Steroids wearing off??

[Phoo2]

Hi everyone. I posted yesterday that I had a massive flare up after 'overdoing' it on Xmas......thinking back I had loads of help and did very little really.......this is my second huge flare up in 2 weeks.......I am on 15 mg of steroids waiting to start cimzia.........this dose doesn't seem to be working.,..when I was on 20 mg i felt great ( although had difficulty sleeping) .......should the doc increAse my dose back up to 20mg?? Does anyone have experience with steroids??? Thanks in advance

[Bon1]

I am stuck on steroids currently at 12mg. Since this all kicked off I have been on doses ranging from 60mg down as far as 9. The 60 mg was to do with auto immune hearing loss but even for the arthritis I was on 40mg at first. What I have come to realise is that the "holding" dose is not a fixed point. There have been times when I have been on much higher doses but have been really poorly and until this Latest flare the 9mg seemed fine and I thought it wouldn't be long till I got off them.

It may well be that you need to go up again for a while - your consultant would have to advise you on the dosage. I know that feels so frustrating but I get them impression that although steroids have a host of associated problems they are still a better option than uncontrolled disease.

Hopefully once you start your new drug it will pick up the slack quickly and you will be able to taper the pred as quickly as is safe.

X

[Phoo2 in reply to Bon1]

Thanks Bon. How do I get to see my gp at Xmas tho?? Argh frustrating!