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PMR and tapering -- will blood work change?
Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) | Last Active: Jul 6, 2021 | Replies (29)Comment receiving replies
There are a number of methods that people seem to use to taper. The method I use is based on a method from England, I think. Going from 5 to 4, I do 4 days of 5, then 1 day of 4 for awhile. Then I do 3 days of 5, 1 day of 4. Currently I am doing 2 days of 5, 1 day of 4. I repeat each several times, keeping track on a calendar. When I get to a day of 5 and a day of 4, I will start increasing the days on 4. In this way, it will take me about 2-3 months to drop 1 milligram. When I get to 4 mg, I will stay on it for a month, then start going to 3. I find this works better for me then trying to go down by 1/2 mg and cutting pills.
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When I first started this PMR journey I was on a blog in the United Kingdom, and they seem to be head and shoulders above the US in research on PMR. I was told (by a local doc) that they put more money into research and they are looking at this more closely. I'm guessing that PMR is the low man on the totem pole for research here in our country. I can understand that. Cancer and heart disease and other diseases kill people, PMR just makes our lives miserable. But way back when I was diagnosed there was even a little book out on PMR written, I believe, by someone from England. It was a patient, not an expert, but early on I got a lot of my info from that little book. Your method sound complicated, but also like you are successful at what you are doing. Somehow it would have to be documented to keep the dosages and the days straight, but it sound like a decent plan. I'll think on that since I'm having a real hard time getting off of 8 mg. When I look at your method though, I can't seem to get it. I'd have to see it written out more extensively. Math is not my forte.