Prednisolone for Lupus Flare

[Chris5530]

Hello

Does anyone find a short course of Prednisolone help with fatigue and joint pain during a Lupus Flare?

Chris5530

[nada28]

Hi Chris, yes definitely i would say most of us in an acute flare up would have had a prednisolone course. Theyre probably one of the most effective drugs for inflammation and help so much with joint pain especially. they do come with a lot of side effects however and are also quite difficult to come off, especially the longer youve been on them! were you told what dose they wanted to start?

[Jenfy34 in reply to nada28]

I am currently having a Lupus flare up, on a month's course of prednisolone, yes definitely helps with general joint pain and generally makes you feel quite well.

[Chris5530 in reply to nada28]

Hello thank you for your reply, I have been told a short course, i.e. 5 on day 1, 4 on day 2, 3 on day 3, 2 on day 4 and 1 on day 5 could help, I was on high dose steroids for 9 months when I had a severe allergic to Hydroxychloroquine, so do appreciate the side effects, it took another 3 months to wean off them very slowly, however I would only be using the short course occasionally when I am having a prolonged flare, the other alternative would be taking 3mg daily for a year, but I am leaning towards the short course occasionally if thing get too bad.

[LuluM25]

My experience is that I take a continuous holding dose of Prednisolone, no less than 7mg, and increase that when I anticipate a flare.

I think it does help me every day with stiffness, aches, etc but when I feel things worsening, sometimes led by a skin reaction, then I increase the dose to calm things down again. My dermatologist and rheumatologist are aware of this!

My continuous use has been since 2018 and before that I had taken it on many occasions as a short course. I feel it's the only thing that sorts me out.

I'm 71 and with my state of health I feel that on balance I prefer to take steroids and accept any side effects. So they definitely work as you've described but be aware there may be side effects. Good luck 😊

[SurferGuy]

certainly works for me too. I'm on 5mg per day as standard, but if I feel like I'm flaring I increase it to 10mg for a week and then toer by 2.5mg.

Depending on the level of flare, 10mg works perfect for me to bring it under control. But my current flare is on another level altogether and I was on 30mg and this also wasn't doing the job. So Dr's are considering. A Belimumab infusion.

[Krazykat26 in reply to SurferGuy]

Can you elaborate on your taper please SG? You increase to 10mgs for a week and then taper by 2.5..is that 2.5mgs per week until you get back down to your regular 5mg? 💜🌈

[Tiggywoos in reply to Krazykat26]

do you think it depends how much you weigh hun too ? xx 😘😻💌

[Krazykat26 in reply to Tiggywoos]

Good morning Tiggy 🤗No not necessarily..I've never been told anything regarding pred and weight. Hydroxy doseage is determined by weight but I've never heard any info about Pred and weight..except for the fact that Pred can cause weight gain as side effect 💜🌈xx

[SurferGuy in reply to Krazykat26]

Hi Krazykat26

Yup. Right now I'm on 25mg so taking 5 5mg tabs each day. I need to go down to 20mg. I'm tapering weekly.

To play it safe, I've been told not to drop by 5mg at a time. So after this week I'll be on 22.5. I'll therefore need to take 5 pred one day then 4 the next day for a week. Then the following week 4 pred each day until I see dermy next week.... where hopefully he says I can continue to reduce.

[Krazykat26 in reply to SurferGuy]

Ok..got it. Thank you 🙏I'm happy to hear you're improving and best of luck with the taper and the Belumibab 💜🌈xx

[nottypical]

Defiantly work - but next time I'll be more thorough in asking about alternatives. Maybe I've become a bit neurotic about the side effects (weight gain, mood swings, nerve damage...)

[Brackensmum]

Hi Chris, I've just recently come off a prednisone course, 35 mg a day for 5 days then reducing by 5 mg every 5 days. Really helped with my joint pain but after finishing course still have bad joint stiffness. Hopefully the hydroxy will start to kick in soon! Taper very slowly, don't be tempted to come off it too quickly or you can go into adrenal crisis.

[Potatoheat]

Yes absolutely. Been on 2mg for a while since a flare 2019. Tapered down from 5mg start. Due to lack of consultant appts ( covid) stayed on them . Now on 1mg and trying to stop , but will start a low dose if I feel a flare coming on. Feeling OK so far. Good luck.