After several days of severe joint pain and swelling I went back to the doctor and was put on prednisone. Has anyone had this treatment and were they successful with relieving pain and swelling? I am on day 2 and still no relief.
Depends on the cause of the swelling and the dosage of prednisone. With an acute flare it takes time to get the inflammation under control no matter what the dose but the larger the dose the more relief as a general rule Prednisone is not a cure all but only to limit the inflammation Sometimes it takes a combination of drugs to truly be effective
Hello Callie,
I really do hope the prednisone helps your symptoms but to how quickly it helps depends on the symptoms it's being used for...as prednisne is used to help a large variety of symptoms.
I do hope members answer in due course to help you more as there's many members on the med.
Hugs Terri xxx
I was put on a medrol dose pack at my first Rheum visit for joint pain and swelling. It didn't seem to do much and sent me to the ER after 4 days with hypertension and a heart rate of 120. (I was admitted and stress-tested).
2 years ago, I was put on 40 mg of Prednisone for a flare that affected my breathing (plus the usual: increased fatigue, joint pain, etc...). That worked great, but... it was only supposed to be a 12 day "burst" with a quick taper, but it took 2 months to finally wean me off of it and the side effects were horrendous.
A year ago, my ex-rheum put me on 2.5 mg of prednisone daily to see if it would help my rashes and itching and allergic-type reactions. On the second day of that, I developed a cardiac arrhythmia.
I have a very poor view of steroids, but many people take them, tolerate them, and are helped by them. I hope you are one of them. Good luck and feel better.
That's a steriod drug i advise you to never take again...i'm not a doctor as you know but it's carried a fare few risks on you and it's for this reason i won't have them but i've been told frank now that there's no meds to help me...so it's fighting daily without meds except plaquenil and i don't think i'll be on that much longer because of my eyes :)
redwingfan said:
I was put on a medrol dose pack at my first Rheum visit for joint pain and swelling. It didn't seem to do much and sent me to the ER after 4 days with hypertension and a heart rate of 120. (I was admitted and stress-tested).
2 years ago, I was put on 40 mg of Prednisone for a flare that affected my breathing (plus the usual: increased fatigue, joint pain, etc...). That worked great, but... it was only supposed to be a 12 day "burst" with a quick taper, but it took 2 months to finally wean me off of it and the side effects were horrendous.
A year ago, my ex-rheum put me on 2.5 mg of prednisone daily to see if it would help my rashes and itching and allergic-type reactions. On the second day of that, I developed a cardiac arrhythmia.
I have a very poor view of steroids, but many people take them, tolerate them, and are helped by them. I hope you are one of them. Good luck and feel better.
Tez, my plan is to never take steroids again! The one exception is that I have had a couple of steroid injections (for rashes) and I did fine with those, but they are different chemically from oral steroids.
My doctor put me on Methotrexate, not only to help control the lupus, but to hopefully avoid the problems that can cause the need for steroids. I developed an allergy to Plaquenil and Quinacrine (another antimalarial), so I can't take those.
Maybe I should ask in another post (hate to hijack Callie's post), but why are you unable to take anything besides Plaquenil? (If you don't mind me asking). Have you tried other drugs?
Hello redwingfan,
If meds are affecting you like this...before they put you on meds they should really test your DNA to see if it matches...that's what they've done with me.
If your ok with the steriod for your rashes then at least something helps.
This is why i won't have steriods through this reason and because they caused me brain damage to the right side of my brain...this discussion i did from when i took ill at 18 explains why.
http://forum.lifewithlupus.org/forum/topics/the-true-story-behind-my-...
I'm ok to take plaquenil as it helps my DLE to a certain degree but when i was diagnosed i was diagnosed with A1 diseases overlapping autoimmune diseases and it carries more complications besides symptoms...i've been on Dapsone a rare drug used similar to methotrexate but my organs rejected it and swelled out and i was going yellow, my new rheumo wanted me to trial Rituxan IV infusions and found out they'd cause more problems and he's told me there's no help for me because besides the lupus the sjogren's is going mad with my system and i've got organ involvement...this is what happened at my last rheumo visit so you know more.
http://forum.lifewithlupus.org/forum/topics/had-my-2nd-new-rheumo-app...
Sorry my replies abit long but my discussion links i added for members as they always ask how i am, will let you know more of what's going on with myself.
Love Terri :)
I'll check out your links when I have more time. :)
Terri, I didn't think Dapsone was a chemotherapy drug like Methotrexate is? My oral surgeon wanted to give me an injection of Dapsone (I think that's what he said the shot was) after my last oral surgery. He called it a steroid injection with anti-infection and anti-inflammatory properties. He decided not to give it to me though, in light of my history with steroids. Lol.
Hi redwingfan,
Yes Dapsone is a chemo drug and it was first brought out in Greece by the English in the early 1900's to treat Leprosy at the time it was injections then and killed more leprosy people than helped them but they had to be monitered regular and it's not a steriod it's used to help lessen the affect of other steriods but he may not have given it you because for that drug your DNA does have to be matched to it being a sulpha drug and Sulpha can make alot of Lupus patients ill....my dermo told me this and he said anti-malerials work better with our blood like plaquenil is Anti-malerial.
Dapsone is used still for leprosy/HIV/Cancer and now Lupus but it's not a drug given out like the others.
Alot of patients such as myself and Sheila on the site if things turn to bad then no meds will help they can harm you more.
I'd mention your DNA being took in the future if your body responds to meds like this. :)
redwingfan said:
I'll check out your links when I have more time. :)
Terri, I didn't think Dapsone was a chemotherapy drug like Methotrexate is? My oral surgeon wanted to give me an injection of Dapsone (I think that's what he said the shot was) after my last oral surgery. He called it a steroid injection with anti-infection and anti-inflammatory properties. He decided not to give it to me though, in light of my history with steroids. Lol.
Hello Callie,I haven't been on "lupus" medications for long, but the one I first prescribed was Prednisone (60mg) daily. And while I was afraid of gaining weight and getting "moon face" that didn't happen. What did happen was I went to bed one night looking normal and woke up looking like I was beat silly. I immediatel quit the Prednisone. It seems to be that Prednisone, and this is just from what I see on this site, is one of the first medications that is tried. I, like you, didn't see any results even though I was on the Prednisone for 3 weeks, not just 2 days. It is a harsh medication, but I think that 2 days may not be long enough to see a significant improvement. Personally, I would give it 1-2 more days, then call or make an appt with your doc.
Best of luck and know that we are all hoping for the best,
Hugs,
DeAnne XOXOX
It depends on the amount that you are put on. When I was first diagnosed I was put on 60 mg and it has helped a lot. Throughout the years I have been on several other medications and have been able to cut down the prednisone to 5mg. It usually should work, as it is a broad spectrum antiinflammatory. I would give it a couple of days and see if you get results from it. I would not stop cold turkey though.
I’ve been on prednisone for over four years. It is a deceiving drug that hooks you in with it’s success in making you feel better, all the while your adrenals shut down and your stuck forever. BE careful ! I am currently on 60mg and tapering down. But just going down 2.5 today restarted my Lupus symptoms. Now what?
Izzy, you may need to slow your taper down more. When I was trying to get off the 40mg, I had times when I had to go down by 1 mg. If your lupus is flaring up when you go down, it's a sign that your taper is too fast. Maybe check with your doc and see what he/she thinks. Good luck.