This is the first time I've felt any improvement in my health for months. A lot of my body still hurts but I've no doubt that the steroids have helped a little. I have a few questions. Do the improvements steroids bring last after you stop taking them (I'll be taking them for a week only to begin with)? Does fibromyalgia respond to steroids?
Hi Meriel
I have been on low dose steroids for over three years now. I have Lupus and fibro. Everytime I try to come off the steroids the fibro pain seems to kick in unmercifully. Im like Stephanie. The steroids only seem to help when I am on them. As soon as I reduce even 1mg from my usual 5mg dose I get quite intense all-over body pain.
Right now Im attempting another taper and I got down to 4mg but have gone through weeks of pain to get there. When I started to feel half human again last week, I dropped another half mg to 3.5mg and once again the pain is kicking in everywhere.
I cant say with absolute certainty that its all fibro pain though. Most of it seems to be muscle related but some of it is in the joints, e.g. my hips, ankles and finger joints.
Here is a small image of the classic Fibro Trigger points. See if any of these 'pain points', feel familiar to you. For me the most painful ones are the ones around the buttocks area, the arms (particuarly the right one), the shoulders and the spots over the left breast area.
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The other symptom of fibro is poor or disturbed sleep. Do you suffer from this? If so make sure your Rheumy knows. There is a drug treatment for Fibro - Lyrica. Unfortunately it didnt agree with me - my stomach bloated out hugely - but others have had great success with it.
Take good care
Joan:rose:
I have been on low dose steroids for over three years now. I have Lupus and fibro. Everytime I try to come off the steroids the fibro pain seems to kick in unmercifully. Im like Stephanie. The steroids only seem to help when I am on them. As soon as I reduce even 1mg from my usual 5mg dose I get quite intense all-over body pain.
Right now Im attempting another taper and I got down to 4mg but have gone through weeks of pain to get there. When I started to feel half human again last week, I dropped another half mg to 3.5mg and once again the pain is kicking in everywhere.
I cant say with absolute certainty that its all fibro pain though. Most of it seems to be muscle related but some of it is in the joints, e.g. my hips, ankles and finger joints.
Here is a small image of the classic Fibro Trigger points. See if any of these 'pain points', feel familiar to you. For me the most painful ones are the ones around the buttocks area, the arms (particuarly the right one), the shoulders and the spots over the left breast area.
The other symptom of fibro is poor or disturbed sleep. Do you suffer from this? If so make sure your Rheumy knows. There is a drug treatment for Fibro - Lyrica. Unfortunately it didnt agree with me - my stomach bloated out hugely - but others have had great success with it.
Take good care
Joan:rose:
