PMR confirmed

What a relief that your doctor was brave enough to admit his mistake! Hope the 15mgs work for you. My rheumatologist prescribed Duloxetin to help with my reduction. Last Monday I reduced from 15mgs to 12.5mgs. So far, so good. It is the first time I have been able to reduce with very little extra pain. He wants me to reduce to 10mgs in three weeks time but I will definitely go straight back to 12.5mgs if I have increased pain levels. You are right. Our bodies should dictate the dose not our doctor/Rheumi.

tavidu, a good example of a patient educating the Dr!  Well done you...and well done him for his apology and acceptance - a few are not quite so accepting.

Hello, yes you are quite right we feel the pain and not our dr's. It's interesting that your Dr stated that following a look on the Internet they have changed their opinion. I'm never surprised by just how many dr's have very little knowledge of this condition and even less knowledge on how to treat it, although as we all know exactly how to treat it is a tricky science as we all respond to the treatment to different degrees. I have a very good gp who has now left it to me to adjust my dosage as to how I feel and just report back to her if I have any real concerns or when I reach the 5mg mark. I was diagnosed with PMR last dec Although the symptoms presented themselves in the sep. But I went from 15 to 12.5 to 10 ( which I was purposely kept on for 6months) to 9 mg without any real hitch then following a blood test when the bloods were excellent my dr said I could reduce by 1 mg a month or there a bouts depending on how I felt. I was so thrilled but when I went down to 8mg within 2 days the pain in my neck returned then within 16 days had spread to my shoulders and hips, not really, really bad but enough to know that all was not well. So I went back to 9 mg and the neck pain has stopped but I still get the odd twinge in my shoulders and tops of my arms and the pain in my hips has all but gone. So I will stay on this dose for a good month and try to reduce again. I'm telling you this because it is simply an example of a patient that was responding to treatment so well and then at 8 mgs by body reminded me that I'm not quite there yet for such a low dosage, and as much as we all want to get off the steroids we're taking them to reduce the inflammation that in turn causes the pain, so to be on a dose that still leaves us in pain sort of defeats the object. Good luck with getting better.

Well done David, it's good to hear that some doctors do listen.  Don't be in a rush to reduce to quickly remember the tortoise and the hare!  Best of luck

Major success story there David!!!!

Well, yes, you have a rash that is hives. I'll give him 10 out of 10 for that! The question is what is CAUSING said hives!!!! Hives is the common name for urticaria, and it is often a symptom of something underlying it. Pred can cause hives itself. However, it is possible to have something called idiopathic urticaria which means "of no known cause" and that covers about half of cases. 

Anyway - has he offered you anything to try to take the sting out of the rash? It is mainly caused by histamines being released and I use Loratidine, a non-sleepy antihistamine available OTC for about 80p from Lidl (don't go to Boots, they charge about 20 arms and legs in comparison!). If you are lucky your GP will give you a prescription which makes it even cheaper if you are over 60 or have a pre-pay card. If the normal dose of 10mg doesn't do the job well enough - take 20mg. All recommended by an immunologist - I have a bizarre and very unpleasant typical allergic reaction to something in some red wines so she told me to take loratidine as we could look for years and not identify what it is that does it. So I said "But it says not to take with alcohol..." "It's fine" she said. And it is, although I usually take it at bedtime. But it has worked perfectly - so well that occasionally I forget to take it when drinking red wine, I don't take it all the time, just when it was a red wine I don't know. Then I get reminded WHY I take it.