Has anyone else experienced intermittent pain at the back of head.

Hello marjory, I can't say that I have experienced this type of pain before but I had a pain at the side of my face that was intermittent, the GP wasn't too concerned. I then had an intermittent pain on top of my head, the GP wasn't too concerned about that either. The trouble is since being diagnosed with PMR and taking prednisolone I've often had the odd pain here or there but never really worried much about it. I suppose the question here is does this pain worry you? If it does pop along to your GP.

as for the aches and pains in general, are they PMR pains and aches and have they got worse with reducing your dose? Have you been overdoing things and your body is paying the price.

any open sore I would ensure was kept clean and lightly dressed but as soon as was possible I would undress them and always keep my skin well moisturised. Any cheap body cream will do but some do swear by a product called double base. Unfortunately thinning skin is a side effect of prednisolone but it will get better on the very low doses and when you stop taking preds altogether.

all the best, christina 

Try something called DoubleBase on your skin it has been recommended by several people on this forum.

I am in US so had to order it on Amazon and won't get it til July 17 but if u r in the UK they have it at the drug store there so I understand

I was only diagnosed 3 + months ago and have had to go back to 20 mg twice because of flare ups.

Came down too fast, I also have headaches, annoying but not severe and intermittent. I was diagnosed by GP, Rhumy and vascular and all agreed it was not GCA but will keep close watch.

My headachs are only on the right side here and there but not sore to the touch which is what they checked for.

There are many people on this site who know so much more than me and I'm sure they will respond.

I hope you will be feeling better and try that cream.

Marjory, PMR is pretty horrible. You should have enough pred to feel comfortable, you don't want to be in pain all the time. It may mean you are on too low a dose at the moment. I have thin skin problems along with purpura. You need a barrier cream such as double base gel, I find using a moisturiser is a no no as they are not very strong and also many are perfumed which can cause more problems. I am just hoping that coming of pred will mean my skin problems improve.

You can always give your GP a phone call about the head pains rather than making an appointment and see what they think. 

Thank you all for the suggestions.   I will try them.

Hi Marjory I to had pains at the back of my head low down on the bone area but was on the left hand side. Dr said don't think it was anything to do to PMR and sent me for a neck X-ray, which I had last week and awaiting the results.

You're probably getting to the stage where the dose is too low and also at this stage your body has to start making its own corticosteroid - so it is even more important to go very slowly and in small steps - 0.5mg or using the "Dead slow and nearly stop scheme".

I had pains at the back of my head which were due to my shoulder and back muscles being tight - massage and Bowen therapy helped.  

As I was tapering past 6mg or so of prednisone, I did experience very sharp spasms at the back of my skull, much like a very sharp tug on some over-tight ligament.

These occurences happened only over about a six-week period, and have not returned as I am hovering at 4mg.

I could count only eight or ten occurrences, but they were very sharp, like a nerve getting tugged or the sudden onset of a bad stiff neck.