I
am a 69 year old women and have been dx with pmr, i have been in
pain,and have extreme fatigue now for about 3 years.
it took the drs.a little while to figure out what i had.
I had every test known to man including blood work, sed rate allways not right.
3 months ago rheumatologist said i have pmr, put me on prednizone, 15
mg. felt pretty good for a while, but i am not feeling good again lots
of pain and fatigue.
my question is this to anyone......................
could i possibly need more prednizone? Is this a flare up?
How long do flare ups last? I am going to the dr. on Monday th
12th...............................I hurt so much I can not even stand
up...........................Thanks Georgiana
I was diagnosed with PMR last July and have had my ups and downs since. My most recent visit to my rheumatologist was last Thursday. He told me that the prednisone can cause weakness of the muscles. However, without the pred you can get the inflamation of the muscle tissue back. Its a fine balance.
He dropped from 11mgs to 10mgs and I'm starting to get some stiffness back. My biggest frustration is that where I used to enjoy walking, I now find it to be an ordeal. My calf muscles cramp up and my legs feel very weak, especially when I walk up hills or stairs. I feel that if I dont walk, my situation will worsen. Its just not the pleasant experience it used to be.
I can now see the other side effect of prednisone; the weight gain. My appetite has increased enormously and I find it hard to control. I'm looking foreward to the day when I will see the light at the end of the tunnel.
This may or may not apply to you, but prednisone depletes calcium, potassium and chromium from the body (and possibly other things, who knows?!) - the potassium depletion could contribute to the cramping. I was getting cramps in my calves & feet every night at bedtime when I was at 10 mg. I started taking chromium picolinate (and biotin) and making sure I had a banana (for potassium) once a day, and the cramping is gone, but I am now at a lower dose i.e. 7 mg. of pred.
About the appetite - I'm not sure if this is the main cause, but with the depletion of chromium, insulin cannot do its job as well to regulate blood sugar. This would cause high blood sugar after meals, and presumably a big drop which would make you feel fatigued and hungry. Possibly supplementation with chromium picolinate would help. Do a google search for "reversal of corticosteroid induced diabetes with chromium picolinate" and you'll be able to bring up information on the studies.
I had major fluctuations in my vision due to the high blood sugar, and that totally resolved after I started on the chromium picolinate & biotin.
Good luck!
Ruth
Ruth
Thankyou for your advice. I will be seeing my local GP in a couple of weeks because I've just been advised that my cholesteral has risen to over 7. I will suggest chromium picolinate and biotin and see what he says.
Gail