What to Expect.....

Sharon2960

After 4 weeks on Prednisone, I do think they've helped - seemed to start kicking in after 3 weeks. My feet/toes still ache, as do my hands/fingers/wrists. However, my thumb joint on my left hand has now joined the party! Is this par for the course? Should steroids take away all the aches/pains, or just dull them?? The morning stiffness has eased, though the knees are pretty much stiff all the time. I am keeping a daily diary of how I feel ready for my next appointment, but just wondered if anyone can tell me if I'm sort of normal!!!!! I do like this forum - it means you can get some of your queries answered without waiting for the next appointment, and everyone seems so helpful and friendly, so thanks guys!!

Sharon2960

Forgot to say, still feel very very tired!!!

maria09

Hi Sharon
I've never taken Prednisolone but my daughter has twice in the last year due to flare up of colitis
She has mentioned that she did suffer from joint pain when on them was on 40mgs on a reducing dose
Now she has stopped her joint pain has eased but still there, she also got rib pain but as far as I'm aware that's not a noted side effect
Hey you are normal well as normal as the rest of us on here its the rest of the general public that's not normal
This is a great site and without the care,compassion and humour of everyone I would not have got through these last 4 years without them
Happy posting
Maria

dreamdaisy

Steroids work by thinning tissue, thus easing any inflammation. I loved being on oral steroids, not because they took away the pain (they didn't) but because they made me feel better over-all (except I wasn't ) I was put on to them when I had to come off all the other meds, they were designed to tide me over (and they did) but after a lecture from my rheumatology nurse three years on I chose to come off them. That took just under a year.

Ideally they should be used as a short-term fix but sometimes one can stay on a low dose just to help matters along. As for other bits joining the party, well yes, they do, 'tis the nature of the beast. I began in '97 with a fat left knee, now at the start of my seventeenth year I have thirty nine affected joints. None of us know how things will develop so we cannot tell you what to expect except more of the same (but hopefully not too much more). DD

Buka

Hi Sharon,

I find prednisolone makes a huge difference for me. I take it alongside Humira and methotrexate but only in a very small dose (5mg) a day. I know it is really only masking the problems but I weigh that up by the quality of life I have. This has improved so much in the last 6 months I have been taking it. It took about two months to really start to work well and then I still had stiffness but nothing like as bad as it had been. However, I have had RA for 13 years and I have joint damage which will mean I am always stiff and I will always hurt to a degree so it never goes away entirely.
I have also been able to finally stop taking the codeine that I used as a pain duller over the last eight years. Hugely addictive it has taken me three months to get off it and I'm ever hopeful that the steroids will be the next to go. I just need the Humira to work as well as it did back in 2009 when I first took it. The problem is that medication and its effectiveness is variable in this arthritic merry-go-round we all live in. I hope they continue to improve things for you.

Bukax