More on tapering

So the thigh pains continue, both sides, much worse when sitting for long periods, usually rear of thighs but sometimes inner thighs. sometimes it feels like sciatica sometimes its a burning sensation, sometimes joint pain. Not much stiffness, which i assume is the effect of pred. GP agreed to a raise to 8mg pred and review again after Xmas. She still thinks PMR and does not think its worth going back to Rheumatologist at this point. But do these symptoms resonate with others while tapering, esp. the absence of stiffness? How long does it usually take for an increase in pred to work? She also said stress can make symptoms and even cause flares (recently lost my father). I am

slightly worried that the symptoms i have now are not the same as my what i had when first diagnosed a year ago, which was severe disabling stiffness and pain in shoulders and hips/thighs.

My PMR symptoms do vary with flares - as they are likely to if you have been on enough pred to remove the inflammation that causes particular effects. Thigh pain that increases with sitting COULD be due to bursitis - it is burning and can go into the groin and hip joint.

Stress certainly does make things worse - I can vouch for that after the last week!!!

Enough pred will usually resolve the PMR symptoms quite quickly, a day or two, in my experience. I have found that with a flare I do need to take the recommended extra 5 mg for a couple of days and then drop quickly by a mg every two or three days until close to where I flared. Taking too little just prolongs the adventure and in the end you take more pred than if you'd just bitten the bullet at the beginning. Have tried both methods. 😉

thanks both, its so useful to be able to share on this site esp. as its so hard to discuss with Doctors when you need to even if they know what to say. Its only because the pain is so mild that i haven't gone up the full 5mg already. I will if i need to. have a good christmas

Are you saying you aren't taking pred any longer? If so, how long did you take it?

Either it isn't the PMR we talk about - or your doctors are totally off this planet!!!!! They diagnosed PMR but won't manage it the way the text books and medical literature say?

Think you need a better doctor!

I have had two Dr.s tell me the same thing. The first was the ER Dr. and the next was my VA Dr. They both said the prednosone is so dangerous because I am diabetic. The ER Dr. is the one who put me on the 9 days, ending with 5mg. After that, both the ER and VA Dr.s refused to give me more! In my case, it is OK because taking Tart Cherries and Tylenol, the pain is almost non existent. Tart Cherries have effects similar to Naproxen, without side effects!

It does sound that you possibly may not have PMR. Neither Naproxen nor Tylenol really help PMR and sour cherries definitely do not take away the pain of PMR completely, although they do taste nice.

They are over-egging the pudding. There are many diabetics on pred - it is harder to manage BS levels but cutting carbs also helps a lot to prevent it becoming too serious a problem. However, since you seem to be managing it is less of a problem. Unless it does turn into GCA where pred will be necessary to avoid losing your sight - I wonder what they would suggest then?

Did they say you had PMR based on the MRI scan?

An MRI will NOT show whether you have PMR. Unfortunately - because if it did, then we wouldn't have a problem with misdiagnosis.

However - if you a pretty much pain-free, it doesn't matter does it?