I have memories of leflunomide and it wasn't that bad. I actually reduced my Prednisone dose quite a bit. Unfortunately, I had recurring infections when I was on Prednisone + Leflunomide.

My rhematologist didn't blame leflunomide only for the infections. She said the infections were caused by "too much immunosuppression." She was more diplomatic about what medication caused the infections. She said Prednisone shared some of the blame too.

Prednisone doesn't stay in your system very long but depending on how long your adrenals have been suppressed it can take a long time to get off Prednisone.

Only leflunomide was stopped because prednisone couldn't be stopped abruptly because my adrenals wouldn't recover anytime soon. My rheumatologist did confirm leflunomide would stay in my system for a long time after she stopped it. I had to be very careful about acquiring another infection for about a year after the antibiotics were stopped.