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Dr visit

Posted , 14 users are following.

carlene22578
carlene22578

My Dr visit was today. Been on 30mg pred since mid Nov. Says to reduce by 5 mg every 3 weeks for 9 weeks then see how it's going.He also said that in addition to the pmr I also have fibromyalgia. Anyone else dealing with this?

1 like, 13 replies

13 Replies

  • linda82701_USA
    linda82701_USA carlene22578

    Posted

    Hello! Yes, I have been diagnosed with both. Have been diagnosed with PMR for three years and fibromyalgia for almost two years. I am 72. Quite a challenge to keep track of which symptoms belong to which disease. Makes it difficult to reduce prednisone. Some of the symptoms coincide with each disease. Best wishes to you!
    • constance.de
      constance.de linda82701_USA

      Posted

      Hallo Linda.  Just a question!  Did you have the 11 tender points when you were diagnosed?  Some patients are diagnosed without the pain in all those ‘points’.  I’m just curious to know if the drs use any other methods.
    • EileenH
      EileenH linda82701_USA

      Posted

      All of them? I had at least 9 or 10 with PMR, but when I started pred they all went. It really is amazing how much overlap there is. Pred is the only way to tell the difference really.
    • linda82701_USA
      linda82701_USA EileenH

      Posted

      Yes, I had and still have all the tender points. Couldn’t believe it when the rheumatologist started prodding me.  It has been a challenge. The last flair up of PMR was last spring. I could barely walk up and down the stairs on our deck. The rheumatologist raised me from 5mg to 10mg and within 3 to 4 hours I had relief. It was amazing.
  • Diana112
    Diana112 carlene22578

    Posted

    Hello Carlene,  Your initial dose of pred is on the high side for a starting dose and can be as low as 15mg so I guess your doctor wants you to work down to the lower level and then take it from there.  I started on 15mg and reduced by 2.5mg down to 10mg with I think about 5 weeks between.  That worked ok for me but everyone is different.  The bottom line is to listen to your body.  Good luck.
  • EileenH
    EileenH carlene22578

    Posted

    If it is PMR then you will probably manage the first 2 reductions to 20mg OK - but the third may be more difficult. As Diana says, 15mg is a usual starting dose. I started with 15mg for 2 weeks, 10mg for 2 weeks and 5 mg for 2 weeks - it wasn't for pmR, the rheumy didn't think it was. The pain was gone in 6 hours, didn't reappear at 10mg and not even at 5mg. 6 hours after missing the first 5mg dose it was all back - and felt worse than before. It took me a long long time (5 years!) to get back to 5mg and I can't manage on 5mg now so rushing things obviously isn't ever helpful!!!

  • carlene22578
    carlene22578

    Posted

    Thanks for the info everyone. When the Dr said I also have the fibromyalgia he didn't say anything about treatment. Is it same as for the pmr?

    • EileenH
      EileenH carlene22578

      Posted

      There is no treatment for fibromyalgia - some doctors use Cymbalta but I don't thik it does a lot, has side effects and can be difficult to get off, not really addictive but unpleasant to stop.

      The basic difference between fibro and PMR is that PMR responds to pred, fibro doesn't. So all the pain you get rid of with pred will probably have been the PMR or any other inflammatory pain you have.

    • EileenH
      EileenH

      Posted

      PS - what makes him think you also have fibro? It's next to impossible to tell which is which, there is so much overlap in symptoms.

    • carlene22578
      carlene22578 EileenH

      Posted

      He pressed on the pressure points and that was really painful. Since my symptoms went away with the pred I was surprised with the fibromyalgia diagnosis. At first I didn't get relief with the 30mg pred until I did the split dose that I read about on this forum. I did 20mg in the morning and 10 in the evening. Much better next day!

    • EileenH
      EileenH carlene22578

      Posted

      Then whatever you had - if all the pain went away with pred, it wasn't fibro,

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