PMR, Tapering the Prednisone
Posted , 7 users are following.
hello again...I have had difficulty signing I to the website...and I have really missed all of you! To review...I have had PMR since about last March...starting on 15 mg and have tapered down to 7.5 over time, but the last couple of months have been a roller coaster. I had that terrible rash (?) on my back...took varying doses of prednisone to get rid of it, over the course of a month. The rash is gone. I am on 10 mg of Pred daily. On Oct. 15 I tried to taper to 9. It was a disaster. After 3 days I was feeling badly...and fatigued. 6 days later my Dr. Told me to go back to 10...but it took a week for me to feel better...and actually I now awake every morning in pain, looking for the prednisone! I know you all have warned about tapering too quickly and/or too soon! Now I am afraid to taper at all! How do you know when to try again?
sorry to be so lengthy...appreciate any comments or advice. Thank You!
0 likes, 33 replies
linda17563 kathy67492
Posted
EileenH linda17563
Posted
Your doctor is to be commended for their attitude - too many insist on the patients doing it their way.
linda17563 EileenH
Posted
EileenH linda17563
Posted
Obviously your lovely lady doctor also understands the difference between fibromyalgia and polymyalgia - we need to have clones made of her...
linda17563 kathy67492
Posted
EileenH linda17563
Posted
And now you are down to where your body is having to wake up and make cortisol for itself too. Have a rest at 6mg until you feel really well.
linda17563 kathy67492
Posted
EileenH linda17563
Posted
And never forget that having PMR doesn't excuse us from any other illness we might fall prey to normally - and if you aren't well for some other reason then it isn't a good idea to reduce at any dose but in this sort of region where you are at the borderlines of cortisol production being taken up by the body again then any stress can be too much. It isn't a race - more haste, less speed.
"who would know something could be so tricky to master, and present such problems" - don't worry, it doesn't seem to occur to a lot of doctors either!!!