← Return to Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR): Meet others & Share Your Story

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@johnbishop

Hi @canpr, Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I can't imagine dealing with PMR with no support. That takes me back to when I first experienced PMR and finally was sent to a rheumatologist who diagnosed me. My wife had to drive me to the appointment in the morning and I had a follow up the same day in the afternoon. We picked up the prednisone after the morning appointment and I took my first 20 mg tablet and was feeling no pain by the time I went to my afternoon follow up. I didn't start looking at diet to help with my autoimmune conditions until after I was diagnosed with small fiber peripheral neuropathy in 2016. That led me to doing some research on nutrition to help with my autoimmune condition after reading Dr. Terry Wahls book The Wahls Protocol.

I pretty much cut out all fast foods, most processed foods and sugar which I still have not totally eliminated. I found the following article which helped me do a little better planning on what I can eat and what I should avoid.
What to eat if you have polymyalgia rheumatica: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/321683

You are doing great tapering off of prednisone. I was never any higher than 20 mg for both occurrences of PMR but each of us are different. One of the things that helped me taper off of prednisone was keeping a daily pain/dosage log, recording how I felt with the pain from a 1 to 10 along with the dosage of prednisone. This also helped me when I had a second round with PMR. If you haven't already requested that your doctor prescribe 2.5 mg tablets and 1 mg tablets, I would discuss it with your rheumatologist or doctor. It makes it much easier to go down slower in dosage.

Did your doctor give you any suggestions for a tapering schedule?

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Replies to "Hi @canpr, Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I can't imagine dealing with PMR with no support...."

The doc who diagnosed me spent most of 2020 trying to find a reduction schedule that worked for me. After several flare-ups followed by increased Prednisone, we found that reducing 1 mg every six weeks worked for my body. I was never referred to a rheumatologist. I have moved, and will see my new doc in May. I will insist on keeping this reduction schedule but will ask for a referral.