Posted , 12 users are following.
So I was diagnosed with PMR on Aug 19/16. Started on 20mg pred and have tapered down to 2.5 mg when flare started last week. Now up to 5 mg the last 3 days and still experiencing hip pain during the day and keeping me awake at night. It hurts! I am reluctant to go back to 10 mg but my body is not happy. So far it hasn't crept back into my shoulders, hands but what should I do??
0 likes, 34 replies
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Anhaga jeniferaz
Posted
It sounds like your doctor thought that prednisone was actually a cure, when in fact all it does is treat the symptoms by dampening down the inflammation which causes pain. Take away that symptom control and of course it all comes back. As we often say on this form "It isn't slow if it works". I was diagnosed and started treatment June 2015. I am currently at 3 mg (as you can see infinitely slower than you) and am soon going to attempt to reduce to 2.5 (second attempt). I think it is interesting and encouraging that you didn't flare until such a low dose, but it may take you a while now to find the dose which controls your symptoms effectively. Patience! You can do it!
jeniferaz Anhaga
Posted
Thank you for your encouragement. And you're right, I am not a very patient patient! I understand now that in this case, patience is truly a virtue and must be diligently practiced 😉
Now my mission is to find the magic dosage. I love this blog!
ricky23486 Anhaga
Posted
Anhaga - when reducing to 2.5 do you cut the pills in half? I asked two different pharmacists whether it is ok to cut prednisone pills in half (that don't have a line marked down the middle indicating equal distribution of dosage on either side of the line) one pharmacist told me it is ok, the other said it wasnt. I wrote to the manufacturer..... they didn't reply..... so I wonder.
EileenH ricky23486
Posted
There was an article somewhere that claimed that if a tablet didn't have a score line it shouldn't be broken as there were no guarantees the drug was spread evenly throughout the pill. If you see how the tablets are made this is patently nonsense! The mix is made in exactly the same way for any tablet and then compressed into tablets. The score line is put on tablets where it is possible a smaller dose may be needed and as part of the identifying features.The equipment is the same - so it shouldn't make any difference at all. You couldn't guarantee the mix any more in a tablet without a score line.
Here in Italy they tend to stock fewer strengths of tablet - and tell you to cut them. I take 3 different tablets I have to cut - and it makes no difference to the result at all. This policy will have been discussed with pharmacists and doctors - obviously the majority felt it was fine and it is less costly.
Some you MUST not do is cut any tablet with an enteric or time release coating - that takes away the whole point of the outer coating.
Anhaga ricky23486
Posted
At the moment I'm cutting 5 mg tablets in half. I do have 1 mg tablets as well and will have to cut those once the 5s run out, but I have enough for a couple more months.
ricky23486 EileenH
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ricky23486 Anhaga
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linda17563 Anhaga
Posted
I have a "snipper" but wish I could snip the 1mg without them going to powder!....what is the trick I wonder?........
Anhaga linda17563
Posted
A snipper sounds like scissors. Mine works like a guillotine armed with a razor edge. The reason I'm cutting the leftover 5s, apart from a desire to use them up hoping I'll never need them again, is because they're easier to cut than 1s. My 1 has no line but the 5 does. The helpful person at the pharmacy told me to make sure the blade was very clean, and to break the pill with a sharp tap. I've never had a pill break neatly into two identical halves. Today I thought I'd try breaking the pill along the line by hand and it was an awful mess, never again.
linda17563 Anhaga
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EileenH Anhaga
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Anhaga EileenH
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Flat
and the 1 mg aren't scored. So I foresee a lot of powdered pred in my future.
FlipDover_Aust Anhaga
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EileenH Anhaga
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Oh well - at least it is pretty cheap!
However - I have said before: we have 2 pill cutters, one each. They look identical but they aren't. I can cut pretty much anything with mine but I can't even cut a scored tablet properly with his!!!!
Anhaga EileenH
Posted
I'm not wasting them. I put the good half into an extra bottle the pharmacist gave me, for future use, and consume the crumbly half. I'm far too much of a cheapskate to dispose of half my pred. Plus, I suppose most of it's ending up in the environment anyway, but I feel at least I should do my bit by metabolizing what I can....
ricky23486 Anhaga
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ricky23486 linda17563
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ricky23486 EileenH
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