Prednisone and relief

I was diagnosed in March 2025 For the first 9 months or so it would take that long to get relief. Adding Meloxcam at night helped. (12 hrs after Pred to avoid problems) Now down to 5 mg Pred at 8am and generally okay by 11-12. No Meloxicam needed. Good luck!

It could be an indication for a change in your dose strength or timing. What dose of prednisone are you
on?

That was true of me when I first started 20mg Prednisone and after the Prednisone shot. 2:30 relief. Now, on 5mg in morning and 5 mg late afternoon.

Have you tried a split dose? When I started, I took the entire dose in the AM and was hurting and very stiff and would wake up around 2 AM. My GP and his NP (they diagnosed PMR quickly and then I had to wait 3 months to see a rheumy) suggested the split dose when I told her that the relief wore off in the AM. When I went to 2/3 dose in the AM and 1/3 dose in PM, I was "pain free" all day. My experience is that it takes 4-6 hours for the prednisone to take effect and it does not last even 18 hours.

Lots of posts about split dosing on this site.

Good luck!

I was on 15mg prednisone initially in March and it didn't stop the pain at all. It took 25mg and the relief was same day and stayed gone for my hip girdle pain. My shoulders had 90% relief. My residual pain was diagnosed as SMM and now I'm tapering down the prednisone now and at 12.5mg I'm still okay.

When I first started in Nov last year I woke up in the early am from pain, and splitting the dose worked well. By January I stopped splitting the dose and took the full amount after breakfast. That has been mostly OK but now I'm down to 8mg I'm having left shoulder pain in the morning which goes away around 11 or noon. I'm tempted to go back to splitting the dose, even though my Rheumy doesn't think it's a good idea.