Prednisone and Pain

I'm 60 years old.
I was first diagnosed with PMR when I was 50. Prednisone was my savior.
For years I took a daily dose (forget how much) and also Hydrocodone. I was able to live a fairly normal life with mild to moderate pain a normal, expected daily accomplice.
I eventually got off the pain meds and slowly weaned completely off the Prednisone.
This last Thanksgiving, one day after, I suffered a massive flare-up. In addition to PMR, Alpha Gal, and a lifetime of injuries, I am inflamed and in pain from my neck to my toes.
Severe neuropathy in my wrists and hands wake me up repeatedly all night.
My new Physician is a PA with her own Clinic. She's very smart and steers toward natural remedies. She hates Prednisone!
I understand why, but I begged her for a prescription: I'm on 1 MG a day and also some expensive Turmeric and MSM supplements.
I don't recognize any benefit.
This has been the worst month of my life. I can barely walk, but I still operate my Furniture Repair business every day, although my productivity is vastly limited.
In my opinion, a larger daily dose of Prednisone is my only hope.
Does anyone have advice?

I am newly diagnosed with PMR. Right now I am on prednisone 15 mg daily until my inflammatory numbers come down, then I can start to taper. The prednisone helps my pain but there is a few hours in the day that the pain is worse until I take the prednisone at breakfast time.
I read prednisone stays in your system 16.5-22 hours. If you split your dose, does that help control the pain closer to 24 hours? I take my prednisone in the am with breakfast and I am usually quite painful. After the dose kicks in a few hours later I do better with the pain. I think I need to ask a pharmacist this question. If I take 10 mg with breakfast and 5 mg four hours later will that help my pain in the am when I first get up by staggering the dose a little bit?

This dx is overwhelming. Not only because if the muscle and joint pain but there are many other things that can go along with this.

Thankyou for any info. I think I will ask a pharmacist my question above to see what they say.

I am newly diagnosed with PMR. Right now I am on prednisone 15 mg daily until my inflammatory numbers come down, then I can start to taper. The prednisone helps my pain but there is a few hours in the day that the pain is worse until I take the prednisone at breakfast time.
I read prednisone stays in your system 16.5-22 hours. If you split your dose, does that help control the pain closer to 24 hours? I take my prednisone in the am with breakfast and I am usually quite painful. After the dose kicks in a few hours later I do better with the pain. I think I need to ask a pharmacist this question. If I take 10 mg with breakfast and 5 mg four hours later will that help my pain in the am when I first get up by staggering the dose a little bit?

This dx is overwhelming. Not only because if the muscle and joint pain but there are many other things that can go along with this.

Thankyou for any info. I think I will ask a pharmacist my question above to see what they say.

Thank you so much! I haven't heard of LDN

Most have no problem taking prednisone every 24 hours. Your metabolism may be the culprit, using it up faster than most. I struggled with the same issue until I split my dose, taking morning and evening. It made a huge difference for me but then I got to deal with it messing with my sleep. After years on a split dose I was very apprehensive about going back to a single dose as my reduction schedule brought my dose down into the single numbers. Fortunately that was never an issue.

Treating PMR is a bit like shooting at a moving target - it's always changing. Once you have an understanding what it takes to control your initial issues, you'll have a starting point for listening to your body and figuring out what the next step is. It's a slow trip but you'll get there. Just don't let anyone put you on a fast reduction schedule for prednisone. Have seen too many train wrecks because people were told to get off prednisone quickly. Pred is our only friend in this fight.

Hello @mnmom1, Welcome to Connect. Several members have mentioned splitting their prednisone dosage to help with the pain. I've had PMR twice and never tried splitting the dose but I also started at 20 mg for both occurrences and tapered slowly using the pain in the morning as my guide to tapering. My rheumatologist had me keep a daily log of my pain level in the morning and the dosage of prednisone. I made some changes my second time around with PMR which I think made it a little easier to get off of the prednisone and handle the inflammation. Here's some information on things that might help:
-- Polymyalgia rheumatica diet: Foods to eat and avoid:
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/321683
It can be overwhelming when first diagnosed. My doctor was always asking if I had pain in my scalp or temple area as they were concerned about Giant Cell Arteritis (GCA) which some people have along with the PMR and it's much more serious. It also requires a higher dose of prednisone. I don't think it hurts to try splitting the dose between morning and late afternoon or evening. If the pain doesn't improve, it would give you more to discuss with your doctor.

Do you keep a daily log of your pain and prednisone dosage?

I agree with John that pred is the only way to start to recover. The anti-inflamatories (MSM and Tumeric) are good but I think you need the pred to "turn off" your cytokine produsction. The pred is cheap but I know the rheumies are not. I would ask him or her for a Low Dose Naltrexone script while you are at it. While you are choosing who to see, ask if they have much experience with PMR and also LDN. amazingly, some don't. You might want to read up on LDN first yourself. There is lots on it on the LDN Research Trust website and lots of other places. It is great for normalizing the immune system, and therefor, pain. Best wishes.

I agree about the low dose Naltrexone, but my doctor did not want to prescribe it for me. He put me on hydroxychloroquine instead. Any experience with it? Of course, I am still on low dose prednisone too.

I agree about the low dose Naltrexone, but my doctor did not want to prescribe it for me. He put me on hydroxychloroquine instead. Any experience with it? Of course, I am still on low dose prednisone too.