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PMR, Prednisone

Posted , 4 users are following.

kathy67492
kathy67492

I just looked at my notes again over the last 3+ years of PMR. 15mg the first week...then 10...  Then it looks like notes from a person who is trying to lose weight and continues to write one excuse after another about what impeded the diet plan.....cold, stress, houseguests, vacation, family, etc.etc...

so, not much has happened really over the past 3+ years. I am back at 8m.

Lowest ever attempted was 6m, didn't last long.....always a disaster when I get to 7-1/2.

Any improvement is measured in the distance I can walk until the pain starts...there is much improvement there. Long time to dink around with 2-3m difference from what I started at. But I guess Eileen is in the same boat, having Had PMR For so long and still bumping up to control the inflammation. Will it, one day, just accept the next 1/2m drop without a squeal?

0 likes, 6 replies

6 Replies

  • hindags
    hindags kathy67492

    Posted

    I was wondering, being a relatively newbie here, what is the golg standard signal of a flare? I started at 15, went up to  20  per Rheumy and decreased by .5 mg to 15. (2.5 mg drop from 20 was a bit hard on me, but looking back I regret going up) Was at 15 for about 4 weeks.  I just dropped from 15 to 14 Delayed Release Prednisone,  5th day now.  If I remember what I've read here correctly, changes in status the first few days are usually the body reacting to the lowered dose of Pred.  Around day 5-7, one might experience the signs of a flare.  For me on Day 1-2 I had some increased pain in my right bicep but no stiffness.  Also I was reminded of wherever in my body I'm a bit arthritic, base of thumbs, lower back, etc.. Today, day 5, I woke feeling blue, a predictable Pred W/D  effect for me, but also more tired.  Still, thank goodness, not feeling sick or stiff, maybe even less pain. 

    But back to my question:  What would be THE signal that I was going into, or in a flared? 

    • EileenH
      EileenH hindags

      Posted

       A flare is a return of the symptoms of PMR that then increase with time. It can happen at a steady dose if the activity of the disease increases or in response to a reduction in the dose with steady activity of the autoimmune part. 

      Everyone is different - none of us can say what will show a flare is happening for you, you have to learn to recognise that.

      The DSNS reduction aims to take that confusion out - if you feel strange on the one day of new dose - that is most likely steroid withdrawal and won't be there if you go back to your usual dose the next day. After offering the new lower dose a few times usually your body will stop protesting and you can progress to getting to taking the new dose everyday.

      But there are no easy answers other people can offer.

  • EileenH
    EileenH kathy67492

    Posted

    I am steadily reducing again after a different sort of flare last year! But the symptoms are steady enough - I'm not bumping the dose up, I'm stopping a reduction if it isn't comfortable.

    • kathy67492
      kathy67492 EileenH

      Posted

      I plan on waiting a couple of weeks now until trying the DSNS taper again...but, in another post I was asking about, myofascial pain.

      I believe that is what I am experiencing now...adding another twist!

      you have given another good explanation for the workings of the inflammation and the prednisone. Thank you!

  • tavidu
    tavidu kathy67492

    Posted

    Hi Kathy. Stick with it, 3 years is not a long time with PMR. Have had it for nearly 3 years and have only just managed to get down to 12mg a day. Am dropping 0.5mg a day every 4 weeks but finding it hard as I have other issues and not sure what is PMR related and what is not. Take reduction slowly and we will get there eventually. Good luck.
    • kathy67492
      kathy67492 tavidu

      Posted

      Appreciate the encouragement.  I babble on and complain on this forum because you cannot expect your friends without PMR to be empathetic when you have had something for so long! There are worse things I know.

      Thank you!

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