I hope some one has an answer. I have been on prednisone 5mg alone with methotrexate weekly for about 5 weeks. My swollen knees have finally disappeared after about 3 months of prednisone and mobic and my pain is pretty darn good. I feel pretty normal. A few days ago I missed a dose of prednisone. The next day I was boggy as hell & in pain everywhere! I know you all know what I am experiencing. This lasted about 2 days despite taking my prednisone the next day when I remembered. Is this simply a rebound from lack of prednisone, or is their inflammation still there being battled? Not sure if the Methotrexate has taken effect yet? I hope someone can help. Thanks, PamelaO
Q: Hope someone has an answer
Answers (2)
4/29/09 12:12pm
Robin is right - the prednisone is suppressing your inflammation and if you skip a dose or stop taking the prednisone, your disease will come back. However, methotrexate usually takes about 6-8 weeks to kick in, so it you will probably start to feel the effects of that soon.
5/ 3/09 11:37am
who knows? Maybe it's that 5 mg of your own plus another 5 mg equals 10 mg and that's enough to help. Different people react differently to medications - some people do brilliantly on 5 mg (like you) and some people aren't helped by 20 mg.
It's quite normal to use combination therapy for RA, which means your doctor may recommend that you continue on methotrexate with a small booster of prednisone - in my experience, most of the DMARDs (disease modifying antirheumatic drugs, like meth) benefit from a bit of a boost and the prednisone can take you from doing pretty well to doing very well.
And yeah, I know that feeling. I can't tell you how many times I have realized I'm halfway convinced that I can fight this with the powers of my mind, that if I just try hard enough, I won't need the meds. So far, I haven't found the trick to suppressing RA with willpower, though. 
4/27/09 11:37am
Hey Pamela,
I was on the same drug combo for a few years. Yes, skipping a dose of prednisone will do that to you. It happened to me many times. The level of severity is different for every person though. The prednisone is suppressing your inflammatory response and when you don't take it, boom, your body goes into attack and inflame mode.
I hope that helps
Robin
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Lene, Thanks You also for your quick response. I know that 5mg of prednisone is less than what our body makes to fight inflammation, so why does that 5mg pill make such a difference? How will the doc know if the metho. is working for me as long as I am on the prednisone or is it normal to discontinue the prednisone while on metho? Lots of questions I know. I have read a great deal of your stories Lene & I know you are a RA sufferer who has been through it all. I am seronegative and at times want to stop all of my meds out of frustration. Maybe I can fight this alone. Maybe I won't have anymore flare-ups. But then, I skip 1 dose of prednisone & my world comes crashing down to reality for a couple days. Thanks Again, PamelaO