Hi papillonbutterfly,

I am wondering if you may also have osteoporosis which
is causing a loss of support for your disk cartilage.

If you have been taking long term prednisone osteoporosis is quite likely. A Dexa bone scan will
show bone loss.
If the osteoarthritis is due to an injury, that too can cause osteoporosis and result in pain.

This can be greatly helped with the use of Bisphosphonates (bone strengthening meds) like Alendronate and Pamindronate which are intravenously
administered or oral and fosamax which takes much longer to work.

Here are some links to a doctor's site with reports complete with journal referrences. You may need to print them and take them to your doctor to plead your case. Underline in RED all that applies to your symptoms and your doc will pay attention.
[url="http://www.drmirkin.com/joints/7923.htm"]http://www.drmirkin.com/joints/7923.htm[/url] [url="http://www.drmirkin.com/archive/6351.html"]http://www.drmirkin.com/archive/6351.html[/url] [url="http://www.drmirkin.com/morehealth/g160.htm"]http://www.drmirkin.com/morehealth/g160.htm[/url] [url="http://www.drmirkin.com/joints/8902.html"]http://www.drmirkin.com/joints/8902.html[/url]

Good luck...
Ron