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Down to 1mg prednisone and then extreme fatigue sets in.
Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) | Last Active: 15 hours ago | Replies (37)Comment receiving replies
Diagnosed in December by GP and he put me on 20mg of prednisone and relief was almost immediate. Over last six months have attempted to wean to lower doses, but found that I may have tried too soon. Original excruciating pain in shoulders and hips went away but then pain in hands, (fingers and wrists) and knees. Questioned rheumatologist about that and was advised that it was probably OA so I continued my weaning thinking that new pain was not related to PMR. WHEN I GOT TO ABOUT 2mg and realized pain was a bit over the top reached out again and was told that though PMR does not generally attack the hands and knees it was possible that it was the cause of that pain. Huh? Anyway back up to 14mg with lots of relief. Posting this so those new to PMR and prednisone can see that though our doctors are good they are still practicing and using this forum is probably the best way for all PMR people to make good judgements on their own and for themselves.
Replies to "Diagnosed in December by GP and he put me on 20mg of prednisone and relief was..."
As I tapered at 0.5/month to somewhere around 3, I developed hand and wrist pain. Mild OA was diagnosed using x-ray. The OA had been previously completely masked by my normal cortisol production.
Now off of P for almost 4 months, and experiencing no hand/wrist pains.
Good luck.
I had exactly the same problem with my hands, wrists and knees Was told it was OA, then RA but blood test don't support. I couldn't make a fist anymore or even button my clothes. I was put back on Prednisone 10mg for one month, then alternated 10 mg/5 mg every other day for two weeks. Now at 5mg for a month. I have some bad days that 1000mg have been able to work for the pain. Rheumatologist still has no explanation for the hand/wrist swelling and pain.
@boo3 I have the pain in my hands and shoulders, every day is different… always painful…..diagnosed 12/28/24 down to 5 mg from 25 …. I don’t want to increase!
I love that there is a place that we can talk with people that have the same dx.
Very helpful 😊
My history is very similar. PMR started about 10 months ago with extreme pain. 40 mg prednisone for two weeks knocked out the pain. Doc reduced dosage to 20 mg and I had mild discomfort. Went to 10 and pains came back. 15 for about 5 months and then (at my urging) went down to 10 for a couple months. Now at 5 per day. "Only" symptom is serious muscle fatigue which doc says is either from PMR or prednisone "withdrawal", or something else we haven't pinpointed yet. (Argh) He has me tapering off completely over two more weeks. This seems really fast compared to most of the posters here. I am aware that every person has a unique experience but mine seems outside the norm. Or the gentle folks on this forum have worse than average cases. Thoughts?
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Hey @boo3
Sorry to hear you went from tapering down to 2 then back up to 14. I’m currently with my second bout of PMR, approximately 10 years apart. Been on prednisone for two years now, which was my tapering time to be completely free of it 10 years ago. I am now on 5 mg this month, but was down to 2 in December until I had 3 excruciating days which brought me back up to 10. Have been tapering 1mg/month since February. Starting in July I will take @megz advice and taper .5mg/month using her schedule as well, and hope for the best. I wish everyone suffering with these symptoms all the best in their road to recovery!