I posted a similar thread here a while back so this is an update on the same subject…
I asked about taking prednisone long-term because I have severe neck and head pain.
The responses were that you don’t want to take prednisone long-term and I understand that. The side effects are awful. Since that last post I’ve taken prednisone, first at a steady dose of 5 mg, And I felt fantastic. I have now weaned down to 3 mg. Since weaning down I have started to slip back into the awful pain I used to experience. I am getting the prednisone on " the street" because no doctors will prescribe it for me.
My question is if I go back to laying in the fetal position in the dark , as I sometimes did before taking prednisone, isn’t that worse than having some really bad side effects.
I’m 68 and hope to live to maybe 80 plus?
Would you prefer to suffer for 15 years or live pretty happily for say 10 yrs even if the 10 includes some bad side effects. These numbers are are pretty random but I’m speaking somewhat rhetorically.
Currently searching a doctor who will prescribe as I’m running out. And there Is surely a doctor out there who will?
As a physician who has had patients on chronic prednisone and other related steroids, I urge you to find a specialist physician appropriate for addressing the cause of your pain, and work with them. They might keep you on 5 mg a day for a while until other safer means of reducing your pain and improving your function can be determined.
Chronic use of as little as 5 mg a day can cause some serious bone loss, and it’s no fun coping with fractures that occur from ordinary acts of daily living like walking, lifting, or sneezing too hard. People don’t live real happily with those types of debilities.
I read your other thread about Prednisone and your OP.
Don’t wanna be a downer. Some people are doomed to suffer an incurable and lifelong debilitating disease, syndrome or condition. It’s just the way it is. I think Prednisone is not going to make your life any more bearable. It will most likely shorten it. And the suffering will still be there all the while.
This is not your panacea.
As Doc.Q says find the right doctor and therapy.
Have you been checked for Chiari Malformation ?
Good luck.
Thanks for the response. My response is that it already IS a panacea. I’ve felt great compared to without Prednisone. Like bordering on miraculous great…
And yes I’ve been to every ologist you can think of.
And as I mentioned I’m more than glad to live a shorter life.
If one can barely do the basic functions of life and sometimes can’t at all, are broken bones all that bad? Probably. And I know there are other negatives.
What about a steroid without the awful side effects? Does that exist?
Also anecdotally…I know someone with Lupus who has been on HIGH doses of Prednisone for over 10 years. No broken bones or any significant side effects.
If I can’t find a source for Prednisone it’s back to the fetal position I guess.
P.S. Not feeling sorry for myself. Just asking questions.
Well, I’m sorry for you. I hope you can find relief.
FWIW…twice my mother, who ran out of Preds on her prescription…developed Pneumonia OFF prednisone.
Seems to do a number on your lungs and immune system.
This is some of the most useful information I’ve gotten on the SDMB. I was on prednisone a lot as a kid and teen for severe asthma, well over 5 mg. I have a problem as an adult with hearing a ‘snap’ when coughing and sneezing and ending up with weeks of pain in my rib cage.
I do have an excellent physician now and I will mention my prednisone history next time I talk to him.
Sorry for the brief hijack. I’m certain I spent a lot of my youth on 40-60 mg of prednisone.
Without knowing your diagnoses, test results, and past treatments it’s hard to comment on what might help you. If you’ve not seen a physician specializing in pain management I’d recommend you try that. If any of your diagnoses are of a rheumatologic nature, I would expect a rheumatologist to be able to help you. And if chronic steroids are the only thing that helps you be functional, I’d expect there are physicians who would prescribe it appropriately for you.
But there are really no prednisone-type steroids that provide the benefit you’re seeking that don’t also have similar risk profiles with chronic use.
Thank you. I have seen every doctor imaginable including 2 Pain Management and 2 Rheumatologists.
Still no luck getting the med that helps me. The cynic in me says, like most everything, it’s about money. As in fear of malpractice suits. The same cynic says don’t doctors take an oath that says they won’t cause pain. Well I vary between 8&9 when not on steroids. That’s frikkin pain.
The calmer me just keeps looking for relief like a junkie on the streets, except I’m in waiting rooms filling out endless redundant forms.
Sorry…painful day today.
I don’t know your age Dalej42 but if you spent A LOT of your youth on 40-60 mg and only now are feeling some pain in your chest I have to wonder.
Boy would I like to feel human now then hear a snap and have some rib pain later in life.
And I’m on 3-5 mg!
[Moderating]
This is not the place for pill-seeking.