If you were on the 5mg of pred for any length of time then just stopping it all at once is most likely the problem. You would probably benefit from tapering the 5mg of pred down slowly, as in tapering by 1mg at a time, until you were only on 1 mg & then stop it completely.
Best wishes!

yes it can. my cousin has tapered down to 2.5mg of prednisone daily - if she stops it, she experiences so much pain and swelling within a day or less. she's been on this maintenance for over 6 months and has decided not to try and taper off at this time. she doesn't experience any other side effects from using this low of a dose at this time.

I agreee with pugpen, you stopped too quickly. You should taper more slowly. Also I found I was not able to fully go off prednisone until I had been on remicade and mtx for about 6 months. Even now, I may not have acute redness or swelling but the pain never totally goes away. The pain level just varies in severity from day to day. Call your doctor and ask how he/she recommends you finish tapering the pred. good luck!

When I was on mtx, every time I tried to taper off of prednisone the same thing happened. Like you, it made me wonder if the mtx was doing anything. After starting humira, I was able to taper off-went from 10 to 7.5, then 5 to 2.5 and off. No problems. Now thinking about tapering off of the mtx. Has anyone else tried this?

my Mother takes 2.5/day....not for RA but for Addison's, has for 40+ years.

Thanks for the input. Prior to the low dose regimen, I had been on higher bursts. Thought 5 mg was so low I could simply stop. It's good to hear that others have been on low doses without any major side effects.

Definitely 5mg is too high to suddenly stop. Surely you doctor didnt say that or was it left vague?

Been there / done that.

After being on Humira for 4 months or so and feeling some positive effect, I thought I would try to lower my Prednisone. Have been on 5mg for over a year, so I thought I would try 1/2 pill every day. On the 3rd day, I thought I was going off the deep end - pain the worst I ever felt and could hardly move. Took a couple days back on a whole pill to get back to where I was.

As other have said, I asked my Rheumatologist about this at my next visit - said that it has to tapered of VERY slowly - like 1/2 mg at a time for at least a month for each interval.

Oh well - that's what I get for trying to lessen my med intake on my own......

My Dr. said being at 5mg is okay to just stop but he is wrong, for me anyway. When I tried tapering 1mg a week I, like Coltrain, thought I would loose my mind and felt awful. I have to go at .5 a week and take it at intervals during the day because it gives me rapid heartbeat and nausea, makes it hard to work.

About going off mtx they always told me that it helps the other meds such as remicade and the others work better. So I guess it doesn't nesesarily do much on its own but helps the others.

I've been on 5 mg prednisone almost the entire time I've been diagnosed (9 years). Have tried to taper off slowly at least 2 times...and by the time I get down to nothing I'm usually feeling lousy again. My doc assures me the 5 mg won't cause any problems because of the low dose...and I've not encountered any problems either. At this point...it's just part of life and I'm ok with it.

is this plan working for you Beech? I know this has sounded very difficult for you.

everything is a kick in the butt at work I agree

hugs
Ros

(Feeling a bit guilty) it was me who tried to stop on my own - tired of being on it and worried about the effects. But feeling lousy when off won't help me exercise either! it's reassuring to hear others say they've bee on it at low dose for a long time without effects.

I would allow yourself to go back onto pred, but now switch it to half a pill. See what that does after a week. That would be a very low dose, half what you were taking and might be enough.

As to what it says about the other dmards - they can still very much be working. Prednisone has it's own set of withdrawal.

I have an on-hand bottle of 5mg pred. When I have a small flare, I take 1/2 a pill for three days. IT IS AMAZING that it can wipe out that pain at such a low dose.

Never underestimate both the good and the bad of prednisone. :)