How to decrease pred after brief increase for pain
Posted , 6 users are following.
A few days ago i posted about my abdominal pain which was poor wording--it actually should have been entitled pelvic girdle pain which has plagued me long before the onset of pmr. and it was made much worse by a labral tear in my hip in 2011. it did get better with physical therapy which i will do again when i get home in 2 months.
Question #1: anyway, in my previous post i talked about how bad the pain in my pelvic area was...so a few days later i upped my pred to 8 mg for 3 days and poof! the pain was greatly reduced and i felt a lot better. I was using the dsns to get to 5 mg. so now i am reducing 1/2 mg per day to get back to where i was...is that an ok approach? im just not sure.
Question #2: it feels like my old labral tear pain may be flaring again. ive read several previous posts about how old injuries and physical problems rear their ugly head with pmr. certainly my muscles are weaker which would account for the resurgence in my pelvic area weakness. have any of you experienced this--the resurfacing of old problems? trust me, exercising, even the mildest, aint working--it seems to make things worse. thank you.
0 likes, 7 replies
EileenH Twopies
Posted
If you were only at 8mg for 3 days you can drop straight back to the old dose if you want - always supposing that that dose is enough to manage your PMR. I find PMR always goes for existing weak spots when it flares.
But honestly - are you sure the pelvic pain and labral tear problem aren't PMR? Especially the pelvic stuff if it improved so much with pred?
Twopies EileenH
Posted
yes, im sure. right side pelvic pain started in 1990, labral tear in 2011. pmr 2016. and pain isnt in my groins so much, it really is in my right side. after finding the right physical therapist and learning how to pace myself, i was doing pretty good--walking 3 miles a day (not all at once.) then pmr and boom!
artfingers Twopies
Posted
I agree, it does seem to attack me at my weakest (or most problematic) points. Currently that is my left and right hip bursa. Ugh. Can you get the labral tear surgically repaired? I wonder if that would help. I tried the physical therapy route for my hip bursa pain but it just didn't help so I'm having surgery to remove my bursa in 2 weeks. I did try upping my pred a lot to see if it would help but it really didn't. I sure would love to get a good night's rest (I'm a side sleeper). I had both shoulders done and knees and fixing the various tears really helped me immensely, plus having a top notch orthopedic surgeon. Thankfully in the U.S. we don't have some of the issues of waiting for surgery or to see doctors except in having to try everything else first, which I have. Good luck with the pain!
EileenH artfingers
Posted
If the bursitis is due to the PMR (it often is) then exercise doesn't help, in fact the repeted actions can make it even worse. Have they not tried local steroid injections? Far less invasive than an op and it works well for most people. I have had injections on 2 occasions in the last 7 years, both worked a minor miracle.
Twopies artfingers
Posted
thank you for your response. makes me feel less alone in this journey. no, my hip labral tear cant be repaired, they said. in the past, ultrasound and dry needling by my physical therapist has helped--she is very skillful and in fact was just awarded the pt of the year award by our state--shes the only one i trust. the labral tear hasnt acted up since pmr so its quite disconcerting on top of everything else. i also have bursa issues in the other hip which physical therapy took care of in 3-4 sessions. in the other hip! its acting up now a little too. phooey.
artfingers EileenH
Posted
Yes, they tried injections. The first two worked but from then on did not. Nothing has worked of late, including various meds AND even upping the steroid dose being increased didn't help. Physical therapy didn't work nor did stretching nor did massage. My orthopedic doctor has run me through all the paces before they get to the surgery option. Interestingly, I settled on the ortho doc because he did a residency with/in rheumatology so he has a good understanding of that side of things. So this is the last thing to try (the surgery). Surgery worked wonders for my shoulders (where I also had bursitis and inflammation) so I'm hopeful.
EileenH artfingers
Posted
I have wondered how it works - looking forward to hearing how you get on. All the best.