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An intolerable cough as I decrease my intake of prednisolone

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david37208
david37208

Hello,

I have polymyalgia, or at least that is what they say I have. smile The doctors never are absolutely certain, it seems. Anyway, it is more than likely the case that I do have it. That has been the assumption since I was diagnosed in the summer of 2012. I have a question. I will be starting on 5 mgs of Prednisolone tomorrow; I have been dropping 1 mg per month, but in the past two months I have been increasingly coughing a lot more. Is this my body telling me that I should increase my intake of Prednisolone? Something like this has happened before where I had a cold but I think my condition gave it legs such that it never seemed to go. It is a perpetual cold. Other than that, my body is pretty good. The condition was still affecting my lower body up until the summer of this year but since I started taking Ridate Once A Week and two special Yogarts a day, my lower body has been quite good. The cough is dogged. It will not go. The last time this happened, I increased my intake and it went. Is there any other way of getting rid of it without increasing my intake? It is becoming intolerable.

Thanks,

David.

0 likes, 6 replies

6 Replies

  • EileenH
    EileenH david37208

    Posted

    I was diagnosed as having PMR but the rheumy here thinks there is a degree of GCA there too. The whole time before I was put on pred (5 years) I had a dry tickly cough which then improved with the pred. Cough can be a sign of GCA in the arteries in the thorax (chest). In retrospect I put it down to that. 

    However - why not get your GP to check your peak flow. A constant cough or perpetual cold can be a sign of asthma and pred would improve that too. If it were that then an inhaled steroid would achieve the same result and only a very small amount reaches the blood. It would be worth a try anyway if the cough is so bad that you feel it is intolerable. My husband uses an inhaler even though it isn't really asthma that causes his cough but it does the trick. Inhaled steroids don't work immediately like the bronchdilators but take a week or two to achieve a good result. If you have had a cough for more than a few weeks then you should also be sent for a chest x-ray for safety's sake.

    • david37208
      david37208 EileenH

      Posted

      I was sent for a chest X-Ray and my peak flow was checked. Fine. Once I get a cold, it just will not go. Of course, the cough accompanies the cold. Absent the cold and I would be alright. As I said, once I catch it, it seems to stay indefinitely. I will have to ask my GP about the inhaled steroids. Sadly, although I saw a specialist last year, my GP is about as knowledgeable as I am about the condition because my case was the first actual case he had ever encountered himself.

      Thanks for the response, Eileen.

    • EileenH
      EileenH david37208

      Posted

      Does the peak flow reduce during a cold? The chest x-ray was for other nasties (we know far too much in this household about missed dxs that present as a persistent cough) so that's fine. But my daughters are like that - cold, persistent cough, peak flow not too bad. But it is still the asthma and extra use of the inhaled steroids helps. Without his "brown inhaler" my husband coughs and splutters all day - at least it is just for an hour or so now!
    • david37208
      david37208 EileenH

      Posted

      About the peak flow, it is clear that I am going to have to look into that a little more. I am really not sure. I thought you were talking about certain blood tests. I will have to ask my GP.

      Would the signs of asthma not be there if I were on 10mgs of pred? It seems that the lower I go the more vulnerable I am to constant colds and coughs. Also, can one get asthma in their 60s?

      Thanks for the response, Eileen.

    • EileenH
      EileenH david37208

      Posted

      You can develop asthma at any age - google adult onset asthma for more details. Web-emdee has quite a good page as does healthline (dot com) which actually says it is not uncommon for people to be dx'd in their 50s or older. In many people it is not the classic appearance of asthma - it is what looks like a constant cold, even in small children, and that is why it is missed. The peak flow meter may not give a definitive answer, you may need spirometry. 

      Oral pred is commonly used to reduce the inflammation in asthma when an asthmatic already using a steroid inhaler gets a chest infection so it is all worse. The fact your symptoms return at a lower dose of pred might be an indicator. 

      There are also a few autoimmune disorders that present with adult-onset asthma. And acid reflux can also cause asthma. Higher doses of pred would probably soothe the inflammation, lower doses being less effective.

    • david37208
      david37208 EileenH

      Posted

      I understand. Thank you for that. I will read up. I will get my GP to check my peak flow very soon.

      Thanks for the response, Eileen. Have a great day! wink

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