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PMR tapering
I am new to this forum. I had to cut winter vacation short and head home because of aching shoulders, hips and lower back aches and was in constant pain from Dec. 1st to Jan. 20, 2025. I am waiting to hear from a rheumatologist which could take months. All blood work came back normal because they had started me on 15 mg prednisone in January 2025. Since then I have tapered down to 2.5 mg. In the past 3 weeks I have been in constant pain and went back up to 5 mg (my NP is away) and within a day noticed a big difference. My question is how long should I stay on the 5mg before tapering down again. I did not get any help from my pharmacist.
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My internist has always recommended a 3-4 week taper. 4 weeks worked best for me. Never 2 weeks. Not a good idea to rush it.
I Usually had a little discomfort for one to two days after a taper. But I went from 20 to 2mg in
14 months.
At 3 mg, I had trouble with pain so back to 3.5, the 3 then 2.5 for two weeks each time. Much easier. Now at 2. Hoping to be done in 6 weeks! We’ll see…. Then I have a Celebrex Rx in case.
I take dose at 7-8 pm so I have very little morning discomfort. Hope this helps.
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2 ReactionsI'm having some facial surgery and the doctor said he wanted me to go from 3.5 to 2.5 so that to help with wound healing and inflammation. He knows that I have PMR. It's been about 1 week since the drop. Just a little pain in the hip but 8 hour Tylenol knocked it out and now no pain. Prayers that it stays that way! Best wishes with your taper. Slow and steady wins the race or so we can hope. 🙂 Lol
I have upped my dose to 5 mg a few days ago and still a little stiff and achy in the morning. I take the 5mg I. The morning. I’m wondering if I should take the 5mg in the evening around 7 to 8pm so that I won’t be as stiff and achy in the morning. I thought you were supposed to take your prednisone all in the morning.
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1 ReactionThe usual recommendation is to take the entire dose of Prednisone in the morning. My doctor was flexible with how I took my Prednisone dose. I took most of my dose in the morning and a small part of my dose in the evening.
If I took all of my daily dose of Prednisone in the morning, I would routinely wake up in pain at 3 a.m. If my total dose was 15 mg --- I would take 10 mg in the morning and 5 mg in the evening, Splitting my dose allowed me to sleep all night without pain.
The ratio for splitting the dose can be adjusted and it didn't need to be exact. I preferred 2/3 of my dose in the morning and 1/3 of my dose in the evening. My doctor knew what I did and didn't have a problem with me doing it that way.
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3 ReactionsTook me three weeks at 3mg to feel as good as I did on 4mg. I am glad I was patient. Been on 2mg for a week now, a bit achy and stiff.
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