Coming off prednisone

[shassh]

I have been an asthma sufferer for most of my life and in recent years I have been on a 5mg dose of preds daily, over the last few months I have been feeling really poorly both with bad chests and body aches and pains, I have been back and forth to my GP seeing different doctors on about eight occasions and their answer is to listen to my chest and prescribe 40mg preds and I have also had antibiotics on two occasions. I went in yesterday to see a GP who has been at the surgery for many years and he really listened to me. He thinks the prednisone is making me really ill he thinks my aches and pains could be from them damaging my nerve endings I find this very frightening! I have terribly painful joints which he is looking into but I also have tingling in my hands. I find it very worrying that all the doctors I have seen over the last weeks have really added to my problems rather than helping me. I am going to have my hands xrayed tomorrow to check for psoriatic arthritis and will be having a CT scan on my chest to see why I'm struggling so much, X-rays have not shown anything.

Has anyone else been in this position with long term steroid use?

[M-D-F]

Never had this problem, but I am on the verge of brittle bone problems, but this is from very long term usage.

[looneyno1]

Hi im a sereve asthmatic that is uncontrolled and Ive been on long term steriods for over 10 years a base dose of 20mg and going up to as high as 50mg with added hydrocort injections aswell and including inhalers. I also experience aches pains tingles in my hands feet arms and legs, also a general tiredness this has been explained as a side effect of the pred and also a known but not talked about withdrawal from them.

[shassh in reply to looneyno1]

I'm having a terrible time I have never know such general pain, I can't climb the stairs without help. I am down to 1 mg I can't remember ever not taking steroids. Not sure how much longer I can cope with feeling like this.

Saw my GP last week and he said I'm doing well

[Chrisatsaydo]

Hello shads, I too have had long term Chronic Asthma for many years on high doses of steroids sometimes 60mg’s, my Asthma was so bad, I had sleepless nights with coughing up lots of mucus, too frightened to go to sleep thinking that I wouldn’t wake up.

Then lastJune my specialist told me that there was a new type of treatment available, he wanted me to give it a go, so I decided to try it the medication is via a injection every 28 days I have had 11 injections up to now , my next one is on the 15th of this month

I am told that I have a rare type of Asthma called Eosinophilic which only 1 in10 have, over the past months my specialist told me to slowly start to wean off the steroids which I have done , with doing this I am now completely off the steroids and have been for the last two months, for the past couple of months I have been up and down with my asthma again having sleepless nights I kinda put it down to the winter weather, which always did affect me.

Now after being off the steroids I have also got pain in my joints my need , my knees my neck and back and even my wrists and fingers my joints are so painful I find it very difficult to lift my right arm up the shoulder joint hurts so much and so do my wrists and fingers , I also have quite a lot of pain in my knees, for the past 6 weeks I have been seeing a physiotherapist but the treatment doesn’t seem to be working, after reading your mail I am now wondering if I have got the same condition as you through coming off steroids I don’t know what to do , I certainly don’t want anymore pain killers, the Doctor won’t give me any anti inflammatory medication because of my asthma, I feel that bad my quality of life is nil, I have been thinking should I try alternative treatment, I have been considering CBD+oil but I am a bit concerned about it wether it would counteract with all my medication can you or anyone give me some advice on what step I should take I am feeling down and depressed and confused I am coming up to my seventieth birthday in October my family want me to have a birthday do, but with how I feel right now I don’t want to bother, so I really do know what you are going through, if you find a solution please let me know, I would be quite interested to find out more about this condition that it seems we both have

My very best regards

chrisatsaydo