Prednisolone levels

Hi Liz I think you said you were diagnosed on 12th November or maybe it was the 14th I am getting all mixed up now.  Well anyway I was diagnosed on 12th November and was put on 20mg of pred.  My first appt was Endocrinology on 8th January, she told me to drop to 15mg and was referring me to Rheumie  I reduced to 17.5 with my gps consent and am still on that dose and still no appt for Rheumie.

My PMR was and I am totally convinced of it was due to long periods of stress.  Anyway you take care and keep us up to date.   Pat

Liz, mine I think started from stress.  They really do not know the cause of PM and there are a lot of theories out there but, as we all know, stress is the cause of a lot of ailments.  I was under a lot of stress at the time so I truly believe that I was run down and open for something.  In my case it was PM.  On a positive note, it usually corrects itself with time.  I hope that this will be your case.  Linda

Hi Liz, I have had years and years of stress, but I thought I could cope with it, infact I thrived on stress but now I think that all the stress had something to do with my PMR. 

Liz, just a suggestion, instead of starting a new threadin reply to your original thread you can simply rejoin your own thread. Christina 

You can get 5mg and 2.5mg gastro intestinal pred which are tiny tablets and must not be cut, I started off on these. It did mean that I did not have any stomach problems with them as they were coated.  As I was having trouble cutting down I really needed 1mg tablets, so I now take Lodotra, which is in 5mg, 2mg and 1mg tablets, they cannot be cut either. The only problem is that they have not been passed by NICE for PMR in UK only RA so you need a private prescription. I do find them better than the previous tablets, particularly as I was getting terrible sweats which have effectively stopped. Also I feel much more like my old self and not so tired and down and seem to have much more get up and go, although it might be in my mind! 

Liz, yes both the 5mg and 2.5mg pills are available with an enteric coating to help avoid the risk of stomach problems (they dissolve lower down in the gut than the uncoated variety).  There really isn't much difference in cost when you consider that the uncoated tablets usually have the additional cost of stomach protection pills prescribed to counteract side effects to the stomach.  I had enteric coated pills throughout my years on steroids until I reached the very low doses below 2.5mg where only uncoated pills are available.

There is no known cause for PMR, and patients have come up with many different theories, with some saying they suffered extreme stress before succumbing, others blame starting statins, whilst yet others blame flu or surgery.  It's fair to say that most of us find that if we suffer stressful situations along our journeys with PMR, we often experience worsening symptoms.  So it's wise to avoid as much stress as possible, although some stresses are impossible to avoid.  

Ordered my pill cutter from Boots, i was told about them when I went into hospital last time and they wanted me to swallow giant tablets, been a godsend

Gilly

Hi Liz,

I have just started using a pill cutter. Excellent. You may be able to get one from Ebay as well. Could be a bit cheaper.Just be careful not to cut any pills that are slow release. They are not meant to be cut as they deliver a dose over a designated time frame e.g 12 hours.

Take care.

Kathy

Following comments in this discussion, I too have had years of stress PLUS I had my first chest infection at age 70!   So SNAP!