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OTC pain relief while on Prednisone?
Hello! So happy to find this group. Male, age 59, had a cold or COVID (did not test) from Aug. 8 to Aug. 18. Was feeling about 80% better, but then felt the first symptoms of PMR on Aug. 25.
After several referrals, a rheumatologist diagnosed me with PMR a week ago. I suffered for about 6 weeks with extreme shoulder joint pain and extreme tightness/soreness/stiffness in the hamstrings, lower back, upper back, shoulders and neck. My knees joined the party about a week ago. I was basically sofa-bound from late August until mid-October.
Rheumatologist started me on 15mg of Prednisone (taken at 8:00 a.m. when I wake up), which provided immediate relief and has me off the sofa and resuming most activities. I still wake up nightly around 4:00 a.m. with pain in my shoulder serious enough to disrupt my sleep so that I toss and turn until 8:00 a.m. A night of 8 hours of restorative, solid Zzzz's is a distant memory.
Advil and Tylenol seem to have no effect, so I've stopped taking them to spare my liver/kidneys/stomach from processing them while getting little-to-no relief.
I asked my doctor if I should up the Prednisone in the interest of getting a full night of healing sleep, but he said no -- stay at 15mg if I can tolerate the PMR pain, so that's where I am.
That's my story. Glad to have found this group and hope I can contribute and help somebody going through the PMR/Prednisone ordeal.
Oh, my question -- are there any OTC meds that can beat back the early morning pain? If not, has anybody here had success with a mild opioid (e.g., Vicodin) to help with sleep?
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@vjm0223 Tried the Tylenol Arthritis for the first time last night at 11:30 p.m. as I went to bed. Instead of shoulder pain waking me up at 3:30 or 4:00, I did not wake up until 5:30. I'll take it!
Planning tonight to take the Tylenol a little later when I get up to pee so that the time-release is still going strong all the way until my target wakeup time of 8:00 a.m.
Tylenol even at a max dosage of 1000mg for me does not and has never taken the morning shoulder pain to 0, but if it drops it from a 5 to a 4 and that's enough to get me an extra hour of sleep, it's totally worth it.
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3 Reactions@superfly999
Great news, My Rehumy told me I could take 2 Ty for A up to 3 times a day max.
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4 Reactions@superfly999 glad it helped somewhat.
This is my exact story! my doc did start me out on prednisolone -- 6 day dosage -- then the pain started returning -- went on 10 mg of prednisone, 7 days, next 5 mg, etc -- it took months and several diagnosis to figure out that it is PMR! I wish they could perfect a different drug to help/cure this ailment ;-( Linda
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2 Reactions@mtlin Yes, my Primary Care doc finally gave me the 6-day Prednisone "Taper-Pak," but only after I begged him for something for the pain I was in. I think he agreed to do it due to my high Sed-Rate and CRP tests indicating systemic inflammation.
Like a switch had been flipped, I was 100% better 3 hours after the first dose. Despite this major clue, my PCP never made a diagnosis and just referred me to PT and Pain Management. Fortunately, my wife convinced me to get a 2nd opinion from an internal medicine doctor, who in turn referred me to the rheumatologist who made the diagnosis and prescribed the 15mg Prednisone. My first followup lab tests are in 2 weeks, so I'll be on 15mg at least until then.
If you are able to beat PMR with 10mg and a rapid taper like you describe, that would be awesome. Good luck!
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2 ReactionsAlso have success with 1000 mg Tylenol - max dose is 4,000mg per day (if you do not have liver issues or overuse alcohol) Also agree with the Tumeric black pepper supplement- am using that-My other saving grace has been SalonPas patch with the camphor, menthol and methyl salicylate ( not the lidocaine one) and similar Amish Origins Deep Penetrating Pain relief ointment has methyl salicylate eucalypti oil and oil of pine needle. And ice packs. (You know how your back just feels like it is hot and burning?)I guess that’s the inflammation? I found muscle relaxant Flexeril did absolutely nothing. Tried several times. Hugs to all suffering with this. It’s so isolating because to look at us, you can’t tell anything is wrong. But the pain is like ice picks even though we can still walk and talk. We don’t wear a cast or a brace or have surgical scars. Stay strong my friends. Take care of yourselves.
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3 Reactions@aussiedogmom
Tylenol extra strength has helped me with pain, but it does not help with inflammation when you have PMR. My two cents worth. I’ve been off prednisone totally since June 2024. I personally seem to have better luck with managing minimal pain with naproxen or ibuprofen
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1 ReactionSomewhere along the line I was advised not to take over-the-counter pain meds while I was on prednisone. Now that I am off prednisone occasionally use OTC pain meds.
@woodswoman
My miracle medication was Actemra (tocilizumab) although it isn't OTC. I had multiple conditions for which I took Prednisone although not all of my conditions were appropriately treated with Prednisone. I was prescribed every medication imaginable for nerve pain along with muscle relaxants like Flexeril used to treat trigeminal neuralgia and severe spinal stenosis in addition to PMR.
I considered PMR to be a blessing because of the liberal doses of Prednisone that were prescribed to me. Taking Prednisone like I did became a curse because of corticosteroid related complications when I was unable to taper off Prednisone after decades of use. The saving grace from my chronic use of Prednisone was I was never prescribed narcotics so I didn't have an opioid addiction.
I had a corticosteroid dependence when adrenal insufficiency secondary to chronic Prednisone use was diagnosed. Actemra allowed me to overcome my dependence because it allowed me to discontinue Prednisone.
@dadcue May I ask if your insurance covers the Actemra? My understanding is that some carriers cover it, many don't, and without insurance it can be extremely expensive.
I'm still early in my PMR journey and the 15mg Prednisone alone is working like a champ thus far, so I do not need Actemra yet but it is good to know that this tool is in the box if needed in the future.