Hi everyone… Does prednisone take psa pain away?
Temporarily and only a few times before your body has a tolerance and it never works again excepy to fry your adrenals, unless there has been a big gap in time between “bursts”
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Yep. Good for diagnosis or in a true emergency, not good for pain management.
My rheumatologist prescribes prednisone only when I’m having a bad flare. I start at a high dose and then taper down over a period of several weeks. It’s important to taper off the prednisone and not simply stop taking it, as it can have a severe impact on your adrenal glands. I use Cosentyx now, and haven’t had a flare in months. I hate the side effects of prednisone, but I’m not aware of any alternatives other than traditional narcotics and NSAIDS. I’ve not had much luck with the NSAIDS, while they help with inflammation, they destroy my stomach if taken for too long. As for the narcotics, they do nothing to treat the disease, only mask the pain. Long term can be a real problem, so I won’t take them.
Works just fabulously for me but I’ve ended up with a fractured pelvis from simply running up the stairs. Still waiting for a bone scan.
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It works wonderfully for me also, but we try and limit it’s use to only once a year. I feel like I’m on top of the world and can do anything when taking it. That is scary in itself, as the feeling only lasts a day or two after the tapering off. It’s wonderful for stopping a bad flare though. 
It DOES scare me, as osteoporosis runs in my family. I now get a bone density scan once every 2 yrs now (I’m almost 45) which makes me feel better about the occasional prednisone round.
I have osteopenia, or pre-osteoporosis. I’ve only had prednisone 3 times, and, even though it makes me feel on top of the world while I’m on it, I’ll avoid it in the future. It seems to cause more harm than good for me.
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My doc just put me on low dose prednisone because I am having a bad flare and the Otezla is not working well. It helped some, but I hate taking steroids.
I would rather take the 5mg oxy instead of the prednisone, but I will take all of it before I go back to the pain pills.
You said that your doctor put you on low dose prednisone. What’s the plan for how long? What was the advantage of low dose as opposed to a dose pack, where you hit it hard then back down?
5 mg a day. I don’t tolerate the dose packs well since they start at 60 mg a day. I will be taking it about 10 more days. It does make me hyper and impacts my depression and anxiety some. He wants to try this to see if it will knock this flare up down some.
I found starting on 20mg going down quickly to 15 mg and then staying on 10mg gave me the lack of pain necessary and the serious increase in capacity. 5mg didn’t hack it for me.
Hi Tamac, pleased the plan is for you not to be on it too long. Withdrawal from long term (months and months) of prednisone is its own special type of hell.
Everyone is different but It sounds like the SEs aren’t great for you even at moderate levels, so I hope it knocks down the inflammation for you quickly 
I existed on low dose prednisone for six months this year waiting for biologics approval. I had bad side effects from everything else. I took it more often then I didn’t…sometimes, even with all the risks, it’s all we have xxx no perfect solutions i guess
MacMac, me too. Nine months on low-dose prednisone waiting for biologics. Sometimes it is the only option, but I still wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy…
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I have found the steroids work short term and I would much rather have my Remicade. I am also one of those that gains a lot of weight(think moonface) and after awhile my temper is out of control. So I will only use short bursts of steroids and will never go back onto a maintenance dose. I gained almost 30 lbs over the course of a year. Still working on that. Yet the pain is almost non existent while on the steroids and my functionality is 100%.
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Me too for all of it!
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This is an old thread but…Prednisone lives on! I think I am weary of reading studies and reports that give so much conflicting info. When I read that even small dose prednisone can increase risk of fractures by 50%, I lower my dose from 5 to 2.5. Then flare again and settle it with 10, then 7.5 and back to 5. It only takes 48 hours to notice the effect of dose increase or decrease. AND of course there are studies that suggest no problems on low dose long term use. Reumy wants me on 5 mg for the next 9 weeks. Any absolute, concrete perfect and loving advice? 
My best understanding is that there are people who are on low-dose Prednisone, meaning 10 mg or less, for many years oh, and it is considered relatively safe.
I have had virtually no prednisone used over the last 13 years, until the last two years. I think the longest I was ever on it was once for about a month and a half. The last two years were a bit rougher , and I had stretch’s of fairly high level bursts. I did already have one cataract starting, but since then I have had them removed in both eyes. And I am now dealing with multiple fractures in my feet, presumably from the prednisone as well.
I also know somebody who just had avascular necrosis in her hip and needed to have it replaced. Prednisone is amazing when you really need it, but I would do anything in my power to not be on it for extended periods personally.
Do you know why rheumy wants you on pred for the next 9 weeks? It will help you symptoms wise but will do naff all for permanently helping your PsA. I’d much be rather trialling a biologic for the next 9 weeks than wasting further time on pred? Or is she buying time due to Covid 19? My understanding is that pred is also a risk Covid 19 wise.
A 5mg dose of pred is pretty low in the big scheme of things but I am one of those whose bone density is now affected by pred not just from PsA but also life long asthma and possibly also not helped by the fact I’m through the menopause too.
Sorry Amos I haven’t been much help.
Loving advice yes…, absolute, perfect, concrete… goodness me you’ve picked all the adjectives PsA is not friends with!
I took about an average of 10-12mg of steroids a day for 9 months. At the time, it was the only way I could get through the days, Jeep my job, and be barely functional as a mum to a two year old.
In some ways, I got away easy - I was really disciplined with my food and only put on a couple of kilos, no metabolic syndrome. I got right to the edge of osteopenia in my spine as a 36 year old though, and I would not wish the 3-5 months of withdrawal as I tapered down on my worst enemy. I also suspect I’m permanently a bit low on my own natural ones - like my body never quite rebounded properly from being steroid dependent (which of course just leads to general inflammation and fatigue).
In terms of the clinical stuff, I’m not up to date, but I do remember at the time I was taking it that there was evidence low dose 5-7.5mg for the first 3 months with early fast diagnosis had some early DMARD effects. Not sure how good that study was, and from memory the DMARD effects were only mild - so I guess if you are not yet to the stage where you can move to another DMARD, and you are in that early window, then maybe that is the rationale.
If I were you, I’d want that explanation (or another) from the Rheumy though. The side effects of longer term use can be pretty fierce, and unlike most drugs where a few percent get side effects, with steroids MOST people get side effects. So it’s totally reasonable for you to ask for an explanation for that as a plan.
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