I got information to my DR. About THRIVE BY LEVEL UP he agreed to let me try it and it has changed my life. No steroids for pain or energy. My body is producing more endorphins and in turn is helping my pain. Look it up and consult your DR with what you find. Absolutely do not do anything without your personal research and Dr's approvals.

Steroids are nasty. Prednisone, the "Devil's Tic-Tacs."

Be careful titrating off of steroids. Prednisone is very addictive. Slow and easy does it. Even at 5 mg/day, I found I had to divide the dose in half, 2.5 in the am and 2.5 in the pm. Prednisone has a very short half-life. Depending on your current dose, it may take up to 6 months to get completely off of it. I would recommend you consider plaquenil, if you're not already on it. I take 200 mg, twice daily. It has reduced the frequency, intensity and duration of my lupus flares. It too has some downside. It rarely causes macular degeneration. In some cases, it also causes hair loss. But, so do steroids plus many other nasty side effects. With the plaquenil, you should have your eyes checked annually.

I gained a lot of weight on steroids so when I told my Dr I refused to take them any more they put me on Imuran and plaquenil I haven't had to take take them much since. The weight thing I'm still trying to get rid of it all.

Have you tried Azathioprine, it works for me, most of the time.

Using Imuran and Plaquenil reduced my need for prednisone and methylprednisone substantially. I will still use steroids to function when I'm in a bad flare, but that seems pretty rare.