'm never going back to the past when I used to let doctors > put off my concerns. Remember not long ago that article that said RA > patients tend to have their other health concerns neglected to some degree > because the focus was always on the RA? I've never even had a cholesterol > test done. > Good luck, and let us know how the test is and how the results turn out. > Liz G > > > > To unsubscribe, email: rheumatic-unsubscribeegroups > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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