Prednislone

maryloach

I am 22 and have had joint pains since i came to this country from the middle east about four years ago. Recently the rheumatologist said he thought it is psoriatic arthritis - I mainly have severe pain in my wrists, fingers, knees and ankles, although I have also had severe chest pains at time and my eyes are so dry and painful I have to put drops in them every 2 hours.

Recently my left wrist was so bad - locked solid in one position and painful - my rheumatologist prescribed predisolone along with the metraxate he was trying out. The steroid is brilliant but I am worried about the side affects - I started on 20mgs daily about two months ago and have got it down to 12.5mg now but the pain returns if I go lower. Does anyone have any experience of steriods and reducing them - I am not sure if the metraxate is working at all? :?:

dreamdaisy

Poor you, I do sympathise. I have PA which went undiagnosed for nine years and untreated for five, so the drugs came in to the picture far too late. I have been on steroids since Feb 2007 and cannot cope on a dose less than 12.5 mg per day. I have tried to reduce it further but always end up increasing it again. I now no longer care about the possible side effects: they help me cope and that is all that matters. I also take humira, methotrexate, sulphasalazine and naproxen. It's the steroids that make the obvious difference tho.

One of the biggest problems we all face is that we all react differently to the same medications. You have to find what combination works for you, which can take some time! I wish you well. DD

tillytop

Hi Mary and welcome to the forum!

So sorry you are struggling so much at the moment, both with your joints and with the chest pains and dry eyes.

Steroids can be brilliant as you say but, if you are not getting the relief from the methotrexate, you will naturally find it hard to reduce the steroids. I am currently taking 17 mg pred daily but am going to struggle to reduce it further until the methotrexate starts to do its stuff. Methotrexate can take a while to get going though (between 2 – 12 weeks is what is usually quoted I think ). I don’t know what dose you are taking – but, if you feel it is not working this is something to discuss with the rheumatologist because he may want to adjust the dose or try something else as well as or instead of the meth.

My optician recommended an over the counter eye lubricating cream for me to use at night and it has been very helpful (too messy to use in the daytime though) and your local pharmacist would be able to advise you on that until you can speak to your doc.

Please do keep posting to let us know how you get on Mary.

Thinking of you.

Love Tilly xxx