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How to address PMR pain while decreasing prednisone
Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) | Last Active: Nov 6, 2023 | Replies (747)Comment receiving replies
Hi John...this info is very helpful. One question I've had is how long to stay on a particular dosage to see if the pain subsides. For example, right now I"m on 17mg. As mentioned before, I had a flare up when I ramped down from 20 to 15mg. I tried 16 and still had pain but 17 made a big difference. I'm not totally pain free (about a 1) but doing much better after two weeks on 17mg. In your experience, if you are doing pretty well (very little pain) and stay on the same dose, does the pain often level out after a while?? I'm going for a blood test today. Hoping I'm still in the normal range but I"m sure it won't be 0.
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Hi June, I know each of us are different with the pain levels. When I was tapering, I didn't mind living with a 1 or 2 level of pain for a week or so. I tried to taper every 2 weeks but on my first occurrence with PMR I had more trouble and it took me 3 and half years with the last six months going back and forth between 1 mg and 1/2 mg (hated splitting the 1 mg tablets!) until I could finally go from 1/2 to totally off prednisone and still had about a 1 level of pain in the morning until I got up and moving. It got better for me as the day progressed.