Christine,
I'll be 54 next week. The thinking by many of the MS neuros on the Consortium is that it is acceptable to give women at or near menopause steroids to treat a flare but not to give more than two or three grams a year if possible. At the same time they try to support the bones by giving Fosamax, calcium, D, magnesium.

I've been watching for some written guidelines to come out on this protocol but have not yet seen it. When it is weritten or I come across it, I'll try to post here with the citing.

There are other meds now coming into favor for treating flares that do not have a bone wasting component. CellCept is one of those. It came to us from the transplant arena as an antirejection drug and is taken orally twice a day for 6 months to a year. Main side effect appears to be loosing of stool for the first few weeks (for some that's a real plus). In the old BT, xo had several articles posted on the validity of that therapy. My current neuro is now using it in most of his female menopausal patients rather than depending on steroids.