I would love to hear for those who had severe inflamation of the joints and went on prednisone how long did it take to kick in? I have been on it for 1 week and although my ankles are less swollen and my fingers seem to be thinning out my knuckles are still pretty swollen.

The doc mentioned taht if the prednisone didnt work then something else was causing the fluid retention in the knucles. Its gone everywhere else but there. Any chance it just hasnt had enough time?

Thanks for any opinions!

Angela

Hi Angela, first off, how much Prednisone are you taking and how often?? I am on 20mg that I take each morning. I started noticing it helping after about the 5th day. It takes a couple days to fully get into your system, but then should start to work. I notice little things each day. My hands were REALLY swollen before I went on this, so much so that my fingers were 2 sizes larger than normal! My knuckles have gone down some, but not completely, but then Im planning on being on Prednisone for about 2.5 more months and hopefully within that time my fingers will go back to normal. I have noticed the swelling is going down though, but Im still sort of swollen in the mornings, I guess because of lack of movement at night.

How long did your doctor say he wanted you to be on the Prednisone? Im taking mine with Plaquenil (while we wait for that to kick in). My wrists have decreased significantly and each day I feel like my hands LOOK slimmer. I also have RA in my feet and the Prednisone is working wonders for them! They dont hurt much at all anymore and I can actually go up and down stairs normally, with a bounce in my step and not one-at-a-time.

I wish you the best of luck, I hope it starts to help soon, or perhaps you need a larger dose. I was on 10 mg for a week and it did absolutely NOTHING for me. If your on a low dose, you might tell your doctor that you would like to try a larger dose before quitting it all together (since they have to wean you off anyway). It cant hurt!

Hang in there!

Meg
http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/gabby.gif

Meg or Angela -

Have either of you experienced any weight gain from the Prednisone yet? I know it's been a short time for both of you, but I heard that's one of the side effects. I almost feel like I should ask my Dr. about getting me on this for a bit until my Plaquenil, etc. kicks in, but am afraid to gain weight. Somehow in my 29 years I have managed to stay relatively thin!!

BTW - My name is Allison - I am an immature 29 yr old who loves Hello Kitty! :-)

I am on 5 mg 2 x a day so a total of 10mg. I guess maybe it isnt enough. I definately see the difference in my ankles & fingers. I bet if I upped the dosage it would help the knuckles. I too am up ring sizes...more than 2 http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/bigcry.gif

Anyhoo....I dont see the dock again until 9/4 so I guess I have to wait until then, unless I play doc myself which I do all too often :wink:

Also, no I havent had any weight gain. I actually have been losing weight rather steadily. I am over weight by about 25 lbs so I could use it! I gained a lot when I was pregnant and never lost it but in the past 2 months have been able to drop 20 lbs since they have put me on meds for my thyroid.

Prednisone can cause weight gain depending on the dosage and length of therapy. Here's a link to the MedLinePlus drug database information on prednisone:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/uspdi/202018.html

Although this is a very lengthy article, it's worth reading, bookmarking and even printing out to have on hand for reference. Prednisone is a very powerful med with a wide range of potential complications/side effects e.g. dietary, drug interactions, immune system, osteoporosis, surgery, etc.

Allison,

Ive been on Prednisone for 3 weeks now and havent noticed that Ive gained weight, but I have noticed that my appetite is more aggressive. When Im hungry, my stomach REALLY hurts causing me to eat something. But Im watching what I eat and am trying to eat a low carb diet to avoid gaining weight.

Angela,

If I were you, Id call your doctors nurse and tell her than the 10mg just isnt working. They'll probably up you to 20 or maybe 15 and that might help better especially since you have severe swelling. The 10 mg didnt do anything for me. I was starting to hurt again with only that much. I also take mine together in the mornings instead of taking 5mg twice a day. I guess I do this because Im stiff in the morning and need it most then. For the rest of the day, Im comfortable. You might try taking your doses together and seeing if that makes a difference. It took 4 days for me to feel better once I started on the 20mg because it had to build up a little in my system.

Also, I read that when you take Prednisone with Plaquenil that if you take them at the same time, sometimes its not a good idea because they can interact in your stomach and might not be as effective. YOu might try taking the Prednisone in the morning and the Plaquenil at night. Perhaps that might help as well.

By the way, my mom went to her doctor today for a regular physical and she mentioned my RA and he said that the best thing we can do is to keep a positive mental attitude. He also said that the medicines now are the best available and that one major key to getting into remission is to follow your treatment to a T... no missed doses, stay active and keep your joints moving, and to think positive (like by saying to yourself each day "Im not going have this the rest of my life. Im getting better!"). For what its worth, I thought Id add that.

Hope you all are having good days today! TGIF!! http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/jester.gif

Meg