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← Return to Tapering prednisone
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Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) | Last Active: Apr 25 12:12pm | Replies (26)
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I just want to say how helpful these discussions are. I titrated up from 1 mg to 8 mg to find the sweet spot of no pain. But the side effects of the prednisone (three months worth) make me crazy and I'm titrating down and I want off if I can without the weakness and stiffness in my shoulders that brought me here. I'm at 7 now, taking it slow while hating the weight gain, jitteriness, fat face, and general yuck. Thanks for all the lived experience expressed in your shares.
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"I titrated up from 1 mg to 8 mg to find the sweet spot of no pain."
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No pain was nice but that shouldn't be the goal of long term prednisone. I fell for that trap too many times especially at 7 mg or less of prednisone.
My symptoms weren't like my PMR symptoms when I was originally diagnosed with PMR. Certainly, being unable to lift my arms wasn't a problem except initially when I was diagnosed. Prednisone relieved so much pain but so much of it wasn't PMR as I assumed.
After I was able to get off prednisone, so many things needed to be addressed and treated by "other means" instead of prednisone. As long as the pain was relieved by prednisone ... I didn't want to have things investigated as they should have been. I remember the day when I sat smugly at my rheumatology visit after increasing my prednisone dose substantially.
When I was in such extreme pain, I couldn't wait for my MRI results. My rheumatolgist reviewed the MRI with me and said I had severe spinal stenosis in my lumbar spine. She wouldn't have recommended so much prednisone but she was happy my excruciating pain stopped.
My only defense was that I didn't know what was causing the pain and I had to do something.