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Alternative to Prednisone for Treating PMR?
Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) | Last Active: Aug 25, 2023 | Replies (68)Comment receiving replies
My primary care Dr . Prescribed it .
It’s is made & used in 50 mg tablets as an anti narcotic drug , but they have discovered that 4.5 mg is helping many people with different problems .
At first I was hesitant but I was searching for a way get off prednisone once and for all. I had been nine months prednisone been off for three months and then it would flare up and come back and I did this for five years straight until finally I agreed to try the LDN. I had to start at a 1 mg dose and over 30 days go to 4.5 now I have a pharmacy compounded for me.
In August it will be three years PMR free
I wish you luck. I know how brutal this disease is
It has no side effects.
Replies to "My primary care Dr . Prescribed it . It’s is made & used in 50 mg..."
Thank you Chris. I did a search on this drug and saw the low dosing data and micro-dosing too. The NIH paper 2018 is quite technical. Thankfully my spouse is a biochemist/ clinical pharmacist/ basic researcher. He gave a light read and will follow up. Sounds very promising. Did you stop the P and start the N at the same time or cut one and add the other? I’m two years in and I think I’m having a flare right now, the last week has been brutal. It’s my second attempt at tapering, honestly I couldn’t go much slower this time. Thanks for your information, really useful and glad you found a solution.
I think for those of us w kidney disease LDN is dangerous.
I am SO tired of the side effects of prednisone. The main culprits are blurring vision, lack of sleep, emotional lability, and weight gain/puffiness. Yuck! It beats the pain and immobility of PMR and I'll settle for it if I have to, but I wish there were an alternative that would work instead. I have passed an article on LDN to my general practitioner (who first diagnosed PMR) and she is going to check it out -- hopefully, she will find it acceptable as a safe and potentially effective replacement. I am concerned about how long it will take to taper prednisone before beginning the LDN, but it will be whatever it will be.
I never realized how a chronic illness can change a person until this PMR business struck. It is demoralizing to lose function and mobility -- never mind the pain. But even now that prednisone has given me back function and mobility and eliminated the pain, I still feel like a stranger to myself in many ways. The 'cure' isn't worse than the disease, but it is a VERY mixed bag. I know I'm not "entitled" to perfect health, but I so miss the healthy days of feeling up-to-whatever-came-along. I try to concentrate on being grateful for all I have had and still do have, but this is a harder path than I would have chosen, if I'd been able to choose.
Does anyone have experience with LDN that they could share in detail? Just looking to feel hopeful again.
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Low dose naltrexone (LDN)