Second time lucky?

He's told me 5mg straight away. Hold it there for 1 month, then see how I am before going another 5! Oh! Oh! out with the pill cutter me thinks.

Seems fair!

Well back to the docs this afternoon. Palpitations all day non stop, felt really really ill, blood pressure through the roof. Got my 1mg pred!! And somrthing to calm the heart. I've got to chill it seems. ECG show nothing health threatening. Amazing what pred can do to you positively and well as otherwise.

They are certainly less because 8mg is what is said to be a "physiological dose", a similar amount to what the body would produce normally. Side effects are mainly due to excess corticosteroid and below 8mg there is theoretically no excess. There is evidence that there can be loss of bone density even at 5mg doses - but since many people don't lose bone density at any dose and others lose bone density anyway with no medications that suggests to me that these are people who might well lose bone density anyway.

.... and that should have been spelt 'dissipate'.....lol

.....the only side effects I really, really want gone are the excess weight/moon face/turkey-neck/buffalo hump!!

talk about vain.... and I'm not even a pretty woman!

It took me about 2 years to get rid of all that but I was still on pred - if I eat more than absolute minimum carbs every day for a week the weight starts to creep back. I can pig on one day with no effect so they become a real treat - but too much and I get awful wind! Double reason not to stuff myself!

Darn, knew there was something else to say: real beauty comes from within.

And losing the weight brings out the wrinkles ;-) You can't have it all ways!

Heehee I'm enjoying wrinkle free at the mo but look like a chipmunk when I smile.

Wrinkles or fat? I'll take the wrinkles, thanks!

Agree, but I need to embrace every side effect pred. I can't let them get me down and anyway I'm saving a fortune on wrinkle cream. 

And it comes on prescription!

There must be a happy medium surely?

Thank you Beatrice. The tortoise certainly seems to win the race. I hope it's going smoothly for you. I'm having a few issues over the past few days with pain in my shoulders, upper back and ankles. I'm praying it's more pred withdrawal than PMR. I think it may be as paracetamol takes it away for a few hours whereas before diagnosis paracetamol never touched the pain. 

Pain that starts immediately after a drop and gets worse with time is most likely steroid withdrawal, pain that starts after a few days is more like to be a flare.

However, if you are using the dead slow approach and/or only dropping 1/2mg at a time then any return of pain should really be suspected to be a flare - the tiny steps do mean that, say, 5mg is enough to manage the inflammation but 4.5mg isn't. And then the change in dose could be enough to let the inflammation break through, especially after a few hours.

This was the 5mg drop. Felt the pain start on day 2 got worse until this morning, seems easier today. Very lethargic too. Another 3 weeks at this does before I start the 10%.  So just pleasing myself this weekend. Housework can wait.

This battle just seems to go on and on....having uppped the pred to 12mg from 10mg, which has eased the pain from the last flare, I now get pred problems again....headache, palpitations/tiredness/feeling very low./shaky....can`t decide which is the best to have....but just hoping very slow drop this time will work....after three years starting at 15mg....can`t believe I`m still taking 12mg....where and when does it end I ask myself!. sorry to sound so miserable, it just gets too much sometimes.. must put the kettle on!

I started at 15mg with the usual wonderful effect - but the rheumy insisted at the time it wasn't PMR and I was to do a 6 week taper and stop. I was fine at 10mg, OK at 5mg - but within 6 hours of missing the first 5mg tablet I was in bed in tears in so much pain even my husband noticed! The rheumy wouldn't have it, the GP was quite happy in view of the response to pred and wrote the prescriptions. For the next 3 years I never got below 9mg/day without a flare and then was switched to a different form of pred although the same dose - and it was meant to be better than just prednisolone. Within 3 months I was in the middle of a major flare - even 20mg/day wasn't allowing much respite - and I developed other problems but due to the PMR not the pred. I was switched again - and this time reduced using the "Dead slow..." approach. I'm now below 5mg for the first time since I started pred. I know I'm lucky about side effects now - although with the middle sort of steroid I put on about 35lbs in weight, I looked like the Michelin man  and my hair was like straw! That has all gone and I don't feel as if I'm taking anything really.  

Have you tried splitting your dose, taking about 2/3 in the morning and the rest in the evening? Or maybe even all at night. Others have found that helps reduce the side effects they suffer. The doctor hammer on about taking it all in the morning to preserve adrenal function - but that is rather pointless if you have other side effects since when you are on pred for a long time adrenal function is inevitably affected. The "take all in the morning" mantra really applies more to shorter term use of pred as well as the fact that the sooner you take it the sooner the morning stiffness is dealt with.

You WILL get there, though I know it doesn't feel like it at present.

Thank you so much for that....I do split my dose, but will try from tomorrow to take it at night...when you say you were switched again, did you go back to the previous pred, or try another one....are there many choices anyway?...It always surprises me how quick my face swells within just a  few days of upping the pred!  struggling with abdomen weight..and loss of hair, what a club to be in....and just like you, my husband hardly notices!  My friends and family all say I`m strong, (having fibro as well) but boy all this can bring you down.....some days it`s very hard, but like you say....I WILL get there...thanks again...

I started on prednisolone in the UK but it isn't available here in Italy so was switched to methyl prednisolone (horrible!!!!!) and finally to Lodotra, a form of prednisone, as the only other option here. It is approved for RA and, here, PMR. It is approved for RA in the UK but apparently doctors have just been told not to use in the UK as it is very expensive relatively speaking. There was to be a clinical trial of it in PMR - doubt that will happen now. You take it at night and it is released in the early morning so there is no morning stiffness. The hope is that it will allow a lower dose. It is marketed as Rayos in the USA.

Thank you....money again, why aren`t I suprised at that!

I take Rayos and Rayos is nothing more than a time release prednisone and I love it... best thing ever.. my rheumy switched me to Rayos from regular pred as it seems to be tolerated better... I am sleeping better and feel much better in the morning than I did before I started on 10mg and am now slowly going down.. 4 days on 7mg..feeling good so far.

I would not be afraid of Rayos... it's awesome and I haven't heard of one person having any problems with it..

Someone in the US claimed he'd had problems keeping pain under control - can't understand how I have to say! Yes, I really like it too.

Trouble is - when funds are restricted, so are the more expensive versions of any drug.