How quick was your relief? | Arthritis Information

Hi All,
Excuse me if this is a repeated topic... as I said on a few other threads, I was
diagnosed yesterday and started prednisone yesterday. I feel like this must
be a placebo effect!! I was able to drive for an hour, go to a long movie and
walk easily out of theater! Then I slept 5 straight hours last night only
woken by the alarm! I am still having some pain this morning, but nothing
like yesterday. Did others react so quickly? How long till you could stop
tylenol, etc? And how long till the symptoms were gone?
Thanks! And BE WELL! pgr55539276.23Hi there - yep, the prednisone hits this thing pretty quickly. I felt much better the day after my first (20 mg) dose as well. I had also had shots of cortisone in each shoulder (I couldn't even move them without extreme pain) the same day.

I was also told by my Dr that a fast reaction could be expected within 1 or two days, and this also helps to confirm the diagnosis of PMR, which you all probably already know, is supposedly difficult to diagnose.

Thank you Kiwilass -- I am a little discouraged because i am not doing as well today, although still better than yesterday morning. Was the beginning up & down at all?

Oh, and yes he did tell me that a positive reaction would be a positive diagnosis as well

pgr55539276.3500115741Omigosh, I'm trying to remember back now. The significant thing that remains in my mind was "Wow - that was fast" !!! I suppose it may depend on the dosage, I remained on 20 mg for 1 month, then RH. introduced Methotrexate (I was also diagnosed Sero Negative RA). After I had been on the MTX for another month, began to taper the Prednisone. Down to 8 mgs Pred. now, with a mix of others usual for RA.

We all sometimes need to have our meds tweaked now and again, so it's important to keep a record of what is happening for you, and note down questions and things you are concerned about to take to your next Rheumy visit to discuss. It's also good to look back at the record too, most times you can see positive progress.

Everything though until recently, has been very stable for me, and apart from being very fatigued, I continued my lifestyle much as usual. Recent probs are probably more down to the RA than PMR.

I am always however, usually still a bit stiff and achy up around shoulder girdle and hips in the mornings, (like before PMR diagnosis) and a bit slow to get going, but some gentle slow stretches through all the joints (you know, like a pussy cat prg555, So happy you have some relief. Welcome to the love hate relationship with prednisone. Maybe you won't have any side effects. I've been on prednisone for 1 and 1/2 years, started at 20 mg, got down to 5, then had trouble. I'm back at 13 now, but in answer to your question. I've take Aleve everyday, and sometimes darvocet. I just do what I have to to be able to work and get by. I am never absolutely pain free, nor are most of the others on the forum. Welcome and thanks for sharing, and let us know how you are doing since you're the new kid. Oops - yes, sorry, I forgot to say welcome to the board prg. I m sure you all remember what it meant to you to have a group like this
when you were starting the journey... Thank You for being here and
supportive.

I actually sat down an made a record ealier today when I felt discouraged
because i wasn't doing as well as yesterday. It was really helpful to see
the extreme difference. Aside from sleeping last night, I realized that
today i took NO alleve and only 1 dose of extra strength tylenol at 7 am
and 10 mg of prednisone. My shoulders are very sore and achy and my
arm is really hurting, but most of the lower extremity pain is about 75%
better than it was with all that other stuf in me (tons of tylenol and
alleve). If I had skipped ven 1 dose of tylenol I was in agony... so this is
really better! Writing it down really helped~

I wonder who has tried acupucture? Pre-diagnosis it has really taken the
sharpness out of the pain for me and made me functional for a few days
at a time. Now with a diagnosis I am hoping it will help even more.

Thank you all for the supportAfter the dramatic relief of stiffness and pain, assorted other niggly pains surfaced, they have all come and gone and I realise now are not pmr pains related to an inflammatory process. I feel all my inflammation pain has gone with the pred and the other pains that were probably there all along, but masked by the all-enveloping pain of pmr, rear their ugly little heads. Always remember that pred is NOT a painkiller, all it does is inhibit inflammatory response, thereby removing only the pain (and stiffness) caused by inflammation. So you will still get other pains. I find panadol a useful painkiller for these. And somehow these extra pains seem to show up just when you thought you were relieved of pain! My theory is that due to the ongoing pain we have suffered before diagnosis and treatment, we have not used our muscles properly and this can result in pain later, also, we tend to feel SO great in the first period after treatment starts, that it is easy to over-do it and actually do too much. I know I did, AND I felt it later, not in pmr-type pain, but in the other sort - that luckily goes away, unlike pmr pain. Chico,

I think you're right about some of the pains being from not having used the muscles, or not having used them properly, for so long. I am slowly getting back to walking and doing my light weights at home (up to 8 lbs.), and I have yet to get the "good" muscle aches from exercise. I think I may still have a mild case of PMR even after 5 years, as my sed rate is still at 44, and I have some stiffness. Most of it is now in the hip area, but that could also be related to my back problems, and problems from not walking properly for months due to heel and foot pain. I refuse to take any prescription meds at this point for the pain - have been off all prednisone since Oct. 2005, and plaquenil since Apr. 2006, so am doing pretty well. Still wish it were like 6 years ago, but that is probably not to be, or not for a long while yet. And, of course, I'm not getting any younger, so maybe I shouldn't expect so much. I thought I was cured after 1 day of pred! It was amazing . All the pain went away...... was on it 1.5 years and the PMR went away...Yes, that first day is a stunner! I am back to that now. Went off my 10mg pred after the 3 week course was finished, doc wanted me to stop and "see what happens". Well, I did 3 days of 5mg then stopped. I must admit, on 5 a few niggly arm pains returned, so maybe 5 just isn't enough. Anyhow, after 6 days of no pred, I was utterly miserable yesterday, so started back on 10 this morning. So I'm looking forward to this afternoon when, if all goes according to plan, I will be feeling MUCH better. Got a few more days to wait for diagnosis from the rheumy, after all my blood tests, but I am not going to suffer while I wait.
Btw, my experience is that pred works VERY quickly Chico,

Maybe everyone responds a bit differently? It took about 4 days when I started pred. to get almost total relief, but once I got down to 7-8 mg, the pain started to return, tho' mildly, right away. It's not easy to settle for even mild pain after you've felt so good for a while. I have moderate pain most days now, but have been off meds for almost 2 years, and they keep telling me now it is because of the disc problems and arthritis in my spine, which also makes the muscles ache. Hmmm....

Reni
Yes Reni, it seems that pred has such varying effects on different people. I believe it has a "life" of 24 hours, or so I read somewhere (I seem to have been reading screeds about PMR and pred lately!!). And I do read here often that people really feel it even after one day off their pred. I agree, once you have had that relief from pain and stiffness, it's very hard to live with it again. In my case, I can't believe how long I put up with it before I really did something about it. And once I got relief, I was shocked to realise how bad I had been, I had actually got so used to feeling terrible, I thought it was normal! I've got the rotten back too, and that can be a red herring with diagnosis. And in your case, it's an on-going red herring! But at least you are off the pred and that is a biggie. Does ordinary paracetamol or something like that help with your back pain? Well chico, another way we are alike.... the bad back thing

My day toay was rough cause i only took 10 mg this am getting ready for a
2nd 10 tonight. We'll see, but I think you are right about the 24 hour life
I am sorry you are not doing as well & hope your paln works.
I also am amazed I lived in teh pain I did for ssoooooooooooooooo long!
thinking of you all,,,Chico,

I have tried so many things, and nothing works really well for the back pain. Today I am having a really bad day - hurts to get into the car, hard to get up and down from the floor. Days like today, I really wonder, because lots of joints hurt as well as the back. OH, well. I just took 2 Tylenol PM and will follow with 50mg trazodone in a while, and hope that helps so I can sleep. I cancelled my July appointment with my rheumy and scheduled for mid-Sept. instead, as I don't think there is much he can do for spinal arthritis. Hope everyone else is doing better.

Reni

I noticed a difference in two hours and by the next day. My arms quit hurting within 12 hours and then by knees and hips stopped hurting the next day. I still had my usual sacroiliac joint pain that I had before though. Then about five days later I developed a catch in my back right at my waistline which stayed around for a week.

My rheumy started me out on 15 mgs in the morning and 5 in the afternoon. After I read about Prednisone causing glaucoma, I dropped the 5 in the afternoon dose and didn't feel any different. Then I started dropping it myself until I say her again and I was on 5.

She had also started me out on Methotrexate with the Prednisone, so that is probably why I could drop the Prednisone so easily. As it turns out though, the Prednisone did make my eye pressure increase and I hope it will go down. It hadn't after being off of it a month. Also, the Methotrexate raised my liver count, so she took me off of that.

When I say her last, my arms didn't hurt. But, my hips hurt, so then she said she wondered if I really had PMR. I do need to call her and tell her that when I don't take Tylenol or aspirin...my arms hurt. I am praying though that the pain just stays at this level and doesn't escalate to what it was before when I couldn't even get up out of a chair or worse yet getting off the toddy was very difficult.

She said she could get some Enbrel (sp) for me. I don't think it is a proven medication for PMR. However, I said I would see how I did on the Tylenol and aspirin because the Enbrel has not had enough trials to see what it really does to your body. I'm afraid it might be like Vioxx and do bad things to you.

Not only that...it is about ,000 a year and I don't have prescription coverage, but my income guidelines would probably enable the company to give it to me. I don't see how anyone with prescription coverage could afford it even since some of those plans pay only 70% of it, leaving the insured to pay 30%...so that still a budget breaker at 0 a month. Even the Medicare prescription D coverage is going to be a rather expensive item.

I am really really stiff when I wake up in the morning. I don't sleep well anyway. So I am extremely tired. I had to go to a late afternoon wedding today, and I almost called and said I wouldn't be there. I usually don't drink coffee, but I brewed up an extra strength pot of coffee and had a couple cups. Believe it or not....in an hour I wasn't as fatigued. Maybe I will have to try that more often.

I hope you are having a better day....they do come along. In fact, I feel better now that I have all day and it is late. I suppose when the caffeine wears off I might get some sleep. Mary