Tapering Pred...

[positivemum]

Hi all,

A bit of advice if possible please!

We are 4 days away from finishing an 11 week course of pred - now on 5mg a day. He is 16 and is suffering with increasing joint pain over the last couple of weeks as well as a few more mood swings. He is also on remicade (just had 3rd dose)

Hot baths and showers help ease the pain but i would liek to know if these pains will go once he is off pred (doesn't get joint pain routinely) and if he can take any pain relief apart from paracetamol. He can't take ibuprofen. We are in the UK which means we may have different pain relief meds to USA/Aus etc

Any advice gratefully received as he has big exams in 3 weeks over a period of 4 weeks. His revision is being hampered by the pain. Thanks in advance

 

[my little penguin]

Joint pain tends to go away after pred is stopped if it was pred induced
But some kids are lucky and start with joint pain from JSpA
We thought DS had pred induced joint pain
Since his didn't start until we weaned off pred
But turns out it was JSpA which is rare .
Heat and moisture are your friend
Tylenol doesn't really do much for DS

 

[Farmwife]

Agreed to what MLP said.
Grace has arthritis and its still a challenge to treat.
Tramadol is the only thing that helps but that's a bigger painkiller.
I hope he feels better once he weans off.

HUGS

 

[Maya142]

Actually, according to a recent article in the Spondylitis Association of American magazine JSpA isn't that rare:

Inflammatory bowel disease associated arthritis is also considered part of the SpA group of diseases; as many as one- quarter of children and adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease develop arthritis

But hopefully the joint pain will go away once he's off pred.

We also use Tramadol for pain but it is a pain medicine and doctors don't prescribe it easily for kids/teens. Heating pads and a Tens unit also help. Tylenol did nothing for my daughter.

 

[CarolinAlaska]

J gets a lot of joint pains, she likes lemongrass essential oil on the areas and that does help, she says.

 

[Chester31]

No advice on the pred but hope things improve soon. Not much revision going on here either! x

 

[lenny]

This is the 4th time my son has been on Prednisone and he is having some skin tenderness, not joint pain. Anyone else experience this? Is it normal?

 

[SupportiveMom]

Agree with all above, if joint pain came with prednisone it should subside a few weeks after taper is complete. D has to take too many tylenol to get relief. We have used ointments used for back pain like A535 when she can't be near a heating pad. Since UK products can be different, look for an ointment for muscle & back pain. It helped to take some pressure off.

The skin tenderness has happened to my kid only when on IV steroids, not pill form. Id mention it to the doc just in case.