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Making additional changes to Pred to help the tapering
I am a 57yr old female and was diagnosed 3 years ago and have had multiple flare ups and increases in Pred. I used to workout 5 days a week both HIT classes and resistance classes. I did these because firstly I could manage them and secondly I thought they helped with the strength and movement. I have learnt that my body couldn't repair itself and my muscles quick enough from the classes on top of looking after itself with PMR. I then decided to make some changes myself and Pred is not going to do this alone.
After my final flare up and back to 10mg I cancelled my membership where I was and subscribed to the Better Me App. This provides a daily exercise plan based on age etc (there are a lot out there). I have also started taking ginger and tumeric supplements, a swig of olive oil, eating whole food and cut out everything sweet except dark chocolate (that was the hardest bit for me as I have a massive sweet tooth). If I am out for dinner or on holiday I don't stick to this 100%, am just mindful of what I eat. I make sure I take my dose of Pred straight away when I wake up without fail and finally I keep away from anyone with a cough, cold etc.
Starting on the Better Me App I valued the warm up and cool down exercises more than the actual exercises themselves. My body felt like it needed the stretches more than anything else. Slowly I started to enjoy the exercises and my body felt comfortable doing them. I increased from easy to hard and this is where I am now. I do 20mins a day including the warm up/cool down and feel so much better after I have done it. I am doing press ups on my knees now, but lots of them and feeling stronger without the weights and cardio. It's amazing how you can add strength with body weight only.
I am now down to 4.5mg and hoping that everything I have put in place will continue to help.
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Thank you for sharing. I hope I can backtrack to your post. I’m new to PMR and presently at 40 mg, so I have a lot to learn as I taper
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3 ReactionsSo I thought I would post every couple of weeks for a sort of journal to myself then I can see what the past few weeks and months were like if I have a flare up and also hopefully it helps others.
I have carried on with everything I posted in my original post, but added Omega 3 tablets to my medication.
I am continuing with the Better Me bodyweight workouts everyday but have noticed my strength and muscle mass has decreased a bit. This could be because I did a lot of weights before, probably too much in all fairness.
The odd day I now do a full session of stretches rather than another workout. I would never have done this before as mentally I would be telling myself I have no weights, it's only 20mins what is my problem? But now I listen to my body and if it feels slightly off, maybe from gardening at the weekend, maybe from sitting too long in the office, I just stretch that day. For me it's a big step, but I'm beginning to understand it's not failure it's resetting.
I reduce half a mg a month and today I reduced to 4mg.
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7 ReactionsSo I haven't posted for a few weeks due to getting a cough and and a cold. We all know that it isn't really just a cough and a cold. This time I literally wrapped myself up like I had a serious dose of flu as I was so paranoid about getting a flare up and I had been doing so well.
Obviously all exercise went out of the window. I even stopped stretching as I didn't want to put any pressure on my body. I ate really well. I slept more as I was so tired, ie I went to bed a lot earlier than I normally do. No alcohol. Definitely no sugar. And basically didn't do anything over and above my job, which is office based. It might have been overkill but I didn't want to take any chances. I also staying on the dose and didn't taper which I was due to.
Once I felt better I started to stretch. Such a long process for a simple cough/cold and it was exhausting having to put so much effort into it all, but the end result is always the focus for me.
I have now just tapered down to 3mg and I am planning on staying on this for a while to really let it take hold.
I still haven't started exercising again really. I have started to play golf (or try to!!) so I am classing that as my exercise at the moment.
I feel like I have taken a couple of steps backwards, but I have to remind myself I haven't been well and I have avoided a flare up and just tapered down again so am pleased with the outcome.
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1 ReactionHi @amandasmith007,
I combined your prednisone tapering discussions into one discussion:
"Making additional changes to Pred to help the tapering"
- https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/making-additional-changes-to-pred-to-help-the-tapering/
Here, members who were following your updates like @pah17 can follow your updates more easily and members can your updates as you have them.
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