steroid tablets & fibro???

i was diagnoised with fibro oct 2012 after 2 years of constant pain and having seen many doctors and consultants, all of who had many ideas!!! i was put on amitriptyline which allowed me to sleep and wake in a zombie state! but at least i was sleeping, pain remained the same in arms, shoulders, legs and outer hips, i continued to plod along as i had over previous couple of years. at easter my asthma deceided to flare up (1st time in 7 yrs, about norm for me, well controlled and flares every 7 yrs) my doctor immediately put me on steroid tablets (prednisolene) now 6 hrs later the biggest thing i noticed was not the fact i could now breath BUT that for the first time in 2+ yrs i had no pain and continue to have no pain!! the question is does anyone know if steroid tablets work for fibro pain?? from the little bit ive researched on the internet it appears not?? one pain nurse says no i doesnt and the other says yes it does!! im off to see the doctor tomorrow for his views.

[happynewyear]

I have been having steroid injections for arthritis pain & they always work for me. I have been having the injections for the past 2 yrs only been diagnosed with fibro in January 2013. So Yes they work for me as well as you !

[ladymoth]

They worked for me.

I had them for a mega severe outbreak of eczema, and all my pains disappeared at the same time. the result was that I was then diagnosed with Rheumatoid arthritis.

My Consultant then gave me a steroid injection which should last for 2-3 months, and I have had a little relief from that - but not as much as I had hoped.

If you get relief with steroids, it does suggest that there is some inflammatory process going on - and that probably isn't fibro!

[_Phoenix_]

Yes! I've been on steroids for the last 18 months for Ulcerative colitis, and when it's at a high dose (30-40mg+), my Fibro is SO much better!! Fatigue, pain, not gone but certainly manageable (able to work, exercise etc), as soon as I start tapering down the steroids, my fibro gets worse again

Makes no sense as apparently Fibro is not an inflammatory condition so shouldn't be affected by steroids!!

Having said that I wouldn't recommend staying on high dose steroids for any significant periods of time, I've put on over 3 stone whilst on them, an obviously that doesn't help the fibro symptoms!!

[Hidden in reply to _Phoenix_]

sorry i replied to other 2 msgs, as we were typing together, lol...ive been given 30mg of steroids for chronic asthma, which is something ive had for 40 yrs, its usually well controlled but when it flares its bad and i tend to spend months on steroids until it settles then months trying to get off them...pain, moving, everything has totally gone, ive even stopped the amitriptyline as i was only taking them to help me sleep as the pain of moving in my sleep was waking me up and i couldnt settle again, so i thought seeing as i have no pain i dont need to be like a zombie daily due to the tabs so i stopped taking them, am sleeping fine and getting up normal im obviously aware of the dangers of steroids having spent so many yrs on them for my asthma but as i said to the pain nurse neither am i prepared to suffer 24/7 in pain when theres something out there that works....ive always been very luck with the weight side of them and they have never made me put on any, but i do have problems with immune system through long term use and problems with blood clotting, should i cut myself i bleed for hours and nothing stops it im waiting to see what dr says tomorrow when i let him know what has gone on, although the pain nurse did say she would be writing to him immediately!! shall report tomorrow after ive seen him, lol.

[Hidden]

thanks for answers very interesting...i was given steroid injections by consultant back in aug 2012 the pain seemed to be less for 24 hrs and then it returned as bad as ever, this was when they sent me to see a dr that specialises as well as being a gp in rheumatology, it was him who diagnoised fibro, and i moved to him as my gp...so im waiting with interest as to what he is going to say tomorrow...im thinking same as you ladymoth the fact the steroid tablets have worked wonders, makes me question whether or not it is fibro!!

[_Phoenix_]

I'd be really interested to hear what he has to say.... when I asked a rheumatolgist once (only a young registrar so I didn't have much confidence in what she said!), she said that if you put a 'normal' person on steroids it makes them feel good- fair enough, but I don't think that explains it making the pain go away?!

[LindseyMid]

No. As Moffy pointed out, if steroids work for your pain, it suggests that there is an inflammatory process going on and this isn't Fibro.

Some US doctors will actually try patients on Pred if they suspect they may have a connective tissue disease alongside/instead of Fibro and use a positive response to Pred as part of the diagnostic process!

Many connective tissue diseases can not show up in blood tests, especially in the early years. That's why, if you have uncontrolled symptoms or any symptoms atypical of Fibro (e.g. inflammation, responding well to steroids...) then the blood tests should be periodically rerun to see if anything else can be picked up on.

[kitkip]

Just to say I have been on prednisolone every day for 13 years and suffer fibro pain badly. Even on high doses pain is still as bad. I had steroid injection for hip pain which did relieve pains I was having there but it worked because I had bursitis of the bone that sits in the hip. So,for me, if steroids work on your pain then inflammation must have been present but long term steroid therapy has no effect on true fibro pain. By the way thesteroids I take are for a rare autoimmune disease and not prescribed for fibro - trust me steroud sideeffects + fibro isn't great combination. Gentle hugs to all.

[Hidden]

hi all, i explained to doc that all pain has gone since being on steroids for my asthma flare up, i have stopped amitriptyline as was taking to be able to sleep, which i couldnt do due to 24/7 pain, and waking like a zombie, i was sleeping 12 to 14 hrs a nite!! since being on steroids (prednisolene tablets) im up reading til midnight and awake again by 7am and up like a spring chick he said the fact the tablets have worked for what he thought was fibromyalgia clearly tells him i do not have fibromyalgia!! and his new diagnosis is polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR)!! which is what my old doc diagnoised 2+ yrs ago, but this was dismissed by the rheumatolgist when i was sent to hospital as she felt i was too young at 45 to have pmr, the old doc was not happy to argue it is rare but not impossible to have at 45 so after many months of continuing to moan to him he sent me to see a gp that specialises in rheumatic type pain illnesses, he said looking through notes and hearing my side it was probably fibro and offered although im out of his area to take me on as a patient so i guess i now having done all my fibro research i need to do the same with pmr hugs to all.