[NaniKai56]

I need to ask a question about Prednisone after reading some things online about this drug I'm not sure I want to take another dose that is due this evening. It would be my third dose that has been prescribed for swelling that I am experiencing in my hands when I fall asleep at night. As soon as I fall asleep my hands begin to swell and when I awaken in the morning or even during the night I cannot bend my fingers. This has all begun after having used a hammer to put up a fence around my patio area to make it secure for my dog so that she could go out to enjoy fresh air. I need to say that I have a serious issue with my neck, buldging discs in C 5 - C 7 as a result of an accident that occurred on the freeway in the early summer of 2002. I've had a few MRI's to confirm the diagnosis and recently had a bone scan of my spine. My hands become very painful and I don't know if it's from the swelling or if it's from arthritis. My elbows also become swollen and sore at night too but I'm thinking the two are connected for obvious reasons. I'm not sure why my knees are bothering me at night other than the fact that I have a total knee replacement and arthritis in them. I don't think there's any other cause besides the fact that I walk my dog five times daily, to me that's just great exercise for arthritic joints!
My biggest question is if I'm only taking a low dose of Prednisone for five days to reduce this swelling (hopefully) and I'm not having any success with it so far, would there be any problem if I did not continue taking it? I see posts online about tapering doses but I think it's for patients that are long term users. Can someone please respond to my post as soon as possible so that I know what to do? It would be so greatly appreciated!