Prednisolone (Corticosteroid): Long term side effects

Oh my!! Talk/chatabout long term steroids! Finally!
I have taken prednisone 5-mg mostly except for flairs, for 40 years daily for RA- have only gotten down to 4 mg for few years but now at 78 and higher pain from RA, osteoporosis, and muscle, ligament, tendon and deterioration and atrophy ( perhaps partly due to steroid use) , I am staying at 5 ( which is NOT keeping me at all pain free!!! ). It’s frightening to watch myself now become a cripple. Use walker - cane isn’t really rough. Have been doing DNA testing and do have variants (MD possible - adult onset) - but lots of this is steroid due - including discolored skin ( legs) , very thin wrinkly skin ( all over) easily injured, easy bruise and bleed, sight issues ( I am an artist!) bone ( take 2 a year Prolea shots to help), delayed healing etc etc. I have felt alone! RA Drs not sure now - Orencia for years to delay RA not working well and Methotrexate past few years to boost it has now again effected my liver. We’re meeting Tuesday 4th to relook. ANY tips desired!!! Help welcome - will look at sights!

If you have all these concerns about Prednisone and it’s not working for you then why would you continue to take it ? Sounds like you need a break. If something doesn’t work for me I tell my doctor I’m not taking that anymore. I try to keep medication down to minimum because I have experienced side effects that weigh me down where I feel worse& I don’t want to live that way unless I really have too. Maybe you need to try a new doctor that can offer other remedies.

I wonder what the effects of too much vitamin D would be. I was shocked when a nurse called me after my last blood draw and said my doctor wanted me to cut back on vitamin D. My number is 61.9 and the range is 30.0-100.0. I told the nurse I had stopped taking extra vitamin D after my last blood draw. There is vitamin D in my every day vitamin and in my calcium + D. So I was told to take my vitamin every other day. I don't get this, but the nurse said my doctor would like to see my vitamin D at the middle range, i.e. no higher than 50. I always look for the dreaded "H" on my blood tests, but this did not have that next to it. Count me as puzzled. @joybringer1

If you have all these concerns about Prednisone and it’s not working for you then why would you continue to take it ? Sounds like you need a break. If something doesn’t work for me I tell my doctor I’m not taking that anymore. I try to keep medication down to minimum because I have experienced side effects that weigh me down where I feel worse& I don’t want to live that way unless I really have too. Maybe you need to try a new doctor that can offer other remedies.

For all who seem to think you can just stop taking long term prednisone, think again please. I started on prednisone at 10 mg/day for PMR. Every time I began having pain in my biceps, I believed the pain was related to the recurrence of PMR. Time has shown this was probably not true. I have tried to get off the prednisone twice in the last 3 years but could only get down to 3mg/day. When I tried 2.5mg/day I developed a painful condition called pseudo gout in my hands and wrists that continued to get worse until I upped my prednisone to 3 mg, a dose I have stayed on to prevent the excruciating pain in my wrists. The deformity in my hands remains even on this dose. My current rheumatologist said that my adrenal glands had “gone to sleep” b/c their function was suppressed for so long by my use of prednisone. I wish I’d been told this would happen earlier when it was still possible to get off the low dose I was taking. But my doctor at that time was rather dismissive of the dangers saying “low dose prednisone is the new Aspirin”. I thought he meant it was no more dangerous than aspirin. I can tell you from experience, that is not true.

Maybe the Prednisone was the cause of the bicep pain, how do you know it wasn’t? They also told you the adrenal glands fell asleep from taking the Prednisone. You should have switched doctors a long time ago. Most doctors will tell you not to be on it for years. I had to be on it a couple times and the longest I was ever on it was 4 months.