Guest guest Posted January 18, 2004 Report Share Posted January 18, 2004 Tom, I just had to chuckle on the no pain with prednisone. It is considered a miracle drug, cuz it's a steroid. HOWEVER, it has a lot of dangerous side effects if used long term. That's why they created the biologics...... LeAnn Cayer & Furbrats Blossom & Meriko Heart Bandits American Eskimo Dog Rescue Railroad Coordinator www.heartbandits.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 18, 2004 Report Share Posted January 18, 2004 Tom, you crack me up. I'm taking prednisone too and dog bones are not even safe from my food detectors. I've gained 15 lbs since before Thanksgiving day. You are correct, it is only temporary. I want off too but my rheumy said to stay on for 2 more months. I started with mtx and vioxx and the combination worked very well for me for the first year, then had to quit those and went on to arava which worked fairly well. I really think you should see a rheumy asap. Good Luck, Cheri :-)) The question is how much does prednisone resemble methotrexate? So far I've only taken vioxx and pain killers for P.A. with little result. Feeling this good is bitter-sweet knowing the prednisone is a temporary fix and soon I'll be back in the valley. Any input will be appreciated as I don't have a rheumy yet, only my G.P. and a pain management doctor. THANX, Tom in beautiful downtown Clute, Texas tomjs2@... Please visit our Psoriatic Arthritis Group's informational web page at: http://www.wpunj.edu/pa/ -- created and edited by list member aka(raharris@...). Also,in August 2001,list member Jack aka Cornishpro@... began to conduct extensive research which he publishes as the " Psoriatic Arthritis Research Newsletter " , monthly in our email and digest format. Many thanks to Jack. Back issues of the newsletter are stored on our PA webpage as well as the archives of the list. Don't forget that the list archives comprise a tremendous amount of information (Over three years of messages and answers).Feel free to browse them at your convenience. LET'S HEAR FROM SOME OF YOU LURKERS out there! If you have a comment or question, chances are there is a person who has been around a while who can help you out with AT LEAST an educated guess for an answer! If not,we can steer you in the right direction with a good website to go to, Blessings and Peace, Atwood-Stack, Founder Alan , Web & List Editor Jack , Newsletter Editor Pat Bias, List Editor Ron Dotson, List Editor Orin, List Editor , List Editor and any others who help in any way (thank you!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 18, 2004 Report Share Posted January 18, 2004 At 04:46 PM 1/16/04, you wrote: >The question is how much does prednisone resemble methotrexate? So far >I've only taken vioxx and pain killers for P.A. with little result. >Feeling this >good is bitter-sweet knowing the prednisone is a temporary fix and soon >I'll be back in the valley. Prednisone and methotrexate are completely different types of drugs. Prednisone helps control the inflammation and, thus, the pain; but it is a steroid and doesn't really do anything to work at the disease level -- i.e. by controlling the inflammation it is merely controlling the symptoms of the disease, not trying to tackle the disease itself. Methotrexate is a disease-modifying drug that attempts to tackle the actual disease, not to cure it (since there is no cure) but to halt the progression of the disease and possibly cause medication-induced remission of the disease. Prednisone can make you feel good, but it's not necessarily going to prevent joint damage and have the other disease-level results that methotrexate does. Prednisone is taken long-term by some people, but it's generally only in cases where no other drug helps them, or for lupus patients for whom no other drug actually works. It's not advisable to take it long-term because of the damage it does to your bones and because of other side effects it can have with long-term use. If your question is whether prednisone is a good *alternative* to methotrexate, the answer is no. It can help you handle symptoms while a drug like methotrexate is kicking in (it takes MTX 6-12 weeks to begin to work on most patients), but it's really not meant to replace the DMARDs (disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs). I'm currently on prednisone because I can't cope without it, but I'm also on methotrexate and will be starting gold therapy next week, so my hope is that prednisone is a short-term aid for me while I give the gold time to work; I am very unhappy about being on prednisone at all, even knowing how it helps with my pain and inflammation, so I will be looking forward to when I can stop taking it when/if the gold begins to work for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 19, 2004 Report Share Posted January 19, 2004 I know the Prednisone makes you feel good temporarily. That makes it very attractive as an option to you for now. It's not meant for long term use and though you have it for the lung problem it also helps other places that are inflammed. The side effects are increased appetite, wt.gain, and it will sometimes flare up the psoriasis. If you haven't already seen an increase in the amount or severity of the psoriasis that is good. Hope you can get to a Rheumatologist to treat your PA. You need a DMARD with this disease. Hope you feel better soon. Cassie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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