Pain without daily prednisone

[paininc]

Do many doctors let you stay on a daily dose of prednisone? My dr. will only prescribe it periodically when my herniated disc pain really flares, but daily I am in pain and would much rather take the prednisone than the prescription anti-inflammatories and muscle relaxants I have to take now each day. Anybody?

[jinasc]

Do you have PMR and/or GCA?

Pred is only given for 5 to 10 days at a time, unless you need it for a long -term illness.

Longterm pred means your adrenal glands are taken out of action and that is why it is only prescribed short -term. Most GPs won't give a prescription for more than 5 days at a time.

It is one of the most powerful drugs we have and it is not used lightly.

[Primarose]

Hi paininc

A friend of mine had a herniated disc, it is a very painful condition, she was helped by Cortisone injections but as far as I know was never prescribed Prednisolone.

The members on this forum all suffer from PMR/GCA and the Prednisolone is the only drug that keeps the disease at bay until such time that the body has healed enough to do without them. They are autoimmune diseases.

I am sure that the members here would much prefer to be on anti-inflammatories and muscle relaxants. Long term use of Prednisolone is not recommended for herniated discs. It's fine for short time use of other ailments.

I wish you well, perhaps if the drugs you are taking now aren't helping, your doctor could give you an alternative.

Good luck!

[ninjapete]

My answer would be the same as Primarose. I suffer from PMR hence long term prednisone. Have been on it for 11 months and slowly trying to wean myself off of it. Unfortunately when I try and go below 12 mg a day I have flate ups. Seeing my rheumatologist tomorrow to seek alternative ways that will help me reduce my dosage.

[painteratheart]

Hello. I was diagnosed in February and started on 15 mg by my internist. Reduced to 12 and half after 6 weeks. Luckily, no major changes. I am now on 9 mg and doing ok with only hints of initial symptoms. She gave me 2 rx,,,1 for 5 mg and 1 for 1 mg to adjust according to how I felt. Instructions were not to taper more than 1mg a month as my body adjusted. I was lucky she recognized the problem from the beginning

I will follow instructions and. Hopefully be clear one day

. You are right, everyone is different so I wish you luck in this journey. Keep us posted