Horrible, excrutiating knee Pain at night - is it the Pred? Doc says No!

I have been tapering Pred for about 4 weeks now. I started at 60mg and am now down to 20mg (as of Sunday). Last night I woke up to horrible pain in both my knees around 4am. By 5am I had to get out of bed. By 6am I was sobbing like a baby and my husband was having to almost hold me down b/c I was writhing in pain. (and I have a pretty high pain tolerance) I took a mega-Percocet and it dulled the pain enough for me to not be crying out in pain. It's just been a dull pain the rest of today.

I assumed that this was either from UC joint inflammation or maybe from tapering Pred. I called my GI and he said it was neither. He said the Pred should be helping w/ any knee pain caused by inflammation. I love my doctor to death and this is the first time I've ever questioned him. I scheduled an appt w/ an Ortho Specialist tomorrow (my GI told me to) and we'll see what he says.

I've done some HW searches and it seems several people w/ UC and/or on Pred have had these horrific knee "flares." What do you think? I'm really curious to see what the Ortho says.

Thanks for the quick reply Dee. We really need to chat - have way too much in common. I also have three boys (ages 9, 7 and 3 - how old are yours?), we're close to the same age, and take several of the same meds (i used to suffer from severe panic attacks) -- and didn't you have C.Diff recently also? I seem to remember seeing you in recent posts, but I could be wrong. (I had it a month ago). Anyway, I wish we didn't have so much in common (LOL) but I know how hard it is to have this disease and be a mom to 3 wild boys and try to be a good wife too. If you ever need to chat, I'm here!

The short answer is yes. Pred can cause knee pain. But it should normally be gradually onset, not all at once. And it should take repeated pred use before it gets bad.

Hi Fitmom,

I don't come here often, but when I do, I focus in on people having joint pain.  My daughter took pred for 4 months and now has osteonecrosis (ON) in 9 joints.  Had we not stumble upon a really terrific rheumatologist who suggested an MRI, we still would not know that she has this bone disease.  It can lay dormant in the body and be misdiagnosed for years until an MRI is done to find the real reason behind the pain.  Please request an MRI of any joint, especially the hips/knees/ankles as these are weight bearing joints.  Should you find ON, it's especially important that you find an ortho who is experienced in treating ON and one who will investigate all joints with an MRI since it is the most sensitive in finding ON in its early stage.  My daughter's doctor is Dr. Mont in Baltimore...I wouldn't trust anyone else with her bone care.

All the best to you!

 

Here is what happens from my experience, Pred taper does not cause the joint pain however it unmasks the joint damage and pain.
When you use pred long term is causes soft tissue damage but the pred also treats the damage so you don't know it's there until you reduce the pred. then if the damage is minimal it heals over time if not you have to treat it with some non steriod method to help it heal or minimize the problems.

I've had horrible shooting pain in my knees when tapering Pred. It's been a few years now so I can't remember what dose I was on. I'm thinking it was around 20 mgs. My pain always came after drinking alcohol. I would wake up in the middle of the night in the worst pain. It didn't hurt to walk (the pressure of walking didn't make a difference), it was just deep in the knees and a shooting pain. I had Tylenol 3's leftover from childbirth so I took those. My GI also thought I was nuts. I haven't taken Pred in 3 years and have never had that pain again.

After 8 months on pred my left knee hurts a bit on and off. Went away maybe a month after I stopped taking pred but came back almost right away when I started taking it again 4-5 days ago.

Sweet, at least you got the Vicodin so if it happens again, you'll have it. lol. I wouldn't waste your time or money on an MRI unless it continues once you're off of the Pred. What you described is exactly what I felt and I have never had it again since being off of Pred.

Isn't it nice to know that someone has had the same side effect? Most doctors I've seen have always disregarded my side effects. It's so annoying!