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jshaw1663 avatar

Rheumatoid arthritis.

Autoimmune Diseases | Last Active: 8 hours ago | Replies (66)

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After almost 30 years on low dose prednisone( about 5mg normally ) I am ‘steroid dependent’. Totally unable to get off of it. Only thing that consistently worked! Gave me a very active life till about 71 (78 now). Grateful for that. Prices to pay.

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Replies to "After almost 30 years on low dose prednisone( about 5mg normally ) I am ‘steroid dependent’...."

Me too so far. At one point my local rheumatologist wondered whether perhaps my adrenal glands had been suppressed for so long that perhaps they no longer worked - symptoms of adrenal insufficiency could be mimicking my autoimmune condition. I thought to myself - what if I kept switching drugs and that wasn’t the problem and instead it was my adrenal glands?! So I attempted a slow taper to rule it out over 3 months but only lasted the 2 days off steroids completely to get to 7am on the third day to take the adrenal test and was so sick I had to restart back on 40 mg of prednisone to get things back under control. Good news was after 6 years of steroids, my poor adrenal glands haven’t totally given up and they still work lol. So it is simply that I haven’t found the right drug yet. Started Remicade yesterday, and I’m hoping this is it! But both of my rheumatologists have warned me that I may never be able to get off the Medrol, and I’m warming to the idea, because as of now, Remicade is my last option. Wishing you a continued active life 🙂