Is prednisone used for rheumatoid arthritis?

You’re in luck! You’ve stumbled across the hottest article on rheumatoid arthritis and prednisone. If you’re feeling like your joints are being attacked by tiny lumberjacks wielding hatchets, then grab some ice packs and cozy up because we are about to dive deep into what is known about this topic.

What is Rheumatoid Arthritis?

First things first, let’s get down to business – what even is rheumatoid arthritis? Quite simply, it’s a chronic inflammatory disorder that can wreak havoc on the joints as well as other parts of your body. Now I know what you might be thinking: “But wait a minute… inflammation is my body’s natural response to injury or infection, right?” And you’d be correct! However, when it comes to rheumatoid arthritis (RA), your immune system goes rogue and starts attacking healthy tissues seemingly out of nowhere. It’s infuriating just thinking about it!

How Does RA Work Its Devilish Magic?

Let me break it down a bit more: normally white blood cells (WBC) would do their thing attacking only bad bacteria or viruses but something goes awry with Rheumatoid Arthritis (boo hiss) WBCs end up sticking around after destroying infections in joints tissue lining them which releases chemicals causing swelling warmth pain redness weakness fatigue weight loss stiffness low fever; doing things like Elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate(ESR) & C-reactive protein(CRP) increased means active inflammation.

Symptoms of RA

Now enough chit-chatting about how annoying inflammation-induced diseases could be let us move over symptoms so you can recognize if have fallen prey:

  • Tender swollen warm joint(distributing symmetrically through all body e.g wrist/hands)
  • Stiffness with prolonged sitting/stagnancy termed as morning stiffness lasting 30minutes to hours
  • Weakening of muscles mainly for grip purposes
  • Fatigue & Tenderness

Understanding Prednisone and How it Works

Ah prednisone, the steroid treatment that was originally discovered back in the day by gonzo chemist Dr. Philip Hench (and yes, he does sound like quite a character) not only helps align your inflammation but also reduces symptoms of RA.

What Exactly is Prednisone?

Prednisone is one type of corticosteroid made from adrenal gland hormones and works by decreasing inflammation levels overall (ooh scientific!). This means when you take prednisone, it dulls down your body’s immune response giving both joints healing time and relief from overwhelming aches (woohoo!). One thing to note about taking oral steroids like prednisone is they will lower immune system responses so if already fighting off germies might want to hold off dose till healed up (ain’t nobody got time for cooties).

Dosing Guidelines on Prescriptions

Let us give some more insight into how much should someone consume:

Disease Starting dosage Usual Adult Dosage Range
Rheumatoid Arthritis 5mg -25mg/day…

But this isn’t over just yet now we have reached half-way point let’s dive deeper shall we?

The Pros and Cons of Using Prednosine for RA Symptoms

As with any medication taken long-term or short term there can be good things along with bad things. Fortunately or unfortunately depending on who you ask in terms Of using them to treat Rheumatoid arthritis, oral steroids are helpful which balance each other out nicely.

Benefits

We’ll start with the positives since those tend to put people in better spirits. As mentioned earlier, prednisone provides relief from inflammation and stiffness of joints thanks to its anti-inflammatory effect. Additionally, it also reduces the damage caused by relentless flare-ups.

To sum it up:

  • It helps calm down swollen & warm affected areas
  • decreases inflammation reduction
  • Reduce cartilage degradation rate

Drawbacks

However, we must be wise and balance both sides as there are risks which go along with use in sustained amounts!

Side Effects

Taking Steroids for extended period can lead to higher chances of manifestationing eye infections known as cataracts/ Increased blood pressure/mood swings High Blood sugar menstrual cycle irregularities (eeeek!) But do not let these side effects sidetrack you there’s more..

Risk For Infections

We mentioned briefly above how if already infected final decision is up to doctor whether should take steroid or not but steriods tend making infections worse since they lower immune system responses drastically similar thing happens to chronic disease like RA where pathogens may persist further causing complications so stay wary.

BUT just try your best using hand sanitizers/wearing face masks/or staying away from places where germs gather (i.e hospitals) etc.,)

Who Is Recommended To Take Prednisone?

A pertinent question no? Let us jump straight into that taking oral tablets without a physician’s direction ain’t something worth trying.

How About patients already on Immunosuppressant drugs?

Basically, these medications keep pretty much everything under control giving little/no chance for an overactive immune response thus reducing symptoms showing less need according to National Institute of Arthritis Muscoskeletal Skin Disease (NIAMS).

For those with riskier behaviors’ often referred such types RA this method has been discovered associated lesser complication observe even after switching between DMARDDMARD becomes useless.

But once again remembering dosage could vary depending upon age/diseases history/avoidance of chronic infections and steroids either prescribed at once or in small quantities.

Special Cases Where Prednisone Can Work Magic

Though symptoms might worsen over time for some people prednisone can work magic. The Neuro American Academy revealed significant improvement treating optic neuritis with prednisone found useful to IDPs (inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy) since overwhelms immune system & many other autoimmune disorders thus lessen much agony.

Conclusion

RA is a devilish auto-immune disease that may make life miserable. But, oral steroids like prednisone do have their advantages when taken as directed by your doctor, helping relieve pain and swelling from inflammation-induced problems so you’re back on track tearing open bags of potato chips or dancing to funky tunes (whichever suits your fancy) in no time. However only taking this treatment won’t be beneficial for long-term which means consulting physicians immediately before tendinitis could topple things up!

In the end, it all depends on who you are and what stage of RA you’re dealing with!

Random Posts