Connect
← Return to Feeling tired! Do others with PMR feel significantly more tired?
Discussion
Feeling tired! Do others with PMR feel significantly more tired?
Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) | Last Active: Jun 1, 2023 | Replies (75)Comment receiving replies
Hi- I have had PMR since August 2020. Started on 20mg and recently went down to 4 mg. The fatigue has always been there but it got extremely worse and I felt very anxious. The doctor ordered an ACTH test and found that my adrenal glands weren’t working. Now I am on 7 mg again and feel somewhat better. Hopefully my adrenals will come back and I will be able to come off the prednisone. I would be interested to know if anyone else had this problem. and what was the outcome?
Replies to "Hi- I have had PMR since August 2020. Started on 20mg and recently went down to..."
Prednisone takes over for the adrenals. The higher the dose and the longer you use the P, the less likely that the adrenals ( cortisol) will kick back in. I would guess ? that at an older age it might be harder yet…? I don’t know if doctors think about this or monitor it closely enough? It seems as if they prescribe the P and are done.
Connect
Welcome @lsm47, I haven't had the ACTH test when my PMR was active but did have some minor fatigue. I'm hoping others with similar experiences will be able to share them with you.
I did find some related information that I think may explain what may be going on. It's also why I think tapering off of prednisone needs to be done slowly.
"Prednisone is similar to cortisol, a hormone naturally made by your adrenal glands. If you take prednisone for more than a few weeks, your adrenal glands decrease cortisol production. A gradual reduction in prednisone dosage gives your adrenal glands time to resume their normal function." --- STEROIDS & Adrenal Suppression (PDF file) - https://aiunited.org/wp-content/uploads/STEROIDS-ASTHMA.pdf
Did your doctor explain the details of what wasn't working correctly with the adrenal glands?