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The lowest effective dose, how is it defined?
Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) | Last Active: 1 day ago | Replies (79)Comment receiving replies
Start dose was 15mg in May 2023. 10mths ago after reducing to 6.5/6mg I had my first and only flare, which only settled after going back to 15mg and reducing again. Now reducing to 5.5mg without issue, and I'm hoping not to add more medications with new problems and side effects.
Everyone is different, from dose needed to how long it takes the PMR to resolve, and which medications can be tolerated. I'm on blood thinners for thrombosis, have had heart issues and have latent tuberculosis which means some medications used for PMR can't be taken.
Let us know how you get on with the sulfasalazine. Your experience with it will be of interest to others.
Replies to "Start dose was 15mg in May 2023. 10mths ago after reducing to 6.5/6mg I had my..."
Yes, I agree that everyone is different and slow taper is less likely to encounter flares. I started at 10 mg, which is low but worked for me. I am a small woman in otherwise excellent health. The rheumatologist let me choose my taper and I only had two small flares, my back at 1.5 mg and my knee at .5 mg. But I kept to the program and did not go up and they resolved themselves after a few days. I have been prednisone free for a month now with no issues. Fingers crossed!
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Thank you, and yes will keep you updated. Just starting a lower dose of the prednisone today for a mth, was 10 now 7.5 (I think I mentioned this ) will keep this dose for another month, and have increased the sulfasalazine to 4 a day , we can only try can’t we. I saw a post re a Dr Megan who has a supplement for people on prednisone, have you heard of this? I’m in Australia so will see if they ship to here 🤔