prednisone----a short affair

In November, 2006, I experienced severe pain in the major joints
of my body along with weakness, night sweats, and sudden weight loss.
I used an array of natural products and services: vitamins, minerals,
aloe vera, chlorophyll, chiropractic, massage, heat,ultrasound among others.
Later I worked with a very competent acupuncturist whose treatments
were supportive. But nothing gave me relief from the gnawing,
"hollow" pain. I consulted my M.D. I mentioned having dark stools and his
immediate concern was colon cancer. As I left his office, to my relief
I remembered taking the chlorophyll and how it would darken the stools.
On subsequent visits the M.D. prescribed pain medications which helped
and rendered a diagnosis of "polyarthralgia." I knew the source of my pain
was the connective tissues--ligaments, tendons--surrounding the joints, not
the joints themselves. I went on-line, plugged in my symptoms, and there it
was "polymyalgia rheumatica," referred to as "PMR". Within a day I had a
conversation with my older brother. I told him my symptoms and he said
"That sounds like a condition I had a few years ago called "poly-my-algia
rheu-ma-tica". Bingo!My differential diagnosiswas PMR. As a health professional
who considered himself a specialist in neuro-muscular-skeletal conditions I
had never heard of PMR. I went back to my M.D. who did not concur with
a diagnosis of PMR, but agreed to refer me to a well-known rheumatologist. It was another two months before he could see me. For those two months I suffered pain and was unable to work. I had a substitute practitioner take care of my patients. This practitioner proceeded to siphon off some of my patients and invaded my computer management program for confidential information.
I went to my health club and slipped on the wet floor only to be
caught in the arms of a friend who was shocked by my appearance and said, "Buddy,what's wrong?" I reassured him I had a "temporary arthritis" and would get over it.
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The welcome day arrived to see Dr. Taber, the rheumatologist, who looked
at my sed-rate (130---normally in the range of 10), examined me and
confirmed the diagnosis of PMR.
He started me on prednisone which I knew from my on-line research was
the standard medical remedy. The results were instant. I was out of pain and
my joint function returned. I could return to work and rescue my practice.
I started at a lower level of 15 milligrams per day. I proceeded to halve the
dosage and told Dr. Taber I was doing so. I could tell he was not happy I was
doing the dosage reduction on my own.
He also would not have been happyto know I was taking the prednisone
sublingually, under my tongue (it is a 'bitter pill') to allow it to get into my
bloodstream more quickly and directly than going through my GI tract.
Dr. Taber warned me that my appetite would be "enormous"
while taking prednisone. With a sed rate of 130 and a metabolic rate in overdrive,
I was enjoying large amounts of food and 2 additional meals per day.
For the first timein my life I was trying to gain weight! from 155 back to 175.
(Two and one half years later I am back to keeping my weight under control,
no more daily malts and frosties.)
In February, 2009, I was down to 1/2 milligram of prednisone per day,
my pain controlled, my joint function normal, my weight stabilized.
When I tried to stop the prednisone the symptoms came back with a vengeance.
I never developed the side affects we hear of from prednisone --no undesireable weight gain, no moon-face, no dowagers hump, etc. My blood tests all came back normal so it wasn't affecting my liver or other internal organs.
In summary I consider prednisone a friend to embrace with eyes wide open and tell:
"You know this is only temporary, don't you?"







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