Muscle damage due to steroids - is it Reversible?

[stephwest]

Muscle damage due to steroids - is it Reversible?
I have been posting stuff under "Medication" about my horrid lower back pain from torn muscles and bulging discs-can barely walk at the moment and sleeping upright.
Most opinion is that Pred is to blame, (Physio/Pharmicist/Accupuncturist/Google) I am tapered to 10mg from high of 80mg 3months ago, I am hoping to go to 7.5 or even 5.0 in 2 weeks.
Is this a maintenance dose with less or no side effects and do the muscles stop being damaged or even reverse back to pre GPA/WG state.
Has anybody stopped taking Pred and do all the side effects go away or does it leave permanent damage.

[Pete]

Torn muscles will usually recover with rest. Bulging discs should be evaluated by an orthopedic surgeon. Sometimes, the bulges can be reduced with exercise (primarily stretching and twisting) to both strengthen core abdominal muscles and straighten the spinal column, thereby allowing the bulges to spontaneously reduce. This treatment may also work with ruptured discs, depending on the severity of the damage.

Worst case scenario is probably a laminectomy and fusion in which the bad discs are removed and the vertebrae are fused together. Most orthopedic surgeons would look at this as a last resort.

[Dirty Don]

While most of us seek to wean off pred for many reasons, a damaged back/muscles are not the effects. Pred is an anti inflammatory...the docs should know this: if anything it reduces the inflammation/result of damage in the back. Is there deterioration...probably, but not enough to in short periods of time to do muscle damage.

[Chadwyck]

I'm still on prednisone since March 2013. I was supposed to be off it by Halloween. I was doing so well until I was exposed to influenza in my work place (call center environment). Even though I didn't get the flu, I still flared which resulted in increasing the prednisone. I tried 4 or 5 times tapering off since the end of March and I can't seem to get below 5mg daily without flaring. Now I'm stuck at 9 mg daily and when I get to 5mg I was told to stay there. If you're an experienced Wegener's patient I could really use your help! Is this a sign of early relapsing or just side effects of prednisone? Maybe a late dirty Halloween trick being played on me? :) I've been asking for Rituximab but I'm not getting anywhere with that. I heard it's very good for Wegener's patients with less side effects.

[Dirty Don]

First of all, while getting off pred is a priority for some on here, weaning is not without it's 'flaring moments'. I went to 0 mg, lasted one month, back at 3 mgs. RTX is a 'later' stage drug. Some get it earlier now I've noticed bypassing mtx, immuran, etc. Usually it is reserved just in case some of the lesser drugs don't work well enough. Best to you.