So Frightened!!

[jiversen]

[align=left]Fish oil contains DHA  and EPA (essential  Omega-3 fatty acids) but does not contain DHEA. There is a difference. Fish oil does not work for some because there is a difference in quality. Most grocery store and drug store brands have half the potency and none of the purity of a pharmaceutical brand fish oil. A higher quality brand like Carlson's or Icelandic goes through a molecular distillation process that concentrates the oil and filters out dangerous mercury, PCB's, heavy metals and algae that might have accumulated in the fish.

On the other hand, DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone) is an endogenous hormone (made in the human body) secreted by the adrenal gland. There is sufficient evidence supporting the use of DHEA in the treatment of adrenal insufficiency, depression, induction of labor, and systemic lupus erythematosus. I have no experience with this, so I don't know. I might try it in the future. [/align]

[superperroRA]

I agree with sue/ra, serinity and jiversen

8 weeks is not a long time for prednisone, so the schedule you are following to wean off it is probably okay although painful.

You've got to find something to replace prednisone's anti-inflammatory effect, hopefully diet+natural remedies+ nsaid (ibuprofen, mobic, celebrex, voltaren, etc. there are quite a few of them. try out as many as you can.)
Some people choose to take both prednisone and an nsaid. For example, whaleharbor was taking 5mg prednisone and two celebrex daily. If you can manage to get rid of the prednisone now, that would be best. But maybe you can't? I believe 5mg prednisone can be taken for a long time (1 to 2 years), concurrent with abx, without bad side effects.

If you have lupus/positive ANA, I think it is typical to replace the minocin by doxy (and/or by zithromax)

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