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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?
Replies to "Somewhat similar for me...neither my primary care physician nor an orthopedic surgeon correctly identified it as..."
The reason I'm taking it very slowly is due to also getting GCA three months after diagnosis for PMR. We all know the consequence of GCA. It can cause sight loss quickly too. I know a few that have lost sight in one eye and one lady in both. So you can understand my concern. Many with PMR have been taking it for yrs and yrs due to flares. That could be due to the fact they have tapered too quickly by too much of a decrease. I was reducing by 1mg per month but still experienced flares, so decided to try it by 0.5mg and so far so good. So by this December hopefully, I will be on 1.5mg. Just hope my adrenals have started to produce the cortisol we all need as we taper. I will request the ACTH test on my next appt with Rheumy. I also think the slow taper helps the adrenals to wake up. That will be exactly three years for me. I was told between one and two years. Those that manage that period and earlier are very lucky.
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I really need to go slow as I've experienced so many ups and downs....petrified of GCA again. I already have osteoporosis and take 35mg of Risedronate weekly. Refused Alendronic Acid at 70 mg. Also refused Methotrexate to help wean me off Pred. However, on the 7 June when I see my GP I'm going to ask him about the drug LDN (Naltrexone) Hopefully, he will prescribe it. My blood glucose (HbA1C) is slightly elevated as is my cholesterol, but not enough to warrant drug intervention at the moment.