Can I herx on 15 mg of prednisone?

[Airen]

I have been on 15 mg of prednisone for many months now and am worried the AP wouldn’t work on me since I’m on that high of a dose but I’m also not ready to reduce it. I started the AP about 5 weeks ago and the last couple of weeks I am feeling much worse. Could I be herxing even while on 15 mg of prednisone? God I hope so…it’s so hard to stay hopeful when you start feeling worse.

Diagnosed with RA in October 2014, pain started in February 2014
Started AP in June 2015
Taking daily: 32.5 mg WP thyroid 6 am, 100 mg mino 9 am, 16.25 mg WP thyroid 2 pm, B Complex for MTHFR mutation 3 pm, Multivitamin 3pm, 100 bil powdered probiotics 6 pm, 5-8,000 iu Vit D 6 pm, 100 mg mino 9 pm

[Lizz]

Hi, I don’t have an answer, but can only speak from my experience. Herxing for me only occurred a couple of days after a clindy Iv treatment, which would be general malaise, chills, flu like symptoms. You are on an awfully high dose of pred and I know it’s hard to get off, but look into hydrocortisone, called Cortef, which I take. I take 25-30 msg per day, which converts into about 6 mg pred. It is much more natural and easier on the body. Have you had your adrenals checked lately? All the best to you, Lizz

[PhilC]

Hi Airen,
@Airen wrote:

Could I be herxing even while on 15 mg of prednisone?

Yes, I think so. When someone has severe inflammation, doctors use much higher doses of prednisone, like 40 mg and even higher.

Phil

"Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth."
- Albert Einstein

[Airen]

Thank you for the replies! Lizz I will look into hydrocortisone! Thanks for the suggestion. Phil, I sure hope so!

Diagnosed with RA in October 2014, pain started in February 2014
Started AP in June 2015
Taking daily: 32.5 mg WP thyroid 6 am, 100 mg mino 9 am, 16.25 mg WP thyroid 2 pm, B Complex for MTHFR mutation 3 pm, Multivitamin 3pm, 100 bil powdered probiotics 6 pm, 5-8,000 iu Vit D 6 pm, 100 mg mino 9 pm

[Steven]

@Airen wrote:

I have been on 15 mg of prednisone for many months now

Airen,

I would try to get the prednisone at or below 5mg’s a day. There is a lot of data/evidence on the detrimental effects of chronic elevated steroid use.

Here’s an article from NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases by Dr. Theodore Pincus and Dr. Isabel Castrejon: Effective Initial and Long-Term Prednisone in Doses of Less Than 5 Mg/Day to Treat Rheumatoid Arthritis. (There is a link on that page to the full text.)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23259653

Best wishes and good luck,

Steven

[Author]

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