Hi everyone,
Contrary to my former belief, Sjogren's does seem to get progressively worse.
I have been relatively stable these last 6 years.
However, the last couple of months, I wake up with aches in the joints of my fingers, knees & feet...
Is Prednisone really the only cure to tackle this? I have been adviced to start taking this to prevent exacerbation.... But the side effects put me of. Are there any alternatives with a better profile available?
Take care,
Maria
Maria, there are alternatives, and before diving into steroid therapy, I think I'd discuss them with my doctor.
Non-steroidals (NAIDS) like ibuprophen, naprosyn and even buffered or coated aspirin might be a good starting place if you can take them. If the ache is less related to inflammation, and more from osteoarthritis, acetaminophen (Tylenol) might help enough. I've had relief from gentle range of motion exercise for my finger joints, and heat often helps my feet and knees to some degree.
I agree the side effects of prednisone can be daunting, and personally I don't think I'd take it as a preventative measure, only to arrest or relieve symptoms that have already started.
There's also been some promising medical studies on the use of fish oil to help with inflammation and joint pain. (And these are real studies, not stuff done to sell you a product)
Good luck and I hope you feel better.
Maria,
I take fish oil on the recommendation of my doctor. One rheumatologist I saw said they (a large group of doctors) have every single one of their patients on 3000 mg of fish oil. As mentioned, I believe there are scientific studies done on fish oil.
I find my aches and pains come and go. My feet, hands and hips are the ones that ache. I take Aleve to knock out the inflammation and I use ThermaCare heat wraps. They really work and I can only take small doses of Aleve because of my stomach. Hope you find relief soon.
Anna
Maria,
I don't take anything for pain because of my poor kidney function but I do use Biofreeze for some temporary relief. It doesn't work for everything, but what it does work on, it works well. I have bursitus in my shoulder that no amout of cortisone injections has been able to help, so I try to limit my use in that arm.
I take a low dose of prednisone for two weeks or so when I flare. I haven't experienced any side effects.
NSAIDS are good, too, but only provide temporary relief.
The first few flare ups of my joints I went on prednisone which helped. The last couple times I got cortisone shots in the one or two joints that were bothering me the most. The interesting thing is that in all three cases it helped all my joints, not just the joints in which it was injected.
len
Thanks to all those who've contributed to this topic!
I now realise I have to sort out if it's just plain pain - or if it's from inflammation...
As I can't tell the difference (yet), my rheumy can be the jury next time we meet.
Already taking 6.000 mg of fish oil, but doesn't seem to do the trick.
Hot weather does seem to help though. (think am gonna have to move down south ;)...).