Steroids and fibro

Hi again,

Thanks for all your answers to my questions recently...I'm afraid I have another one! I was diagnosed with Lupus in September 2008 through blood work and symptoms (mainly joint and muscle pain, mouth ulcers and fatigue). I was put onto 200mg Plaquenil (this has just been raised to 400mg daily) plus amitriptelene and also Mobic (an anti-inflammatory).

The Plaquenil hasn't kicked in yet although I do feel less flu-ey than I used to. Anway, my muscle and joint pain got really bad in mid December and I have just been put on a short course of prednisidone (20mg daily) to try and get me out of this bad phase. I woke up last night and noticed something different...some of my joints weren't aching and were no longer as tender 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?

My rheumy thinks that I might have fibro as well as Lupus but he says we won't know until I've been on the Plaquenil for longer to see if the pain responds to this. I thought I'd read somewhere that fibro doesn't respond to steroid treatment but I might be imagining this? Are there any other ways to distinguish Lupus and Fibro symptoms?

Sorry for all the questions...I'm very confused !
Thank you!
Best wishes
Meriel