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How to address PMR pain while decreasing prednisone
Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) | Last Active: Nov 6, 2023 | Replies (747)Comment receiving replies
Hello @lindapc, welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Thank you for sharing your story. My first occurrence of PMR lasted 3 years. I was able to gradually taper my dosage down but the last 6 months I was going between 1 mg and 1/2 mg dosage of prednisone. I did have some pain when lowering the dosages but if it was tolerable I tried to stay on the lower dose. One of the things that helped me was to maintain some sort of mild exercise to keep the stiffness away or at least at a minimum. I too had a lot of weight gain with my first occurrence of PMR - about 50 to 60 pounds. It does require some lifestyle changes to keep from gaining extra weight.
Have you discussed the new sweating symptoms with your doctor? I did not have the sweating with my occurrences of PMR but it is one of the known symptoms.
https://www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/muscle-bone-and-joints/conditions/polymyalgia-rheumatica
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Hello John, thank you for your reply and suggestions. I will be going to see my GP soon and will mention as you suggested. What I would also like to know is, how often should you have blood tests to see how the inflammation in your body is?
The Doctor warned me about the Giant Cell association with this condition and although I do not have eye problems or pain in my temple, I have had a very sore scalp since dropping my meds. Does anyone know if this is a symptom?
I also tried treatment with acupuncture and herbal tea which did help but ended up not able to carry on with this due to the costs, this may be something that works with others as well so just thought I would mention this. I try not to drink coffee with sugar but hot water with fresh ginger sliced into it (Ginger root promotes healthy digestion, helps boosts immunity (antioxidants that boosts immunity and helps fight off infections), aids in cardiovascular health and relieves pain (preventing prostaglandins from setting off an inflammatory response in the body.) Cinnamon also can assist with this.
Myself I dislike taking medication and try my best to heal with what nature has provided, although in this case I understand that there is a place for some medication. I also have hypothyroid which makes me quite tired and a fatty liver, so am concerned with taking the Prednisone as I would suspect that this would give your liver a bit of a trouble.
Although I know that exercise is important I find it very difficult to motivate myself at the moment to get out there and get walking. I work at a desk 2 days a week and have very little movement during that time, the rest of the week I have the good intentions but have got to the point where I do not want to go out as I feel so yuk about myself with the bloated face and the extra pounds...I dont want to have this poor me feeling but find it hard to pull myself out of the dark sometimes with this. Is depression part of the condition or a side effect of the Prednisone, I am normally a very positive person with a can do attitude but am floundering with this.