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Prednisone Side Effects and Withdrawal Symptoms
Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) | Last Active: Aug 16 3:11pm | Replies (66)Comment receiving replies
Wow 😮 we are a mess, aren’t we?!
When I was first diagnosed with “Reiters syndrome” (now reactive arthritis) I had the textbook symptoms of conjunctivitis(hemorrhage type)/uveitis, cystitis and inflammatory(non-rheumatoid) arthritis all over— I was 25 yrs old.
I was told at the time that all my infections would clear up but that I would most likely have arthritis for the rest of my life! Not something you want to hear at that age since I had it all over, everywhere!! I was treated with Indocin, aspirin and prednisone cause that was all they had in those days and they didn’t want me addicted to any opioids. After a year of arthritis , I went into remission for 20 years! When it flared up after that period I received short treatments with prednisone. One time they gave me Meloxicam for a short time, with carafate to protect my stomach. It was also during this time I was taking Motrin and I learned not to use any more long term NSAIDS as they caused some GI bleeding, that stopped when I discontinued Motrin.
The doctors also told me when first diagnosed that even though I tested negative for RA, it acted like RA!
I did not get PMR until two years ago—also with classic symptoms of shoulder, neck, upper arm pain. Mostly I’ve been treated with prednisone and occasional opioids for pain. Ttied other oral meds with no success, just yucky side effects, so now doctor wants me to try Actemra — on hold for now because of respiratory issues I’m having.
Replies to "Wow 😮 we are a mess, aren’t we?! When I was first diagnosed with “Reiters syndrome”..."
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I hope you get to try Actemra. I also hope Actemra works for you. Actemra was offered to me as my best hope of ever getting off Prednisone but it didn't come with any guarantee.
Do you know why it is called reactive arthritis now instead of Reiter's syndrome? Hans Reiter was a Nazi war criminal. I will put a link about reactive arthritis here in case anyone is interested.
https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/331347-overview#a2
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I'm not a fan of prednisone. However, I give prednisone credit for me not being addicted to opioids. My doctors never prescribed opioids to me except for post-op surgical pain. I mostly took Prednisone for all my autoimmune pain. I have tried many types of NSAIDs and DMARDs. I am relatively new to biologics but I have been on Actemra for more than 5 years.
Prednisone spared me from surgical interventions a couple of times. I was told I wasn't a good surgical candidate for a lumbar fusion because of chronic prednisone use. The spine surgeon didn't think I had enough solid bone to hold all the hardware that would be needed to fuse my lumbar spine. Also, when I needed Prednisone, I was at risk for too many surgical complications.
I had a tremendous response from Actemra. I haven't needed any Prednisone for 3.5 years. Not only was I able to discontinue Prednisone but I also was able to discontinue 5 more medications that were treating Prednisone side effects.
A lumbar fusion is a possibility now but I don't have that much pain anymore. I would need to be off Actemra for a month before surgery and a month after surgery. I could probably be off Actemra that long but I won't do the lumbar fusion unless the pain returns.
My medical problem list now reads a "history of" long term Prednisone use.
I'm not sure how I feel about Actemra because I don't seem to have any adverse effects from it. However, my medical record lists "long term, current use of Actemra (tocilizumab)" as a medical problem.