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2 year struggle to get off prednisone still hard to get from 3 to 2mg

Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) | Last Active: May 15 9:20am | Replies (39)
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@tuckerp

I used Dexamethasone. Medicare drug plan did cover. I am not sure if its similar to Rayos but it works quicker and lasts longer. Its about 5 to 6 times stronger than prednisone so you need to adjust the dosage accordingly. I had no trouble with tapering off. My PMR lasted about 6 months and I was off.

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Replies to "I used Dexamethasone. Medicare drug plan did cover. I am not sure if its similar to..."
DadCue | @dadcue | May 13 1:41pm

That's interesting!!! I have never tried Dexamethasone but I can see how a stronger steroid might work better.

My rheumatologist only used Prednisone. I was supposed to taper Prednisone "as tolerated." I didn't tolerate a lower dose of prednisone very well because of increased pain so I stayed on a moderately high dose of Prednisone for a very long time. I think at some point my adrenals were so suppressed that I couldn't regulate my inflammation level very well without Prednisone. When I was able to decrease my Prednisone dose with Actemra, my cortisol level improved. After my cortisol level improved was I able to discontinue prednisone without any problems.

Rayos is just enteric coated Prednisone. Instead of "instant released" uncoated prednisone, Rayos is a "delayed release" coated version of Prednisone.

https://www.rayosrx.com/

For some reason, Rayos is very expensive in the USA and Medicare won't usually pay for it. If a government funded insurance program like Medicare doesn't pay for a medication then private insurance companies won't either unless they charge higher premiums

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