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At 0mg - what type of pills does one keep in case one relapses

Posted , 7 users are following.

Lee-Colorado
Lee-Colorado

Below is an extract from the uspharmacist site. I have been at zero for three days and will not see my primary care physician for another month. What type of pills does a person carry for the rest of their life in case of a relapse?

"It has been found that remission of PMR seemed to be achieved with a 15-mg/d dose of prednisone for most patients. A slow tapering of the prednisone, less than 1 mg/mo, was associated with fewer relapses.

Relapses occur during the initial 18 months of therapy and within 1 year of corticosteroid withdrawal, all patients should be monitored for symptom recurrence throughout corticosteroid tapering and until 12 months after cessation ."

0 likes, 4 replies

4 Replies

  • faye______00403
    faye______00403 Lee-Colorado

    Posted

    I swear I will take a low dose of pred for the rest of my life.  Not willing

    to risk a huge relapse.  However,  I'm 79 not 50 so won't have

    many years on pred......my doc says he has a male patient that

    insists on taking 1mg a day no matter what.

  • Handbrake
    Handbrake Lee-Colorado

    Posted

    Hi Lee, I got to zero for a month but PMR pain restarted, I guess once you've had PMR pains there is no mistaking them! I started prednisolone again at 1mg and increased incrementally until I was comfortable then 1mg above to be sure Iwas taking enough without experiencing prednisolone side effects.For me the dose for prednisolone effects was 3mg and comfort at 2mg so stayed on 2mg for 1month and now down to 1mg and feeling well. 
  • FlipDover_Aust
    FlipDover_Aust Lee-Colorado

    Posted

    I'd just hang on to a prescription for 5mg and 1mg dose - you'll know if you need them!
  • EileenH
    EileenH Lee-Colorado

    Posted

    You don't need to carry pills with you for the rest of your life in case of a relapse of PMR - you will usually slowly get the PMR symptoms building up again and then you go to the doctor who will start you on 15mg (or whatever) again. Pred tablets don't have a particulalry long shelf life so you'd be wasting tablets for one thing, but you'd have to see a doctor to get replacement tablets anyway.

    The monitoring for symptom recurrence means you shouldn't really be signed off from the rheuamtologist, if that is who you are under, until you have been symptom-free for at least a year. That means your GP wouldn't need to re-refer you which in some medical systems can take ages, but if you are still "on the books" would just need a call to bring forward a routine appointment. In the systems where you are managed by a GP it probably matters less

    Nice to see approval of slower than average tapering - we can confirm that works better than jumping from dose to dose.

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