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Prednisone tapering is challenging. What does remission feel like?
Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) | Last Active: Sep 3, 2023 | Replies (209)Comment receiving replies
I have just tapered to 8 mg of prednisone from 9 after a month 3 days later I am in a lot of ache and pain, scale of 1 to 10, I am 7 This morning took 9.5 mg as per tapering suggestions. I guess this is a relapse correct? Just read in medical digest that taper should be done once patient is asymptomatic at current dosage before reducing. I have always had morning stiffness and aches and pain around 2 to 3 level during tapering from 40 mg I take my prednisone at 5 am and am asymptomatic by about 11 am. Should I be asymptomatic earlier I will talk with my doctor in a few days. There are so many opinions about tapering as everyone is different. My doctor said the same thing. What thoughts and experiences are you folks having about this? Are all of you experiencing what I am. Is being sore every morning Ok . This condition is frustrating.
Replies to "I have just tapered to 8 mg of prednisone from 9 after a month 3 days..."
I have only recently been diagnosed after 5 years of trying to figure out what was wrong with me. The rheumatologist started me on 10mg prednisone which helped almost immediately and I had energy and hope for the future. However after about 6 weeks the effect of prednisone seems to be diminishing. My shoulders are very sore now most of the day. I find it hard to lift things and my energy is getting sapped again by dealing with the pain. I reported all this to my rheumatologist yesterday but haven’t heard back. I was scheduled to start cutting back to 7.5 the first week. I am really scared about that. I feel like I will be back at the beginning where I have no energy and even ordinary things seem impossible.
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@skiing - You are right, this is a frustrating condition and each of us are a little different when it comes to PMR. I struggled more with the tapering during my first occurence of PMR and it took me 3-1/2 years to taper off. We were similar except I started at 20 mg and did not taper if my pain level was more than 1 to 2 in the morning when I first got up which is usually 5am. I normally take my meds at 6 am after I've finished my morning shower routine. I would feel better a couple of hours after taking the prednisone. I did better the second time around with PMR because I changed my eating habit some and tried to avoid the foods that are inflammatory and make PMR worse.