Prednisone

[Alysia]

I always hear that pred is not enough but that is all I have been on for almost 4 years now and some people are drug free. And thank god I have been good.
I was given ctx and 100 mg of pred a day at first for 6 months and I thought I was going crazy. Those things you mentioned are ALL side effects of pred and once you get on a lower dose things will improve.

I used to to see a Dr. Jerry Springer that worked at CC. If its the same one ..I didn't like him at all. He wanted me to take Imuran without testing to see if I can and he didn't want me seeing other drs. for this. He was also changing all kinds of my meds. At the same time I was also seeing dr Huffman at CC. ( Dr. Springer just came to my town twice a week so it made it easy ) but when I told him I wanted him to consult with Dr. Huffman before making changes he got mad and refused to treat me. Turned out good for me ! Good luck

I am glad that you can make it only on pred and that eventually you got to have the better doc.

[annekat]

I always hear that pred is not enough but that is all I have been on for almost 4 years now and some people are drug free. And thank god I have been good.
I was given ctx and 100 mg of pred a day at first for 6 months and I thought I was going crazy. Those things you mentioned are ALL side effects of pred and once you get on a lower dose things will improve.

I think when they say pred is not enough, they mean at the earlier stages where the disease is definitely active and not controlled. 100mg. of pred a day for a year? No wonder you felt crazy! That's twice the amount I had for only about 3 weeks (or maybe I had 60mg. to start, not sure.) I do seem to remember you having some trouble with the CTX... did they keep you on that for awhile, and did it help you at all? It would seem unusual for someone to get better mainly on pred alone, and still not be having flares, etc., after 4 years. But I supposed there are always exceptions! I know you still see people at the CC and that you are in good hands, I just thought you were probably getting RTX infusions in addition to the pred. I'm glad you are doing so well at a low dose of pred!

[Debbie C]

No Anne,when I was first dxed I was seeing a reumy down here,who didn't believe I had wg even after the biopsy. He was a young dr and cute who thought he was all that and a bag of chips !!! But he put me on ctx,pred Fosamax and folic acid for 6 months and then stopped EVERYTHING. Shortly after that my numbers were rising so I went to other reumys. I had 1 rtx infusion which didn't go well and tried all the other meds which I could not tolerate so that left me just on pred. But it makes me wonder if I have gone so long being well ( knock on wood ) that if all those drugs are absolutely necessary. I would have been taking drugs for 4 years that I didn't need ????????????? I realize that for some with worse issues that these drugs are life savers but they may not be needed by all.

[Debbie C]

By the way Anne..love your pic !!

[annekat]

Deb, I remember you having some lung issues, and it seems the 6 months of CTX must have helped with that. Though that cute young rheumy does sound pretty inexperienced. Well, anyway, you are just another case in point that everyone is different, I guess, and I hope it continues to go well with just the pred. At least we know you have good docs in case anything takes a turn for the worse. Knock on wood, it won't!