My doctor put me on a 6 day Medral Dose Pack last Monday, Aug 3. I took the final dose Saturday. By last Wed I was feeling so much better and the inflammation and pain were all but gone. Monday, Aug 10, the pain was back: in my right foot, my knees, my hips, my back, my hands and my right elbow where it all started.

My question is this: Will the pain diminish over the next few weeks, or is it normal to have this resurgence of pain? My blood workup from mid-July showed that I had had inflammation, but it was supposedly getting better. My doc said if the Medral Dose Pack didn't take care of it, we'd have to re-evaluate. All my inflammation panel and general bloodwork came out within the normal range. I go back to him on Aug 26 which is two weeks from now. I have a call in to him to ask if we need to do something different before the 26th, but he has yet to call me back. My hubby doesn't like to see me with so many pain sites, and I just feel yucky.

Anyone any thoughts? Thanks.

Google, for what it's worth, sounds like some people take this med for an extended time rather than just taking a single dose pack. There is a warning not to stop it suddenly and not to drink grapefruit juice while taking it. Best of Luck and hope your pain is alleviated. billie

Billie,
Well, the doc gave me a second go round of the Medral; picked it up Friday afternoon, and within 2 hours started feeling better. The pain in my hands was the first to go. Within 24 hours, I felt like a new woman. Today is Day 5 of the protocol; this morning I have a right ankle swollen and painful. I am not a happy camper! LOL The doc says that if this doesn't work this time, we'll look at something else.

I too started with painful, swollen joints earlier this past fall. It affected my hands, fingers, wrists and knees. After a thorough exam the doc put me on 20mg of prednisone...3 for 3 days, 2 for 3 days and 1 for 3 days. I had good relief and he said "that ought to get you through the winter." Well, about a week after the last dose....the pain was back. So we did another round and also lots of blood work. Sed rate came back at > 122 so I was referred to a rheumy. She gave me prednisone 5 mg, two in the morning for 7 days and then 1 in the morning for 7 days. Took the edge off but nothing like the 20mg dose I was given by my PCP. The rheumy did gobs of blood work and the only thing abnormal was my renal function so now see a nephro tomorrow. In the meantime she has started me on plaquenil, 200mg twice a day. May take 4-6 weeks to see results so she said I could use the prednisone as well but I am just "bucking up" as I have enough medication in my system. First she classified it as RA, even tho the lab work was negative, now she has it listed as inflammatory arthritis. What ever it is.......it sucks!! (PS I also have peripheral polyneuropathy, small nerve fiber, so if one thing isn't hurting, another one is!! But through it all......GOD IS GOOD!!