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How much prednisone to start with for polymyalgia rheumatica?

Posted , 11 users are following.

sandra28555
sandra28555

i have just been diagnosed with pmr and have been started on 20 mg. I haven't had relief so far. What can I expect?

0 likes, 26 replies

26 Replies

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  • sandra28555
    sandra28555

    Posted

    I am on some pretty heavy prescription pain medication. Do you think they are working against me? 

    sandra28555

    • EileenH
      EileenH sandra28555

      Posted

      Depends what it is - if you are on NSAIDs (aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen) they can cause gastric problems themselves and in combination with pred the risk is far higher. Other stuff - no idea, because they are so rarely used in Europe.

      If what you have really is PMR then all the pain meds in the world are unlikely to make a difference: pred is the only medication that will effectively manage the pain because it reduces the inflammation that is the cause of the pain and stiffness.

      If what you have is NOT PMR, then the pred may not make a great deal of difference - that is taken as a possible criterion. If there is a lot of improvement with pred, probably PMR. If there is little or none - probably not.

  • fran2498
    fran2498 sandra28555

    Posted

    Hello Sandra,  I'm quite new to this too having been diagnosed 6 weeks ago.  My GP started me on 20mg and I have to say, that within about 8 hours of taking the first dose I was almost pain free.  I remained on 20mg for 2 weeks and apart from a little soreness in my upper arms first thing in the morning, I was fine.  My GP then suggested dropping to 15mg for 3 weeks which some people on this site regard as too big a drop but I've been fine, apart from a few weird side effects.  I am now down to 12mg which I've been taking since last Saturday, had a few niggles to start with but nothing major and now it's just my arms again first thing but the stiffness wears off after a couple of hours.  I sincerely hope you get some relief soon.  I guess we all react differently and I think I was lucky in that I was diagnosed within 4 weeks before the PMR had  got a really tight hold.  Best of luck
  • FlipDover_Aust
    FlipDover_Aust sandra28555

    Posted

    I'm so glad you've finally got your diagnosis! i'm not glad you have PMR though!

    Everyone else has answered your question, but give it a day or two and you should be feeling significantly better - otherwise it's probably not PMR.

     

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