Embrel symptoms and conditions

I'm 15 years old and i've been taking prednisone for a few months, and from what i've read i'm on a really high dose. i was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and another autoimmune disorder concerning my muscles at the same time. my doctor told me prednisone was my only choice; it was either that or i would lose the ability to walk. he told me there'd be side effects, but i had no idea it'd turn out like this or i would have fought harder for another course of action. i started out on 30mg twice a day, and since then was weaned down to 20mg twice a day and now i'm down to 30mg once a day. i've been looking up a bunch of information trying to figure out if there's a way to lessen the side effects or any hope at all that they will get better. apparently there isn't much. after reading a bunch of these stories i gotta say i'm not feeling great about this. i totally understand everything everyone is going through. i'm sure you can imagine what it's like being smack in the middle of high school with a huge puffy face, acne so bad on my face, chest, back, neck, and shoulders that wearing a bra could put me in tears, and mood swings so bad i've lost friends over it. everyone knows how brutal high school can be, where appearance and attitude are everything. and i try to tell my doctor about it and he literally looks at me like i'm a whiny teenager and says "you're just going to have to deal with it." and people like my mom and my closest friends don't get it either. nobody understands how beyond frustrating it is. i'll get into the worst moods and not have a reason for it, but i'll stay angry for hours or burst into tears over someone looking at me the wrong way. it'll get to the point where i have to isolate myself from other people because the abrubt mood changes get so bad. as bad as i hate to admit it, the pain from the arthritis is gone now and supposedly my muscles are doing better too. developing arthritis caused me to have to quit cheerleading, something i've loved doing for 6 years, because the pain got to the point where i couldn't get my arms above my head or bend my knees. however, i'd almost rather deal with the horrible joint pain than deal with the side effects of prednisone. if your doctor gives you and alternative method, take it. i've always been confident in the way i look and really outgoing and happy and now i sometimes catch myself thinking about suicide. that's shocking to me because i've got so much going for me, but this medicine makes me miserable. and when i complain about it, anyone i'm talking to just looks at me like i'm being a cry baby. my mom does too, she'll say things like "you just have to do this. i know it's not what you want but to be honest i'm sick of hearing you bitch about it."
i feel a little better knowing other people feel the same way - like nobody gets whats going on with them. the prednisone does give me days of really great euphoria and days when i feel like i could run a marathon, but waking up in the morning to the acne and huge face puts me to tears every day. i have to pee all the time, usually getting up at 2 or 3 am. i don't sleep well anymore and i do sweat all the time. which also sucks being a teenage girl. i'm always hungry, and when i eat i never feel full so i don't know when to stop. my neck and face have put on so much weight that when people see me in the halls or out and about they ask me what happened. mind you these are people i don't talk to, just ones i know from classes or whatever. and it's pretty bad when teenage boys i've never really talked to ask what happened to your face. kind of a blow to the ego, or whatever is left of it at this point.
i'd like to know if, as my dosage gets lowered, the side effects will diminish and when i'm off the prednisone completely if they will disappear altogether. any help there?
or if there is any way to help the acne or puffy face

my doctor just put me on something called methotrexate or something like that to help wean me off the prednisone, and does anyone know what those side effects will do? or if they'll affect the prednisone side effects?
i'm constantly obsessing over gaining weight and what my skin looks like and what i eat and how heavy my face feels and the occasional pressure in my eyes to the point where i just want to be put out of my misery.
and after reading other people's stories i really don't understand why this drug is still given out as freely as it is. but maybe all doctors are like mine, they just don't get it.
best of luck to anyone who's on prednisone, my heart goes out to you; i'm right there with you
sorry this became like a book it wasn't meant to be this long

i am worried i have started to itch very bad allover. i have suffered with RA for 30 years and I am taking embrel injections 2 x week. could it be the embrel or predisilone.

I began a new dose of Prednisone yesterday. I was diagnosed w/ RA about 3 years ago. I have been on Embrel (didn't work) and am now on Humira and Methotrexate. I have been having extreme difficulty the last month and finally returned to my doctor for relief. (I have been on Prednisone before and had only the headaches) I was prescribed a higher dose this time (60 mgs 2 x daily) and have been battling with a racing heart that beats so hard it hurts. I have now taken my second dose and cannot walk more than 10 feet without feeling like I am having a heart attack! While it is helping the RA pain in my joints, I am so scared to move and so uncomfortable when I do, I am not sure what is better. The disease or the cure? Has anyone else battled with the racing heart? Oh and I also have high blood pressure and the Prednisone is making it higher even with my meds!
My only other instance with this effect was from a steroid injection about a month ago. That episode placed me in the ER receiving medication to lower my heart rate.

i have been on prednisone for 4 years started on like 30 then slowley went down staying between 5 and 10 mg for about 2 years i just slowly went off because now i am on embrel shots and they are working i have been off about 2 weeks i have terrible mucle pain and the tierdness is horrible sleeping like 18 hrs a day and it feels like someone beat me up the pain is so bad i can hardly go up 5 stairs to go to the bathroom without taking a rest how long will this last and is this from the prednisone or could it be something else

The moon face and weight gain did not occur until week 4. But I started really drinking a lot of water - at least 100-120oz daily. This helped the moon face considerably, as well as start me on losing some of the extra weight. Be careful of sodium in the diet - that is the reason for the bloating. So - tons of water (try to get it in early in the day, that way you are not rushing to fit in all that water close to bedtime) and working out four times a week helps with the moon face and bloating. But I still can't get rid of obsessive thoughts - such as cleaning my house or finding a good price on lemons. I hope that goes away when I am off the Pred.