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Wrist and finger pain while tapering prednisone
I know there are similar threads within other discussions, but wanted to start a fresh, focused discussion.
I've been tapering from 20 mg of prednisone since mid August and am down to 13mg as of today. I had a couple of "mini" flares, but jumped back to previous dose for 2-3 days and resumed taper for the next two weeks successfully. At the 20mg I was pain free and with the tapering, had very mild pain (1-2/10) and stiffness in the mornings for the first couple of days that was pretty much gone by the next taper down. However, at my last taper from 15 to 14mg, my wrists and some fingers were at a 3+/10 level and very stiff in the morning. By late afternoon it is down to a 1+/10 level. The wrists almost feel like they are sprained and the lower palms like they are bruised. The annoying part of this is opening containers, manipulating small items, playing golf in the morning on weekends, etc. I chalk up the finger pain to normal arthritis wear and tear.
To keep the tapers going, I'm willing to put up with wrist pain at the current level as long as my other joints remain at the low levels. Everything else is going well so far, inflammation markers are back in normal range, just had a bone density scan that looks good and above normal and most prednisone "issues" are much better.
I do a split dose and have been holding the morning to 10 mg and tapering the evening dose. Maybe I should keep the doses equal?
Has anyone else had this issue and if so, have you found any solution for relief?
Thanks, Terry
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Oh wow! I had no idea. I am really blessed with a $68 co-pay for two month supply.
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1 ReactionJust to let the group (and terrym) know that I am experiencing the same thing with my wrists and fingers as I tamper from 15 to 12.5.
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2 ReactionsSame thing here…wrists and fingers in AM, gone by 1400. Flexing wrists and squeezing a rubber ball for a few minutes seems to help. Presently tapered to 9. Since SED test is now in normal range, rheumy says we are now no longer treating PMR with prednisone, and now we need to continue tapering and deal with osteoporosis as causing current hand issues.
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3 ReactionsCorrection: osteoarthritis, not osteoporosis. Autofill was the culprit !
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2 ReactionsHI @art43 ha ha - i have a running joke at work about using "military time" so 1400 = 2pm , correct ? and i just saw cocktail napkins that say "autocorrect is my worst enema"! LOL
Waiting till 2 pm for pain to go away seems unacceptable ! are you retired ?
I am very interested in your comment below, I also now have pain in both thumbs , which i never had before ( and also upper arms)! So in your case and others who are recently replying did you have OA BEFORE PMR ? - is the explanation that PMR can heighten a previously unDx -arthritis ? Cause it ? worsen it ? art43 and @usmwp111 - have you had Xrays , or other imaging ? My Inflammatory markers are all normal since initial high dose of Prednisone alleviated by 100% all morning stiffness and pain.- i have tapered to 5.5 mg Prednisone/day
"Since SED test is now in normal range, rheumy says we are now no longer treating PMR with prednisone, and now we need to continue tapering and deal with osteopoarthritis as causing current hand issues." Thanks all for continuing to update about distal pains !
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3 ReactionsI too have hand and wrist pain.
Im 58 and have trouble with finite hand motor skills. Has anyone heard if Vitamin D deficiency has anything to do with it? I am taking supplements. I didn't have this pain at the beginning back in August 2023. I have tapered down from 20 mg to 5 mg. I want to get off of prednisone asap and am willing to deal with the pain to do so.
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3 ReactionsOff prednisone entirely since January but only in the last month has the wrist and finger pain started. Terry is right. Hard to do things like opening a lid or holding my coffee mug with one hand. Taking my usual Tylenol and using Costco version of Volterin. Works within minutes 4 times a day. Of course it is my right dominant hand.
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3 ReactionsSeems like this is a common issue. I had mild osteoarthritis in one joint of one hand before PMR and Prednisone. The inflammation ramped up in both hands/wrists about a month after starting Prednisone and would hit at 1am as my morning dose of Prednisone was wearing off. I would walk around the house wailing in pain, begging someone to cut my hands off. Splitting the dose and taking half the morning dose at 5pm helped enormously. However the OA pain is now quite bad in both hands and both knees now that i am down to a 6mg daily dose of Prednisone and tapering successfully at 0.25mg per week. I take this as a positive sign that Prednisone no longer has me trapped because prior to this it was masking the OA pain. I can deal with the OA pain but the PMR pain was next level. I have been taking Hydroxychloroquine for the last 5 weeks and i think it is helping calm the PMR inflammation but is obviously not helping with the OA pain. I dont care, just want to rid myself of the dreaded steroids.
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2 ReactionsI also experienced hand/wrist/thumb pain for over a month while my P dosage was 8 headed for 6. I am now about to go to 5 (down 1 per month) and the pains have almost completely disappeared. Hang in there !
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5 ReactionsYes, I’m having a similar experience with hand pain right now after 1.5 yr journey - currently age 69 on MTX 25mg, tapering prednisone at 7mg. My rheumatologist also blames OA, but I did not have OA issues before PMR. @terrym, How are your hands now? I hope your hand pain has subsided.