Tapering Prednisone : Increase in OA pain ?
Posted , 13 users are following.
Hi all, I have bee away for a few weeks, and the wedding went well thank you, my daughter looked lovely.
Myself I lasted the week away but with some pain.
My question is has anyone else with OA felt worse pain when tapering down off Prednisone.? I have pain that I never had before or increased pain, upper legs, hands,fingers, wrist, feet and now both knees. I also have OA in my facet joints lower back which I had cortisone injections done 5th Oct and they lasted just 5 weeks, but that's another story. For now I am just wondering why my OA has flared over the last 3 weeks. I am on quite a few supplements that helped for a few years, still taking the same but not working so good.
I'm on 12 mg Preds...
Sometimes as we all know it's hard to tell what pain is what ( although I do know the PMR pain ) but the withdrawals with tapering and the OA changes.
My Dr is now saying I may have Fibro BH 
I don't take strong pain killers but thinking of asking for some, Panadol is just not cutting it for me now. I live in Australia so our meds are different here. There is one called Panadol Osteo I may try that : Just so sick of all this pain, like us all. Having PMR is bad enough.
Thanks for listening to my rant :
Wishing you all many pain free days : Dea
1 like, 34 replies
artfingers dea13
Posted
Your mention of bee stings got me to recalling a special I saw where a woman was stung many times (over a 100 or more as I recall). She was hospitalized and lived but her arthritis was completely cured. Prior to the attack by a swarm of bees, her arthritis was so bad she could hardly function. I don't think I'd like to try that as a cure though!
Anhaga artfingers
Posted
Opinions about bee venom seem to be all over the map. It's reported as being the oldest known treatment for arthritis. It's used to treat RA. It's described as being too dangerous with the risks outweighing the benefits.... On the other hand if you had arthritis and accidentally got stung a zillion times and survived it would be fantastic to be cured as compensation!
Vicki200252 dea13
Posted
I don’t think I feel worse, it’s jyst that I felt so good on a higher dose and forgot what it felt like.
EileenH Vicki200252
Posted
WHY have you reduced fro 60mg to 7mg in barely 2 months? What is your diagnosis? Whether it is GCA, which would justifiy a starting dose of 60mg, or PMR, which would NOT justify a dose of 60mg, 15-20mg is the usual starting dose, you should be taking many months to reduce that far. PMR/GCA are chronic illnesses and the pred cures nothing - it is there to manage the inflammation that causes the symptoms. There is no cure. The minimum duration is IRO 2 years and the taper would be projected to cover that sort of time to start with. But when you find the lowest dose that gives the same result as the starting dose did you stop reducing.
This may help:
http://www.rcpe.ac.uk/sites/default/files/quick.pdf
It isn't particularly difficult to read and the tapers they suggest are set out as tables in boxes.
Your doctor obviously hasn't a clue about PMR and you need better management - especially if he told you to use panadol or tramadol to help with pain in PMR - pred provides the pain relief, nothing else does. If you want to stay with your current doctor then offer them the paper to read, it is written by top PMR experts to help non-specialists to manage their patients who have PMR or GCA.
You are in the USA I assume - if you are under a rheumatologist then you need to find another who knows what they are doing.
Vicki200252 EileenH
Posted
Thank you for the website, very helpful indeed.
Vicki200252 dea13
Posted
Vicki200252 dea13
Posted
I don’t think I feel worse, it’s jyst that I felt so good on a higher dose and forgot what it felt like.
Anhaga Vicki200252
Posted
This is quite an old post. why not make a new post so more people will see it and you'll get more responses?
?I think your taper was ridiculously fast and it you are back to your original pain then what was the point? Were you being treated for PMR or GCA? Sixty mg is a GCA dose. Other painkillers will not work for PMR - may take the edge off a bit, but generally ineffective.
Vicki200252 Anhaga
Posted
eventually my meds where reduced to 7 mg in just 70 days . All of my symptoms come back , I KEPT telling her I was in pain and went back 3 days in a row and eventually she ordered another blood test which confirmed the inflamation was back in full force. she then gave me a prescription for 25 mg to be reduced by 5 mg every 3 days until I REACH 10 mg. I am up to day 77, I have kept a diary from the first week. I was told as I said before to use panadol and TRAMADOL, she was annoyed when I told her they didn't work.
I DON'T KNOW what to do.
EileenH Vicki200252
Posted
"I DON'T KNOW what to do"
Find yourself a doctor who has even the slightest idea what they are doing. I told you that in my first reply to you.
If the diagnosis is PMR you have a chronic illness - one that has a median duration on pred of 5.9 years. Not weeks, not even months. YEARS. You will achieve nothing by tapers starting at a high dose and dropping to a low dose quickly. This doctor is exposing you to high dose pred unnecessarily and is blaming YOU for HER failures. The painkillers don't work for a very good reason - they are not antiinflammatories, PMR is an inflammatory condition. The painkiller in PMR is pred - and by not managing you properly she is exposing you to an increased risk of developing GCA.
It is her failure not yours - but I wouldn't waste my time or money on her.
Anhaga Vicki200252
Posted
Eileen has given you the best advice. There is plenty of literature available on the internet which gives guidance to best practice not just for patients but for doctors, and your doctor is not following best practice. In her first reply to you Eileen gave you a link which will lead you to some of the literature. Take in a copy of a slow taper plan and ask her what she thinks of it. Perhaps she will surprise you by acknowledging it's a sensible way to taper. I'd say if her response is negative that should be her last chance with you as a patient and I hope it's not too difficult for you to find another physician who knows more about how to treat PMR.
Vicki200252 EileenH
Posted
Thank you.
missmagwumps dea13
Posted
Hi Dea - I am replying to your Facet Joint problems.....not sure about Aus though.....but when the steroid injections became less effective my Pain Management Consultant suggested a procedure called a Denervation. Where the branch nerves sending the pain signals are cauterised....similar procedure to the steroids but a heated wire is used through a small tube at the injection site - all done with camera ( and sedation if you want it). I had a massive flare up in the beginning and thought I had made a BIG mistake having this procedure but then Hey Presto, I was virtually pain free in that area for a long, long time - since 2015 in fact! The nerves will eventually regenerate but then the procedure can be repeated....absolutely marvelous...certainly worth checking out with your medics.....
Then I had a total knee replacement - pain almost gone after 9 months and then Bang - PMR was diagnosed as docs could no longer use my back and knee as an excuse for my body pain....I just wish the weight gain side effect was not so massive....but have listened to others on here who recommend a low carb diet...going to try the Diet Doctor for a few weeks...here goes....and hopefully, here goes the added pounds and many of them!
WIsh you well.....x