Help before I phone doctor | Arthritis Information
I began my second round of Prednisone Friday...a whole 10 mg! My doctor says studies have shown that *10 mg.* is the dosage that alleviates symptoms of PMR and anything higher is asking for trouble. Really???!!!! Well, 10 mg. helped me before but it's *not* taking away all the pain now. That's what I wanted to ask all of you... *when you take higher doses, does ALL the pain go away for you or is it just minimized greatly*? I'm considering calling this doctor and complaining (and again begging for higher dosage) but wanted to ask if all of you are totally *pain free*.
Oh, I did take your advice and seek the help of another doctor but can't get in to see him until mid November and I'm in too much pain to wait. Also, I have a 2,000 mile trip (via car!) in 2 weeks. That's why I went back to the old doctor in the mean time. She's very difficult, however.
I started at 15mg. and the results were impressive. I don't think it took away all the stiffness and pain but it felt like that just because there was so much hurt to begin with...by comparison it felt like complete relief initially.
I haven't yet been pain and stiffness free on my pred dosages but the hurt has been fairly easy to manage and I get by without too many limitations on what I can still do. I wonder myself about your question because some of us in the boat sound like they have no symptoms at all on certain doses. Maybe our whip cracker is letting them goof off on rowing. I read where she's recovering from a sugar fit. And by the way, the drummer hasn't been heard from lately and I can't find the drum to keep up the cadence.
Hi, DebJ, I started out on 10mg in April of this year and now I am down to 5mg. I an not pain free, but comfortable enough I guess to get along. I did start a sugar free diet 2 weeks ago that has helped so much. I feel like I have more energy then before. I see my Dr on Friday and have to go and have blood taken this week sometime.
Geri
Hi Deb
I started on 40mg last December, and was immediately pain free.
Dropped to 20mg after 3 days and all the pain came back. I called my Dr
and he told me to go back up to 40mg for another 3 or 4 days, and then
come down in 5 mg drops with a week between drops. I did this and
stayed pain free, but started dropping much more slowly from 15mg
down. I'm now down to 3mg and have not had to increase my dose on
the way down. I did stick on 4mg for about 7 weeks as I was having a
very busy few weeks. My Dr leaves me very much in control of the
tapering, he says we are treating the symtoms rather than anything else
once the initial inflammation had calmed down and that I am the best
judge of how fast I can drop. He did, however, send me away at the start
to look on the internet at the side effects of predisolone, and also
smptoms of PMR as he wanted me to be fully informed of the side effects
and therefore be motivated to get down the dosage asap!
From reading previous posts I think I was on a much higher dose than
lots of the others at the start, but I was down to 10mg by the end of
January.
I'm in England - and being treated by my GP (primary care?) rather than a
rheumatologist - but he has been brilliant - diagnosed within days and
treatment started immediately.
I'm not sure if this will help you, as trying to persuade your Dr to change
her mind is going to be v difficult . Is she concerned about other medical
conditions youmay have which can be made worse by the predisolone?
There is a good article on the effects of predisolone on one of the other
conferences on this site. It's just a few down the list from our conference
on the menu page.
Good luck
MargaretHi Deb, I was dxed in Sept. 2006 and started on 10mgs. I would
describe my relief at about 75%. My rheumy tried to reduce my dosage
really quickly, cutting it to 5mgs after 2 weeks. Symptoms returned full
force. It was back to 10mgs, then reduce by 1mg a week. Again
symtoms worsened but not as much. Then he left the tapering up to me
based on my symptpms. After a year he prognosticated that my PMR is
chronic: it will probably be a permanent condition and I may never be
able to get below 5mgs. I am now on 6 and he advises not to taper more
than 3 times a year. He bases this on his experience and the course my
case has taken. HOWEVER I continue to hope and will try to eliminate
pred from my life.
To actually address your question I have never been pain free. But right
now I am more comfortable than I have been since my dx and my energy
is also up. I am attributing this in part to diet and acupuncture. Since I
do feel better I am going to stay on 6mgs until after the holidays because
I learned the hard way about pred withdrawal.
From what I discern from reading the postings here some people on high
dosages have been pain free, but most people have some degree of
symptoms.
I hope you find the protocol that relieves your discomfort and live your
life.
GeralynThis whip cracker doesn't let anyone of the hook! Especially not when
hyped up on sugar!!!
Ok, so 1st, thanks to the help of my acupuncturist, I have cleansed the
sugar from my system...
2nd) I started on 10 mg, was much better but not pain free, so I went to
15 and then 20 for 2.5 months. Just went down to 17.5 last week. I was
pain free much but not all fo the time during the 20 mg time. When I got
over tired or over did the pain would come back, but more as achiness
and heaviness & slowness than actual pain - amd really only when I
overdid.
I am exhausted with this decrease, but only slightly achy & I think this is
still the adjustment phase.
I went to 20 mg because I wanted to be pain free. My dic was against it at
first, but then went along and was the one who didn't ant me to decrease
until I waa sure I was pain free.
pgrHi everyone, I am in Aus, and was started at 15mgm, which helped for a while, then maybe 2-3 mnths later started on Methotrexate. Started on a low dose of this , which we eventually upped to 30mgm imi.
In 21 mnths I have been down to 2 1/2mgm, now at 5mgm pred and 25 mgm methotrexate. Also take paracetamol 1G twice daily.
The highest I went back up to was 12 1/2mgm pred.
Only occassionally pain free, but if you do not want to go out or do anything, you need more. Contact rheumy!
Good luck. It is a bugger early on, and adjusting to flare-ups is often quite dis-heartening. Just talk to us, and get that dr understanding, even if you have to sit in the office and not move!
All the best Zali
I really dread cutting down and being exhausted again. I see my Dr on Friday and I know he will want me to cut down. I didn't know the tiredness is from cutting down on the pred. Thanks for the warning.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! Every one of you provided me with good info to think about. Would love to address each reply individually but my neck and upper arms are *killing* me today and typing is a real chore. Just know I appreciate *every one of you*. Best of luck with getting the right dose for you Deb. Really, if you need more than 10 then you need more than 10!! And you should have whatever dose you need to get the inflammation under control. My doc started me on 20 (I was supposed to take 20mg for 3 wks to start), but I was actually OK on 10mg and that has been my ideal dose to control ALL pain and stiffness, but I know from this forum that there is a great variation in dosages and what docs think is OK. Sounds like your doc is being overly cautious - generally, it's good to have a cautious doc, but not when it means your condition is not being adequately managed and you are in pain.
DebJ
I started on 15 mg and was amazed how quickly (within three days) my symptoms went away! As I have posted I have been told by my rheumatologist to go to 5. I went to from 7 to 6 then back and now I'm at 6 again I am in pain most of the day but determined to try to deal with it. If it gets worse I'm going back to 7 or perhaps 8. I was told by the neurologist that diagnosed me 15 -20 is usually a good starting dose -- I am aware that everyone metabolizes meds differently and this should be taken into account. Good luck -- this is a great group!
fencer
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