Also going down

Dont mean to to be pessamistic but I dropped from 20 to 7.5 with three months but for the last two years have been up and down between 7.& 5mg. After 6 months on 5mg I have in the last month have just reduced to 4mg and so far so good. Once you get on the lower dose the reduction is very much slower 1/2mg per month so I think even if I am lucky I wont be off steroids for another year.

You may be one of the luck ones my GP did say that the illness can last between 6months and 3 years+++. keep you fingers crossed yours will be gone soon.

Linda

Hello Sog

Providing your blood tests are normal and the pain is reducing, then the medics usually like to get patients down through the higher doses above 15 very quickly to reduce the side effects. Once down to about 10mgs, inflammation and pain permitting, reductions can be by 1mg a month down to 5. After that it is usually 3 months at each reduction. This is probably a text-book situation and some patients will recover in a year to 18 months but I was told by my rheumatologist that normal resolution is within 2 to 3 years, as sometimes there will be a blip and people have to increase back up again but will hopefully come down more quickly the next time.

The main thing is that you say you are feeling great Sog, so keep that up and well done.

MrsO

Just to add my twopenneth.

Having been prescribed 20mg in January, my GP suggested I reduced to 15mg a month later. She said I could increase again if I felt it necessary. I have been tempted as the cold weather seems to either make PMR worse or reduce the effect of the Prednisolone.

I gritted my teeth, stuck to 15mg and have improved enough to cope on the lower dose. Roll on spring when I think we will all feel better.

My blood tests results are so low that they would not, in themselves, point to PMR. My response to steroids would suggest that I do have PMR. I wait with interest to see what the consultant will say in March.

Stay warm everybody. I am getting fed up with this freezing weather.

Tilly

Tilly

Sorry but you are being optomistic !! I had text book PMR the first time and was down from 20mg to 5mg within 7 months and down to 2 within a year and was off them in 2 years with no blips at all Unfortunately the 2nd time around I had got to 4mg in 14 months and now back to 15mg after 14 months!! So it is very unpredictable I hope you follow my first course and as long as you are below 5mg they dont worry and you are getting regular health checks all the time which is a bonus really Best wishes

Thanks, ladies, I thought it was probably too good to be true.

Just wait and see what happens.

Thanks again for your advice.

Alan