Tapering prednisone and stress

I am looking for advice - I contracted PMR in mid-September and started 10mg of prednisone daily but it only relieved my pain for about 4-5 hours - after 8 days I contacted my Doctor and he instructed me to go to 15mg daily - that only helped by adding an hour of relative comfort- so after a week I contacted him again and he put me on 50mg a day for a week and started to tapper 10mg per week - I finally felt normal again but now at 10mg a week I am experiencing pain basically all over again - not bad but enough to cause me to wonder if I am tapering too fast? Unfortunately my doctor is away for the holidays - and won’t be back till the new year - I am wondering if it would wise to increase my intake to 15mg per day or maybe alternate 15 and 10 for a week? Or should I just see to what level 10mg a day will take me? Any suggestions? I see a few people here listen to their body - I am not sure if I should do such or keep to my doctor’s recommendation?

Hi @jixster, PMR can be the pits to manage the symptoms when tapering the prednisone dose. Each of us are different but both times my PMR was active I was started at 20 mg dose and it relieved my pain within an hour or so of the first dose and I felt OK until the next morning. I think the key is finding the correct starting dose which I think can depend on body weight as well as how bad the symptoms are when you are diagnosed.

Since you were diagnosed in September my first thoughts are you are tapering too fast. If it were me I would go back to the smallest dose you felt good at and then taper slowly with a smaller drop in the dose when you decide to taper down. My rheumatologist gave me scripts for 1 mg, 2.5 mg and 5 mg tablets which made it easier to go down to a lower dose. Otherwise you can buy an inexpensive pill splitter but they can be a pain to use. You might want to try the following tapering plan or something similar. Also, others have mentioned splitting their dose morning and late afternoon/evening has helped.

--- Dead slow and nearly stop reduction plan (Tapering)
https://healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk/posts/131189593/dead-slow-and-nearly-stop-reduction-plan

Thanks for this information- I will show it to my doctor when he returns and see what he thinks. It sounds reasonable to me, he told me I would likely be on prednisone for life - well I am almost 69 now so I am not too concerned about that - I am concerned about my quality of life and living with crippling pain is something I would rather avoid.

Thank you so much for your suggestions.
I feel so fortunate to be part of this most helpful group .

Yes me too, always good to know you are not alone with this disease.

Good morning,
You and I am are on pretty the same track, only I began 20mgs mid September and hit a wall at 7mgs a week ago.
So have returned to 8mg with some symptoms lingering. That was 1 mg drop every week.
Have not had the luxury of consulting a rheumatologist. I guess those appointment are unattainable for this area and network.
But love to hear this information as my reduction may have been to aggressive. Who knows??
But these update and experience from others are a good indicator or perhaps a better path.
Have sorta plans to stay at 8mgs for a period of time until I return to somewhat normal. If I can remember what normal was. August and September was not a good time.
Thank you for your contribution and I encourage others to document there paths of reduction.