Connect
← Return to How did your PMR begin?
Discussion
Comment receiving replies
My PMR started in the summer of 2019. My doc didn't diagnose it, only treating me with painkillers and Ibuprofen. After a few weeks I thought enough is enough. I then went privately and was diagnosed with PMR. I was started on the usual dose of 15mg of Prednisone and within an hour my pain was gone. Sadly, I was told to taper far too quickly and in the March of 2020, GCA appeared. So up I went to 40mg and have been tapering ever since. My rheumy wants me off Pred asap. No point in that whatsoever as a flare will ensue and I'm petrified of GCA turning up again as it did a few months ago. I'm currently only tapering by 0.5mg every month. I'm one of the lucky ones and not in pain, but being aware of the GCA symptoms is more important to me. I'd never heard of either of these diseases but pretty sure that STRESS plays a huge part in us getting it.
Replies to "My PMR started in the summer of 2019. My doc didn't diagnose it, only treating me..."
I 100% agree that stress plays a big factor also.
Connect
Somewhat similar for me...neither my primary care physician nor an orthopedic surgeon correctly identified it as PMR. Took them four months to figure it out. Within a day of starting Prednisone, my shoulder pain was gone.
Like you, I began on 15mg of Prednisone and, by happenstance, dropping the dosage 1 mg a month, I started on 3mg a day today.
IMHO, is not .5mg a month extremely slow withdrawal? It's going to take forever for you to wean yourself away and during all that time there are the side effects about which you have to be concerned. Are you taking Fosamax also, to guard against the bone loss which is, so I am told, the most common side effect of taking Prednisone?