Hi Paula!
Just before I answer your specific question, let me tell you about our sister site, MyOsteoarthritisCentral.com, which is all about osteoarthritis, treatment and living with it. If you seek any more information or have any more questions, you may want to look there. You can also click this text to sign up for our osteoarthritis newsletter.
Now, to your question:
I don't think are any steroids given orally for osteoarthritis patients. Instead, the steroids are typically injected into the inflamed joint. Double-check with your doctor. Steroid injections are commonly used to thwart osteoarthritis pain. But they're not a cure. Steroid shots are useful only if inflammation is present in the joint.and this treatment is rarely used for chronic osteoarthritis. The bigger downside is that steroid injections may not be as effective for women as for men.
There are also hyaluronic injections for osteoarthritis pain.
But there are many medications available for treating osteoarthritis pain besides steroids. Talk to your doctor about what kinds might be best for you.
I use pantethine and b-complex it replaces steroids. also tri boron caps. I take 12 a day they are very tiny. Google and Yahoo and get information on pantethine. Borax sit bath and use it for soap before bed is good. Makes me sleep well. Get Book called Lets Get Well on amazon.com. Also earthclinic.com has great advice. Look for Ted on that site, he is brilliant. Coconut oil is great and so is real butter for pain, eggs too. Don' t take my work check it out for yourself. Food cures really work. Asparagus used to be used as a medication. I eat a portion every day and make asparagus soup with cheese real salted butter, real milk and iodized salt. I just love food cures instead of medication. I am 65 and will not take any meds accept an occaisional Alieve. The asparagus also balances your hormones and drink the juice. Good Luck
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