skip a day pred | Arthritis Information

 

I just talked with a pharmacist and she said I could just try going every other day on 5 mg pred....I was wondering if anyone has tried this way?Hi Smartie. I toyed with this idea, but in the end didn't. Are you planning on staying on the 5 or getting off?

any particular reason why not?

Yes - i am thinking about being a rebel again. I am supposed to stay on the 5 mg until i see rhumy in february. Want to at least try to get off. The pharmacist I talked to today acted like it wasnt any big deal even to just stop cold turkey - it is just the pain to deal with. I already am in pain every day on the 5mg. I took myself from 7.5 to 5 by myself and then switched rhumys. But the new one still wants me to stay on 5. I have too much brain fog to assert myself at the right moment. I think later what I should have said.

I take a pain med three times a week as a treat to myself. I want to at least try to get off. How are you doing off the mess?

Just a suggestion, cut 5mg into two pieces and go to 2 1/2 before you trying completely quiting. Your body will thank you for it. I am at 1mg will go to 1/2 for five days Jan1--then I am done-done-I pray

Hi Smartie,  I've not tried pred dosing like your pharmacist suggested.   But from all information that I have read about every other day prednisone, most people with PMR don't do very well.  I agree wit Lonna.  Mayabe you should just try cutting the 5 mg in half and take that every day.  Just a suggestion.  Keep us posted and let us know what you decide and how you are doing

I think going off of the pred slowly is the best.  In the end I did ever ohter day for a week and then stopped taking them.  I am still taking Vit B, 2,000mg of Vit C and a Multi viat.  They have really helped me.  Almost 13q weeks no and still going strong.  I need to go for blood work next week to see where my SED rate is and Protine is at. 

I did this with out my dr knowing.  I know he will say I did the right thing when I was feeling better.   I also have a thrroid problems.  My synthroid is so I  that I am not making any of mine own.  My Endo Dr thinks this is fine and checks me every three months.  Now mine and my sisters are all underactive.  My mom and all her sisters had overactive thyroid and My Grandma had to have hers removed it became so big.  But no one in my family has had PMR. 

Well Merry Christmas to all and best wishes for the new year. Geri

Well, I think after Christmas I will cut back - one way or another. I am worried because I am almost at my pain threshold now. I can take the pain med and feel real good but I dont want to take that every day either. But I can take one every 24 hours for pain. ANd it seems like the pain comes back really slowly. I have been off pain med for three days and each day has been a little worse.

In all my research and reading and talking to doctors I still dont know what the pred does that the anti-steroidal pain meds don't do. Why they put us on pred instead of just giving us pain med? I  just hope my brain fog clears up.

I was thinking the same thing as you are,smartie, why not just take pain med and no pred., but then the pred does reduce the inflamation which is what pmr is, so maybe we do need the pred. I take darvocet every day and it helps me tremendously.

I am tapering my pred,I will go to 14 mg on Dec. 26, I am going so slowly, because I tried this before and had to go up again and I don't want that to happen again.  I was up to 30 in August of 07, my dr. says I am one of those who needs a large dose of pred for it to help, but I so do want to get off of it, hate the fat face, and the fat belly, other than that I do not have any other side effects, lot of strange little skin bumps and funny marks popping out on my body, but maybe old age is the reason for those

I still have lots of fatigue and pain. and I don't know how long this is going to last, but between the pmr and the getting older ( 70 today)
I don't know how I am supposed to feel anymore.
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE from Georgiana
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Georgiana!! and hugs to all My theory on why they prescribe prednisone to people with PMR is that firstly, it works SO well, and (usually) in pretty low doses. PMR is  painful and disabling and doctors like to be able to offer something to give immediate relief. Which is understandable.

Secondly, PMR is (usually) self-limiting, unlike other painful rheumatoid or inflammatory diseases, so I think they figure that a year or two on low dose steroids is acceptable, whereas it would not be appropriate for a permanent condition like rheumatoid arthritis or osteoathritis.

Lastly, (and I'm not sure if I'm way off the mark here or not, but it's a suspicion), and that is that PMR is (usually) a disease that affects older people (70yrs is apparently the average age of diagnosis).  I wonder if the docs think that it's more acceptable to prescribe long-term steroids to older people, than young people. Maybe they believe older people are more accepting of disfiguring side-effects like fat face and belly, and maybe they think that older people are more likely to have so many health issues anyhow, they are just grateful for a quick fix for their PMR. I really think that if PMR were a young persons disease that steroids would not be handed out like sweets to them, the way they are to older folk.

I used to believe that taking prednisone would help protect me against complications of PMR like arteritis, but I am no longer convinced of that. Steroids do suppress inflammation, but then again, so do the non-steroidals. Frankly, I don't know how effective the NSAIDs are in full-blown PMR. From what I have read, they are sometimes recommended in "mild" cases of PMR.

Bear in mind too that although we hate prednisone with a vengeance, NSAIDs also have a LOT of very bad press. They are bad for your liver and heart (some are linked to heart attacks) and they can wreck your stomach and cause ulcers - worse than low-dose pred in that regard. Every now and then they produce a new one like Viiox and Celebrex, both of which have since been withdrawn (I think), due to people having heart attacks after taking them for a while. Even paracetamol (tylenol) is bad for you taken daily, long term.

Even though I hated pred and won't take it again, I am not confident that any of the painkillers are a heck of a lot better! I think we need to just muddle along as best we can, using whatever works best for us, depending on the severity of our illness. I think prednisone is probably an important part of treating PMR and if I had more severe symptoms I would probably need it again, as I already have stomach problems and I don't think NSAIDs are for me. Currently I am doing OK with paracetamol.

Georgiana, Happy Birthday, 

chico, I wanted to see how you are doing pred free.  So far I have been pred free for 10 or more weeks.  I have kind of lost track.  I feel pretty good and the fatigue has not been bad.  Maybe the PMR has left my system.  I see the Dr in Feb and have blood test then.  I am still no sugar and anti inflamatory diet, 2,000 mg of Vit C daily.  I am starting to get a cold.  It is freezing here in Chicago and windy.  What is paracetamol?  Do you get it from the Dr?

Merry Christmas to all. Geri

Thanks for all the info guys - how long have you had pmr chico and nanaquilts? Geri, good to hear that you are doing OK, even if you are getting a cold. The vitC must help with the inflammation, and it should help stave off that cold too! I agree the sugar-free is helpful. I am also sugar-free, in that I use no added sugar and don't eat any processed commercial foods with sugar added. I still enjoy sweet fruits and a tsp of honey in my 2 cups of tea a day. I love my tea and I hate it without a sweetener.

We have warm sunny weather and blue skies here, in early summer. I think it is helping me feel better. After 6 days off pred, I am feeling it, especially with upper arm pain. I am quite fatigued, but over 2 weeks of troublesome "womens troubles" (to put it delicately and not frighten the men who read this forum) doesn't help!

I've been off of prednisone now for six months and I am just using over the counter pain pills.  It seems one kind works for a few days and then I start hurting more so then I try something else and that works for awhile.  I was taking Naperxon for about four days and today started Tylenol.

I wake up every morning and I am stiff and hurt.  Not like ti used to though.  Chico...I, too, think Prednisone knocked back my PMR since my knees don't hurt like they did prior to my six months' use of prednisone.  I hope it isn't just waiting to start back with a vengeance again.

My arms hurt, but not as much as they did last month.  I think it has a lot to do with how much I exert them.

I am in month 16.  The first four months were unbelievable....then I took Prednisone for six months and was absolutely normal.  But had to quit the prednisone because it raised the pressure in my eyes.  I already had glaucoma.  And, in all actuality, I probably should not have been prescribed prednisone.  If PMR comes back, I don't know what they will prescribe.  I am praying it is going away and stays away.  I understand that if it does go away, it probably will not return.  This is a really mysterious disease.  Not the worst thing a person can have at this age, but I am sure hoping it goes away soon.  I'm hoping it is gone in the 18 months they talk about.

Hope you and everyone have found an acceptable pain level today,  Hugs, Mary

smartie, I was diagnosed in April with PRM of this year.  It is a long story, but I injured myself at work in 1997 and retired in 2000 because of my chronic pain.  I had 2 shoulder surgeries, C5 and C6 disk, and knee surgery all from work.  I cooked for 2900 kids a day at our local High School and a food cart tiped and I tried to catch it, but it fell and took my whole right side with it.  When my left shoulder hurt and I could not lift the covers and slept the whole month of Feb 2007, I knew something was wrong.  So after some blood test the Dr said PMR.  That was in April.  I started on 10mg of pred, and it did help, but I was sweaty all the time and could not stand it.  So I started looking on the internet for other answers.  I found this wonderful site and a few others that has really helped me.  I decided I wanted off the pred and started this no sugar diet which really helped me to get off the pred.  That was back in Oct I think around the 9th.  My Dr don't know yet that I have stopped all my meds, even from my accident.  I would not recomend doing this without checking with your dr first because of the side affects of withdrawel.  If you have anyother questions please ask.  I will try and answer the best I can. 

Merry Christmas to all. Geri

I think possibly if you don't take Prednisone too long, it is easier to wean yourself off of it and it isn't that traumatic to your body.

I was started out with 20 mgs.  Fifteen in the morning and five in the early evening.  I did the five for about three days and then really forgot for one day and figured I would not take the five mgs at night and see what happened.  Nothing happened so then I got down to 10 mgs in about six weeks and kept going down.  I got down to five in four months and then she gave me a schedule to get off.   I started to feel the pain when I got to three.  I had to get off though because of my glaucoma.  I had to get off of Methotrexate because of the liver count.  So I was down to over the counter.  Some days I think it helps and other days I think it does. 

I know before Prednisone I would take six Motrins and they didn't phase the pain a bit.  Prednisone knocked out about 75 percent of my pain in the six months I took it.  I'm glad I got off of it.  Possibly I should not have taken it in the first place.

Then I think that possibly if I had a cortisone shot right away, it might have nipped the whole thing in the bud.  My arms did not hurt until two months after my knees started to hurt and that was because I was lifting myself out of bed, turning over, and getting out of chairs by lifting myself with my arms and they started to hurt. 

Always lots of speculation when one is ill.....doesn't pay to look back...we're going forward to feeling better.   Mary

Hi to everyone,  i went down to 13 mg. of pred today i was doing 15, i feel like i got hit by a truck, but i will not give in i know it takes a few days for the body to adjust to the new dose, unbelievable what those two mg. do

A few days ago i noticed that my hands are a little shakey, anyone else have this happen to them?

                Happy Holidays to all Georgiana



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