Result at Last!

[Pebble1]

Sorry, I am a bit lax about posting things, followed the advice you all kindly offered, took my husband With me when I went to see GP, asked for the 15mg Pred trial. She wasn't keen, wanted to wait till I had a definite diagnosis, possibly because I also have type 2 Diiabetes, and High Blood Pressure.Gave me stronger painkillers, Then 2 Days later my appointment came through to see the Rheumy(maybe my phone call letting them know how bad I was, did some good.) Just got back, she examined me and said straight away without any more tests, "that's Polymyalgia", plus osteoarthritis in both hands. She is starting me on a weeks trial of 10mg Pred, keeping it low cos of the Diabetes. So my journey into pain relief has at last begun. I am a bit apprehensive about any side effects, but I know there are a lot of lovely people on the same journey who will be there to encourage and support. Thank you all so much😃

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Hi Pebble1,

Hopefully on 10mg you won't get many side effects, but you need to ensure that its a high enough dose to get and keep the inflammation under control.

I'm sure you're used to dealing with your diabetes, so just continue as normal with that. Yes Pred can increase problems, but not necessarily. Same with high blood pressure, is it diet or tablet controlled?

You just have be aware of carbs, and eat plenty of fruit and veg, which I'm sure you already do! Take care.

[Pebble1 in reply to DorsetLady]

Thank you Dorset Lady, they are both tablet controlled, my blood sugar numbers have been good the last 2 years.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to Pebble1]

Good. Hopefully then the Pred at this level shouldn't cause problems. I'm sure you keep a good eye on your blood sugars (

my late hubby was diabetic for years so I'm aware of problems) and my blood pressure is tablet controlled, never had a problem even on very high doses of Pred.

[Celtic PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Pebble1, thank Heavens for the rheumy! Hope your GP has taken on board that in future when she suspects a patient has PMR a trial dose of steroids may be all that is needed to relieve that patient of their pain. And that painkillers, no matter how strong, generally do nothing for PMR. 15mg is the usual trial dose/starting dose recommended, but I have heard from one expert recently that 10mg can work for some patients - I hope you are one of those and wish you well.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

I think the main difference with only using 10mg is that it may take a lot longer to get the existing inflammation sorted out - and I do wonder if using pred far quicker might mean less pred overall. But when faced with a GP who hasn't got the courage of their convictions it builds up a lot. An Italian group found that 12.5mg/day pred was enough to get a decent result within a month for 75% of patients - compared with a week or so at 15mg.

[olive2709]

Good for you