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Anyone have discomfort or pain when tapering off prednisone?
Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) | Last Active: 1 day ago | Replies (112)Comment receiving replies
I have been on Prednisone since 10/20. I started out at 80 mg and am now down to 5 mg in the AM and 5 mg in the PM. For a very long time I have complained about my arms, shoulders and neck feeling heavy. My rheumatologist doesn’t know why. Of late, my left arm gets very painful( checked out by my cardiologist-not cardiac related) and sometimes my neck hurts. My rheumatologist wants me to get radiographs. He thinks I can have a pinched nerve. I feel it has something to do with steroids. Actually, quite baffled by this. Has anyone else experienced anything like this?
Replies to "I have been on Prednisone since 10/20. I started out at 80 mg and am now..."
Yes I am also going through strange new pains in left arm as I taper off Prednisone and I have furiously been trying to research the cause.
I finally had X-ray done this week waiting for results but I suspect I will need MRI in order to see the muscle/tendons. . I did not do anything physical to cause this.
My gut tells me it’s a steroid damage side effect but I can’t find anything online confirming this.
It would be great if someone knew something about this
I am seeing a lot of similar posts from other steroid users.
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Hi @tiilysam, before being diagnosed with GCA and starting prednisone, 40 mg. in May 2021, I had neck with head pain so stiff and sore I could not turn my head. That disappeared immediately when I started prednisone. I also had shoulder pain. The left shoulder pain resolved, but I still have pain in the right shoulder and restricted movement because of osteoarthritis and rotator cuff tears. I've been going to physical therapy for that. I was just prescribed a TENS Unit and find that very helpful for the pain; also, an infrared heating pad helps ease it. I'm down to 4 mg prednisone now. Based on what I've read, if your pain is from PMR and GCA, the proper dosage of prednisone will eliminate it completely or make it manageable. If not, it could be due to another condition.