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I have been on prednisone for 6 weeks, now, for PMR. Absolutely hate the stuff! I started on 15, was upped to 30, then down to 20 and now on 15, and supposed to go down to 12.5 after 2 weeks back on the 15. I still have pain in shoulders and butt/tailbone, as well as back of legs, so not sure if going down that low is the right thing to do at this time, due to the pain. However, I'm thinking having the pain may not be as bad as the side effects of the prednisone???
I feel reasonably well until I take the prednisone in the morning. Then, about an hour later, I feel like something crawled in my body and won't get out. I am shaky, irritable, my front teeth ache, and my neuropathy/numbness in my legs increases to the point that I have trouble walking from the numbness. My eyesight gets blurry, and my urine always smells sweet from the rise in sugar. Besides the insomnia, I also feel more depressed after taking the prednisone. This is indeed a nasty cure for a disease that has no cure, only a possible eventual remission!
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I use methylprednisolone and have never had any side effects. Methylpred is a bit stronger than regular pred. A 4mg methylpred is equal to 5mg pred. I started at 20mg and am now at 4mg. It was completely smooth sailing until I reached 4mg. Its not bad now but in the morning I wake up with some slight upper arms & and shoulders discomfort that goes away within a couple of hours.
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Well at least you recognize the effects. I knew the effects of steroids since I was giving them to my wife with cancer. Dr Megan calls it a love - hate relationship. I knew the side effects and was still stuck on 10mg of prednisone for 6 months. I went from 20mg to 10mg in the first 2 weeks. I then could not move below 10mg without the pain returning. I have felt lucky that I was able to move from 10mg to zero in about 1 month. At 6 weeks I doubt whether your PMR has burned out enough to reduce. It can take some years to burn out. Move to your lowest possible dose. Mine was 10mg and then just keep trying to move. Your Dr. will try pushing you but its really more about the PMR. After 2 weeks your body has now quit making cortisol. A taper will be necessary to keep moving down. Although the longer you are on steroids the harder this taper will be to accomplish. Just realize your not doing yourself any favors. The side effects of the prednisone make take years if ever to correct itself.