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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
John, if you feel comfortable sharing, were your Sed Rate and CRP test readings high when you tapered off, or was it solely the pain? I just tapered last week and had pain for a few days, but my Sed Rate and CRP readings were in the normal range. I took pain meds for a few days and the pain did resolve.
Replies to "John, if you feel comfortable sharing, were your Sed Rate and CRP test readings high when..."
To be honest I only had the SED rate and CRP tests done annually after the initial diagnosis and relied on my pain log and how I felt each day when I was tapering down on prednisone. The second time my PMR came out of remission I did have the tests done to confirm PMR and start on 20 mg prednisone again.
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I am wondering if it is smart to try tapering as long as your ESR and CRP are still high. After prednisone for a little over a year my ESR has gone down only to 45 and my CRP was 24.99 in January 2022. I tapered down to 10 1/2 mg and had a terrible flare and am now back up to 14 mg prednisone. Will I always flare if my numbers are not in a normal range? Seems inevitable to me and hardly worth going through the up and down with prednisone until those test numbers normalize. Am I correct?