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Tapering off of Prednisone

Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) | Last Active: Feb 28 5:49am | Replies (313)

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@dadcue

You should discuss this with your rheumatologist. Many rheumatologists will refuse to write for prednisone prescriptions for the Dead slow approach.

I can't say the ultra slow approach worked for me but my rheumatologist was open to any ideas. She maintained that PMR was my active ongoing diagnosis but she still encouraged me to taper off prednisone. The Dead slow approach was acceptable as long as I was making progress. Unfortunately, I still flared and had to increase my dose.

The people who promote this approach have no scientific evidence that it works. My personal feeling is that you should try it and see. Whatever works for you is all that matters.

When I first started taking prednisone for PMR, the medical advice was to taper off slowly. How slow was an ongoing question that has yet to be determined. After more than 12 years of taking prednisone for PMR, my rheumatologist said it was too long!

Good luck with whatever tapering method you use.

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Replies to "You should discuss this with your rheumatologist. Many rheumatologists will refuse to write for prednisone prescriptions..."

That's why my Mayo rheumatologist told me to listen to my body and not taper down if the PMR pain is higher than what I can tolerate...which is around a 1 or 2 on my pain scale. He also advised that I should keep a daily pain and dosage log so that I could see any patterns.