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New PMR patient, wondering if mornings will become pain free someday
Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) | Last Active: Jun 1 11:10am | Replies (120)Comment receiving replies
A bit late to the party here, but I was diagnosed with PMR about 6 months ago. Started off at 20 mg prednisone and I'm down To 7 1/2 mg; 2 and 1/2 mg in the evening and 5 mg in the morning. But I am still very stiff all morning and may ask my rheumatologist to go up to 10 mg. Like everyone else, I am frustrated that this is not allowing me to enjoy physical activity. I will be 70 in December and ride motorcycles including dirt bikes. But I can't see being able to do that any longer and that is depressing. I know we all have to accept our age but this came on as a shocker as I have never had any real physical limitations. I know the prednisone taken in a large enough dose could eliminate all my pain most likely, but I am concerned about the consequences of taking it. So my question is, How much pain and discomfort should I tolerate; more pain = less prednisone or less pain = more pred?
Replies to "A bit late to the party here, but I was diagnosed with PMR about 6 months..."
If you like and trust your rheumatologist, iIwuld follow his/her advice. Raising prednisone doseage does not necessarily reduce pain. Everyone may have different results.
Hello @321design I tagged you in a different comment above - when was your last blood work done ?
"I know the prednisone taken in a large enough dose* could eliminate all my pain most likely"
* in a large enough dose INITIALLY ? - is that what you are asking ?
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Welcome @321design, That does seem to be the magic and elusive question when diagnosed with PMR and wanting to get rid of the pain and off of prednisone in the shortest time possible. I've had PMR twice now and started at 20 mg prednisone. First time took 3 and half years to get off with a six year remission and the second time took 1 and half years to get off and I'm working on year seven for remission. My rheumatologist reminded me we are all different and had me keep a daily pain log along with the dose for the day. He told me when it was time to taper I had to listen to my body and if the pain was too much to try another week at the same dose to see if it got better or worse. If it got better I tapered to the next level down. If it got worse, I went up half of my last taper down. For me that number was a 2 or less on my pain scale of 0 to 10.
You might want to read through the experiences of others on tapering. Here's a link to the search results if you want to read through some of the discussions and comments - https://connect.mayoclinic.org/search/discussions/?search=tapering%20off%20prednisone.
Sadly I gave up my motorcycle and dirt bike days in my 50s due to other problems not related to PMR. I can relate to not wanting to quit doing something that is fun and enjoyable. Have you tried making any lifestyle changes to help with the PMR?