Has anyone who has been diagnosed with fibromyalgia found that taking prednisolone or hydrocortisone has taken the pain away?

[Everdean]

If the pain does go, does this mean that it wasn't fibromyalgia, and possibly some other condition?

[homethoughts]

Hi, I was having steroid jabs in shoulders and hips for Bursitis (on top of FMS and other probs).

Steroid jabs did nothing much for pain, but do get into the bloodstream so sort of make me feel a bit better all over.

Really not good tho, steroids should only be last resort as they cause worse problems.

If taking tablet form high dose Vit C is supposed to protect other areas of the body that don't need steroid.

[Everdean in reply to homethoughts]

Thank you for that homethoughts.

[homethoughts]

Hi Everdean,

if you check this site out it lists the endless side effects of prednisolone:

drugs.com/sfx/prednisone-si....

Hydrocortisone:

Hydrocortisone side effects depend on the dose, the duration and the frequency of administration. Short courses of hydrocortisone usually are well tolerated with few and mild side effects. Long term, high doses of hydrocortisone usually will produce predictable, and potentially serious side effects. Whenever possible, the lowest effective doses of hydrocortisone should be used for the shortest possible length of time to minimize side effects. Alternate day dosing also can help reduce side effects.

medicinenet.com/hydrocortis... This site also list the endless side effects.

Steroids can interfere with your immune system, injections can badly interfere with it and if you are unlucky enough to put on lots of weight from steroids it seems impossible to get rid of it.

[I was a nurse for 25 yrs] but still tried steroid injections out of desperation. Had 2 in 6 weeks -so wish I had not. Was sick as a pig for 3 weeks after the 2nd, but running to the loo a million times a day did help me lose weight

Steroids seem to be getting used as the new cure all and should not be because they can be very dangerous in the long term and make health probs worse, and cause additional ones.

Short term use seems to be OK and Vit C is supposed to help... but you'd even be told in the chemist not to use mild hydrocortisone cream for long or over large areas of the body because it can be harmful.

As for the 'feeling better all over' part (except for pain that is) I could get quite addicted to that.

*Pain Clinic said GP should not have been giving me steroids.

I tried a herb called Boswellia, it has helped me, but it does give some people an upset stomach. I took 1 tablet for a few days, no side effects with stomach so increased it to 2 three times a day - no problems at all, never bother to take it with food either.

Magnesium is good for pain, tho some GP's disagree. I take tons of magnesium but be careful if you try it, you need to balance other things like calcium, zinc, potassium (bananas) etc Epson salts in the bath are a good, inexpensive way to get extra magnesium.

In parts of the USA they give patients who've had surgery IV Magnesium instead of morphine, seems to work.

Vit D3 is important (not expensive), Turmeric, ginger, peppers and a dozen other spices are all supposed to be good for pain with no side effects.

I tend to try/use more herbs now as 90%+ have NO side effects and will be beneficial in some way or other - but check what you might like to try just in case regular medicines effect the herbal ones, most don't, some blood thinners do. Also read instructions carefully or try and see a herbalist.

Hope you find something that works.

[Everdean in reply to homethoughts]

Thank you so much for this homethoughts. I will take it all in what you have said.

X

[homethoughts]

You're very welcome.

Let me know (and others with FM) if anything works for you.

[Mdaisy]

Hello,

Nice to see people using the community and replying to others !

If I may add the two links to drugs.com and medicine.net are good sources of information which have the HONcode mark which I believe is an American sign to reassure the general public about the information supplied. Depending on where you are the English sites with this Information Standard mark for medication information are the links below;

patient.co.uk/medicine/Pred...

nhs.uk/medicine-guides/page...

Prednisolone is usually given orally with Hydrocortisone used to inject into joints for problems as Homethoughts mention Bursitis, Tendonitis etc

Steroid therapy has not been recommended for the treatment of Fibro. Usually patients have a mild sense of well being on the initial doses and it has little or no benefit after this. if you would like to see which medications have been recommended in the treatment of Fibro, I would consider visiting the FibroAction website fibroaction.org as they produce evidence based information and also hold the Information Standard certificate too.

Here is a link to the information standard for your reassurance;

theinformationstandard.org/

In regards to herbs & vitamins I don't discount them far from it but you should always discuss any supplements or herbs you have added with your GP or Hospital Consultant. As. some interactions may need to be discussed as they know your medical history and the medications you are taking too.

I hope this helps ! Grab a Cuppa and have a natter as sometimes just talking to other with Fibro who understand can make the world of difference ! This goes for me too, Fibro for 8 years now. Do read feel free to read my profile and you may like to fill yours in as much or as little information as you like, bearing in mind internet safety of course.

Hope you have a great weekend

Emma

[Everdean]

Thank you Mdaisy. I will look up those sites.

[Mdaisy in reply to Everdean]

No worries at all

[nomadico]

I take hydrocortisone tablets when the flares become really bad, and the muscle tension skyrockets. When this happens I get acute anxiety as well. I find that 20mg hydrocortisone tablets taken over a couple of days helps enormously. The body calms down, as well as the mind.

But I never take it more then two/three days in a row, and only when it gets so bad that it becomes unbearable. But yes, the side effects are unpleasant, and its best avoided. I'm currently trying to get Clonazepam prescribed, to see if this can be a viable alternative to steriods during flares.

[Everdean in reply to nomadico]

Thanks nomadico

[Jeanette321]

I lost my post s hopefully it doesn't appear twice. I was prescribed cortisone and antibiotic treatment for pneumonia in Spain three weeks ago and I haven't felt any Herve or fibromyalgia pain since. It can't be a placebo effect as I wasn't looking for pain relief . I am n a very ow dose of cortisne just now and still have no pain. Only a very sore toe which has nothing to do with fibro. This webpage doesn't offer editing for typographic mistakes. May be the connection between cortisone and pain relief could be investigated