Sheri

[Sheribrim]

Had polymyalgia which started two years ago and was pleased to reduce from 20mg to 2mg over that time. Just had flu and I'm back to square one. Lots of pain in neck and back of head. Shall I go back on 20mg while I wait for dr appointment , pain is bad.

[piglette]

You probably need to up your dose and when you are better get a blood test. Are you saying you are on 2mg now and want to increase to 20mg or have I misunderstood. Can you talk to your doctor over the telephone?

[HeronNS]

I read advice from one of the experts a while ago about upping dose when sick and feeling pain and I am pretty sure it wasn't anything near the amount you are suggesting. When was the last level you felt well? If it was at 2 mg you probably only need to go up a couple of mg. 18 mg seems like a huge jump and I sure wouldn't do it without my doctor's say so.

[Macdoris]

Hi Sheri, I have been suffering with the same symptoms you describe since before Christmas with the added bonus of a severe sinus infection, Needless to say the festive season just passed me by last year. I was also getting severe pain in my biceps and triceps, which is unusual, and both elbows and one hip joint, not so unusual, as well as aching neck, back and shoulders.

Having been diagnosed with Fibro in 2001 and Poly about 5 years later I have been taking 5mg of Pred per day as my 'maintenance dose' for a number of years. When I eventually saw my doctor he doubled my dose to 10mg per day, with antibiotics taking care of my sinuses.

Obviously that increase is nowhere near as drastic as the 18mg you are suggesting for yourself, and it took about a week for them to kick in. After a second week on 10mg I have started reducing by 1mg every 4 or 5 days and this does seem to have done the trick. The muscle pain in my arms, neck etc. hasn't returned yet and my elbow joints are feeling good. Still getting pain in my hip, but that could be associated with a different problem.

I do think that by only increasing the Pred by a relatively small amount, and reducing again in baby steps too, my body has had the kick start it needed to shake off this flu-like illness (which a few of my able-bodied friends have had) without upping the Pred too much.

So, I would go and see the Doc as soon as, and be guided by him (I hope he's one of the good ones). It shouldn't take long for your symptoms to ease off, and I hope you feel better soon.

Gosh, that was longer than I intended!

Keep your chin up

Doris

[Hidden in reply to Macdoris]

Oh boy was that sinus virus bad ,I had that and it cost me 3 weeks work over the Christmas and New Year period . Self Employed . I was put on 30 mg predisnole and antibiotics , when I already have 8 predisnole and was reducing back down to 5 yet again . Frustrating to say the least .It does take a long time to subside I agree I have had to drop from 30 to 8 .well that,s what I was told but to be honest I have taken them down more slowly .I am not sure but it seemed a big drop all in one go .I wasn't willing to risk all the fuzzy head! I need to work .

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Hi Sheri,

Would agree with others that going back up to your starting dose is probably rather extreme. While still you're waiting to speak to Doctor, why don't you try 5mg at first - that's quite a difference, and hopefully should give you some relief. Good luck.

[Celtic PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Sheribrim, I agree with the others: increasing from 2mg back to 20mg does sound a bit drastic. I can only advise you from my experience when, whilst under an excellent rheumy and experiencing a severe flare at the 3mg level, he increased me back to 10mg for a couple of weeks to knock the symptoms on the head.

The good news is that if you get on top of the flare quickly, you should be able to reduce faster than previously the second time around. After two weeks at 10mgs, I went to 7.5mg for 2 weeks, followed by alternate days of 7.5 and 5mgs for another 2 weeks, then to 5mg. The important thing at this point is not to reduce back down to exactly where you were previously (in your case 2mg) but stop at a dose just above.

If you can't get an urgent appointment with a GP today, you may be able to get a telephone appointment or, if not, leave a message with the receptionist explaining that you need urgent blood tests for ESR and CRP so that a GP will make out the appropriate form for your collection.

I do hope you feel better soon - it's so frustrating and unfortunate to have contracted flu when you were doing so well with reducing the steroids. Lots of get well soon wishes!

[Hidden in reply to Celtic]

My GP'S refer me to the Rheumy Clinic at the mere mention of steriods ,muscle pain ect . They pass the buck at any given opportunity . It's annoying .

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Many doctors recommend adding 5mg to the current dose in the event of a flare - that might be worth trying and rather less drastic than 20mg.

I wrote that before reading the rest of the posts by the way - so I see we are pretty much in agreement there!

[j-e-a-n]

I have GCA and started on 60 mgs of Pred and slowly dropped to 35 mgs. I have tried twice to drop to 30 but each time I really should have waited as I had a bad cold, especially this last one which I am just getting over. I have gone back up to my 35 and will stay on that until I feel better, then will try again to start reducing. I have now got some two and a half mg preds so will drop by two and a half when I drop rather than 5. I really want to get down but would not go up to more than 35 unless I had a really bad flare.

Jean.