Rapid reduction in meds...good idea?????

Posted , 10 users are following.

Good morning.

I am after a little bit of advice.

I have been diagnosed with polymyalgia for about 4 years now and have had great trouble reducing below 8 or 9 mg daily.

my target by the end of this year is to be on 5mg. I was wondering if it might be a good idea to bite the bullet and reduce rapidly to 5mg and then suffer the pain hoping that my body will adjust over time.

I was just wondering your thoughts on this please

thank you

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  • Posted

    Thank you for all your replies...

    I really don't understand what is happening to me, Im not complaining as I feel really good on the 5mg that I reduced to 2 days ago. I feel that I should be on my knees screaming my head off in pain but its not the case at all.

    How is it that my body is able to manage this major reduction?

    Does this mean that my PMR is in remission?

    Can anyone please shed some light as to what might be happening as it would be great to understand.

    P.S I don't have the extreme tiredness/ foggy head to the same extent that I have had for the last 4 years since diagnosis, its still there but to a lesser degree.

    Thank you 

    • Posted

      I think it is very likely that the PMR is at least very quiet if not totally in remission - but you still need to be careful while getting off pred because of adrenal function. Five mg is still a decent amount for normal function - and it is only a couple of days so in that context you should still feel pretty good. 

      I find my PMR varies quite a bit - I have been down to under 5mg without a problem from the PMR. But then some time later it flared. But that is me. You are getting to the 4-5 year point - prbably 65% of patients are off pred by now.

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