Connect
← Return to low dose (1-2mg) prednisone indefinitely
Discussion
low dose (1-2mg) prednisone indefinitely
Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) | Last Active: Jun 22 3:36pm | Replies (10)Comment receiving replies
@dadcue
Neither my rheumatologist or pcp has an interest in ordering a cortisol test. I might have made an appointment with the endocrinologist I was seeing but she retired and right now I'm not interested in involving another Dr..
For now I'll just stay at 2mg til Aug.
Copay and possible side effects of biologics are keeping me from that route. Plaquinil and MTX have been ruled out.
I am not problem free right now but may be as good as I can get. Some of these old age aches and pains are just not gonna go away.
The ole 'one day at a time'
I am curious though how many people are low dose indefinitely.
Replies to "@dadcue Neither my rheumatologist or pcp has an interest in ordering a cortisol test. I might..."
Connect
@pmrsuzie
It is an interesting question to ask how many people are on a low dose indefinitely. It implies they can't imagine tapering off Prednisone or maybe they have lost hope. I know that I lost hope at one stage.
The following abstract addresses your question. The conclusion was interesting. I will paraphrase it :
The higher the starting dose and the longer the duration ... the less likely it is for someone to have a "successful discontinuation" of prednisone. The significance of the starting dose diminishes after 24 months. Perhaps this means that many people don't get off prednisone?
https://www.the-rheumatologist.org/article/study-probes-corticosteroid-dependence-in-polymyalgia-rheumatica/
"The clinical course of PMR is characterized by prolonged corticosteroid use, with a discouraging rate of successful prednisone discontinuation."
--------------------------------
I remember 8 years after I was initially diagnosed with PMR --- I was still taking 25 mg of prednisone to control my pain . I wasn't sure if I still had PMR because so much of my pain wasn't like PMR was initially. It was very easy for me to lump together all the pain and say it was PMR.
After some of my pain was surgically corrected, I tapered down to 10 mg. At this stage I told my rheumatologist that I wasn't going to try to go lower than 10 mg. It took a lot of encouragement for me to keep trying.
What was not very helpful to me was being told that a low dose of prednisone for the rest of my life doesn't do any harm. I almost believed it but now research is saying even low doses aren't so good. Then I rationalized that since I was in my mid 60s already ... the rest of my life wouldn't be that long.
The question that has always intrigued me is how many people are still taking Prednisone when they die.