Ida
Hi Shar- I guess it seems trivial to complain about aches and pains after the events of last week. But perhaps the information about prednisone will be helpful. I agree with you that the sedrate does not always indicate how you feel and I feel the doctors rely on it too much. On Sept. 12, my prednisone was reduced to 5mg. Almost immediately I began getting more symptoms. Real bad pain- I couldn't get out of bed, a chair or bend, etc. I called my rheumatologist. At first he said go back to 6mg, but when he heard (listened to) the symptoms he ordered 10 mg of prednisone for two days; 9mg for two days; 8mg the same; 7mg two days, then to stay on 6mg. After two days on 10 mg, I became a new person; returned to life. I checked my records and see that he started me on 15mg of prednisone in Feb. 2000, after I had been on as much as 40 mg from my internist. So he has been reducing it slowly. I think 5mg is the magic number they all aim for. I hope you will not have problems when you start on 5mg, although it sounds as if your doctor is very conservative, which is good. Are you back on Vioxx? It seemed to help you. I am going to ask about it. Hope you will continue to improve and will be pain free. Ida