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Upcoming surgery prevents prednisone use
Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) | Last Active: Jun 23 10:23pm | Replies (29)Comment receiving replies
I'm in a similar situation. I am having knee replacement surgery the 2nd week of August. My primary care physician had her nurse call me and suggestion I taper and get off of prednisone completely. I am at 5.5, starting 5 tomorrow. They said it slows the healing process - so them I'm thinking okay so that means every 3 days tapering down by .5 on the prednisone until 0 -- it's a bit frightening..... the Ortho surgeon recommended I be down to 5 mg last week, but my primary doctor says no completely off -- so then I'm thinking oh boy what if I have a flare before or after surgery - and how soon after surgery can I take it if needed - but then if it prevents healing..... I'm confused does anybody have any suggestions?
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I had knee replacement a year ago this past March. I had been on pred and MTX since my diagnosis in 2023. At the time of my knee replacement I had tapered to 8 mg. My surgeon and rheumy discussed my case before scheduling. The surgeon felt comfortable at 8 mg to do the surgery, so we went ahead. It was such a success and no problems with healing. I would trust the surgeon’s recommendation over your primary. He is the one with the surgical experience and dealing with patients on prednisone. I am currently still on pred at 1mg. Struggling with this phase of the tapering. I’ve finally got an order for testing my adrenal function. Good luck with your knee replacement. Be patient with your body and allow a full year to feel completely recovered. I’m so glad I did it. Had a hip replaced in 2024 by same surgeon. Great success! No prednisone issues at a high dose then either.