'Back to The Future' - Lower Prednisolone exposes old problems!

You are obviously knowledgable in issues reguarding PMR . I dropped from 15mg pred to 14mg last Friday tried it a week before but shoulder neck pain came back on doctors advice went back up to 15mg am due blood test 10 day ,however felt so shaky and unwell decided to drop again . Have had neuralgia come back with a avengance Have had it for 40 odd years so do know that it is neauralga .They call it atypical neauralga because the nerve pain is always there . Have you come across this in your searching .Only now living on co codamal or sometimes Sulpadine max . but hardley touches it was wondering if anyone gets problems with other unrelated pain when trying to reduce meds .

Many of us have - that's why I often talk about "myofascial pain syndrome" (MPS) - if you google that you should get links to sites from the Mayo and Cleveland clinics which descibe it well and another from spine health which has a video. You will see that they show the similarity between MPS symptoms and PMR. Pain that goes with a moderate dose of pred is most likely PMR. Similar pain that DOESN'T respond or only responds a bit to pred is something else and could be MPS although there are other things it could be. It is possible to have both - I have had MPS for probably 30 years, PMR for 10. Some of the PMR was different - the morning stiffness, stiffness after sitting and the thigh claudication (pain on exercising) in particular. By treating both in the most appropriate way I feel better at present than for years. The higher doses of pred also masked the MPS for a long time but both got really bad after a car accident and a change of medication to Medrol. 

I have been told that MPS is commonly found alongside PMR - and it can result in nerve pain, particularly sciatica, since the tight muscles trap nerves and irritate them causing pain. I don't know if that is the same as your neuralgia - all that says is inflamed nerves causing pain - so I would say yes. When my back muscles are in a bad state the pain is pretty well constant  - most of it has now gone and the muscles are no longer hard.

Ordinary pain killers don't do a lot for either - and they also have side effects, some equally as bad as pred. 

Thanks Eileen , explains a lot . I was knocked down by a drunk driver in 72 and had concussion for a week it was about 6 months after this the neuralgia pain started . Have seen countless specialist but no one has ever come to a United conclusion . Will be seeing my Accupuncturist tomorrow . She appears to be the only one that can give relieve . She has also given me some home stuff  called Moxa to aid the PMA .its applying heat to certain points in the hands . I am so glad to have found this site . It gives comfort to no you are not alone . My daughter ha just been diagnosed with fibromyalgia ,but since they have diagnosed me they are re testing her .Thanks again will look at the site you have said

Both massage, mobilising the trigger points, and Bowen therapy have made a massive difference to me.

I think myofascial pain synrome and whiplash injury are practically the same in many cases but mainstream medicine in the UK doesn't use complementary therapies correctly. They do here and in Germany - have experience of both - and one pain specialist here who worked on my back says she suspects that the points in accupuncture in some cases coincide with the trigger points she works on in her therapies. She is an anaesthetist and needles were employed a lot - but also used her thumbs to mobilise the hard bits. If you use accupuncture - do try Bowen if you can find someone locally. The NE Health Trust is doing a 2 year study to see if, like accupuncture, it can be of benefit. The advantage is that if it will help, you will know by 3 sessions - no going on for a couple of years paying a chiropractor every month on the grounds this is a complex problem and still seeing nothing - as happened to a friend of mine! I like a Bowen session eever 6 months or so - after sorting it to start with.

The main long term irritation I had was permanent tingling into my shoulder blades, especially when sitting without a back to lean against. The Bowen has almost got rid of that, it is certainly far far better. The other spasmed muscles which caused excruciating pain in my shoulders and up into my neck used to come and go until two and half years ago when I tripped and my entire back muscles just spasmed and the sacroiliac joint went beserk! That was the start of a long course of therapy when the original, much speedier, therapy caused a bad drug reaction so it had to be abandoned. But the result is worth it.