Is it a flare, due to tapering, steroid reduction, or the six foot fall from the ladder?
Posted , 11 users are following.
Hi everyone. Currently, I am taking 3.5 mg of prednisone, and not feeling so great. A couple of weeks ago, I fell from a ladder. I should have broken all my bones because I have osteoporosis, but I think I only bruised my fibula; but some days I feel my whole skeleton got a good bruise. I hate to go up on my dosage, because I feel it may be from the fall, and not a flare, or just from reduction. Or does it matter, "what", is causing the aches. Here is what I am thinking; if it is a flare, I need to go up, but if it is from steroid reduction, or the fall, I stick it out. Any more advise would be much appreciated.
0 likes, 6 replies
lynda62707 patricia43291
Posted
first let me say Patricia, I'm so incredibly glad you seem to have escaped (what could've been) an awful accident and all the ramifications! you're one lucky soul.
next, if it's only been a short while that this happened, I think I'd hold off on upping the prednisone for a bit.
However, if you continue having alot of pain over the next couple days, yes....you may want to consider increasing your dosage. of course, you should also check with your Doc.
I assume you had all the appropriate x-rays and such?!
Anyway, that's my 2 cents.
please keep us posted.
And PLEASE, stay off the ladder!😬
ptolemy patricia43291
Posted
What an awful thing to happen. Have you tried taking pain killers and if so did they work? If painkillers did work the pain may be from the fall and not a flare.
judith90525 patricia43291
Posted
PMR is very sensitive to stress &you are under both physical & mental stress. But I agree with the others; don't be in a rush to up your pred. Leave it a day or 2.
Good luck. Speedy recovery! !
TheRaven patricia43291
Posted
One way to find out is to increase your pred dose to 6 or 7 mg for 2-3 days and see if the pain goes away. If it doesn't go away you just drop back down to 3.5 mg with no negative effects. 2-3 days at a higher dose doesn't mess up your reduction. If the pain does go away, you have your answer.
Twopies patricia43291
Posted
i agree with TheRaven--when i have any kind of onslaught to my body, whether from stress or pain from a non-pmr source, my pmr acts up. i feel terrible--imcreased pain, sore all over, just sick. so when that happens, i increase the pred a little to calm down my over-reacting body. pmr seems to make my body go haywire. you could try it and see, no harm, you will have your answer in a couple days. best wishes to you.
EileenH patricia43291
Posted
A fall can be enough to cause a flare - even the medics have admitted that. OTOH, the pred only manages inflammation and symptoms, the cause of the PMR is not affected at all and it is also possible that you have reached too low a dose to manage the inflammation,
Either way, both are flares in the sense of return of symptoms and it is perfectly possible a bit more pred would be the answer. In addition, at the dose you are at your own adrenal function may not be as good as it should and in an accident, even what you think may be a relatively minor one, if your adrenal glands can't respond well it is likely to make you feel unwell.
Did you get checked out after the fall? At our age we don't get over that sort of accident as easily and it can leave us shaken for a long time even if we didn't break anything,
TheRaven is right - try a bit more for a few days and see if it helps. If it does you have your answer, If it doesn't, no harm done and you can go straight back to 3.5mg