Steroid Alternatives

Has anyone tried any strong anti-inflammatory drugs as an alternative to steroids? When Nell was at therapy today, I was talking to the therapist about the struggles I'm having with the decision to take Nell off the prednisone. On a dosage of 20mg/day, she was actually walking. On the downside, she was panting a lot at night, which was affecting her sleep and was also showing some behavior changes I didn't like (withdrawn/"distant") When we cut the dosage, the walking stopped. In the end, after talking a lot with our regular vet, we decided to wean her off. So, in talking to the therapist today, she said she'd talk to the vet there about trying something different to see if we could get any similar results. Just curious if anyone has tried any meds that actually worked for mobility issues related to a disc. I'm not really concerned about long term effects of steroids at this point but if they're going to change her overall, daily personality, I don't know that I'm willing to do that even if it does mean she can walk again.