Viral hepatitis symptoms and conditions

Hi...Am 33 years and had been on prednisone for 4 months till about a month ago. It was in June last year that I was down with Viral hepatitis along with pyelonephritis. I was eventually diagnosed with Autoimmune hepatitis and therefore administered this drug with an high of 40mg for two and gradually tapered subsequently.
Two months of medicines and I had this pain in my thighs especially when I had to get up after lying sedentary. After 1.5 months subsequently the pain worsened to now include all my joints including the leg muscles. Things have really become more painful now. The gastroentorologist who put me on this drug has advised me to see a rheumatologist. Now I am torn between trying to understand whether this is a part of my treatment or my ailment (rheumatoid arthritis is also an auto immune disorder) and only praying that it is a part of the treatment.
The Doctor's have not been clear on how long this pain will persist. Regular walking, getting up, getting out of the car, turning the cap of a bottle is painful and getting worse with my ankles and knees swelling.
The moon face, the hump, the acne are all ebbing. However this pain is killing. Anybody has any idea how long the pain will last?
Thank you and best wishes to you.

Do NOT take Avelox! As a result of taking it for a sinus infection, I now have acute hepatitis. On Feb. 14, 2008, Bayer Corp., which makes Avelox, notified its doctors in Europe that dangerous liver damage and/or skin rashes can occur in "rare cases." U.S. docs weren't notified. My doc prescribed it to me along with prednisone. Gastric problems began almost immediately, but I didn't make the connection. I thought I just felt so bad because of the sinus infection. My urine turned orange and I became deathly ill. Tests revealed non-viral hepatitis (not contagious, in other words). My liver counts were in the thousands! They are slowly going down, but I have lost two months of my formerly active life so far. I lost 15 lbs. in a week. I am weak and still have problems eating. I was healthy as a horse before. My life was hell for the first month--sweating, itching, dry eyes, dry mouth, couldn't sleep, diarrhea. I still have no energy can can't eat enough to gain weight. You don't want to mess with your liver. I feel lucky that a GI doc has been watching my counts and guiding my care. All you can do is rest and try to eat and stay hydrated. I have a long way to go, but at least I'm not on the liver transplant list--it was that bad before. I am angry that U.S. doctors weren't warned. The side effects listed for Avelox don't mention what happened to me. I am trying to get info on a possible class action suit against Bayer for knowing this drug causes liver failure and not telling U.S. doctors.

I used to be on Nuvaring, last year but eventually had to go off of it because I ended up getting antibiotic poisoning as a result of a surgery and managed to get non viral hepatitis and they didn't think it was safe to be on both birth control and all the medication for the liver. Anyway, I would just cry for hours and hours. One time my parents even had to call an ambulance because I had cried for over ten hours with nothing to eat or drink which seems so silly looking back on it because I have always been an extremely perky and upbeat person. I still had to go to the hospital for extreme nausea which everyone seemed to think was due to the hepatitis although in the end, my liver levels showed no reason for that to be. And now that I'm trying the ring again, I find myself once again crying for no apparent reason and completely nauseous. It almost feels like something is unnatural about my body and I've only had it back in for a few days after a couple months of a break. And I had been fine inbetween. However, it's such a simple form of birth control I'd hate to go off of it just because of some side effects.