Time zones & Pred.

[Croc1au]

Hoping for advice! I take 6mg Pred in the morning & this is keeping the PMR under control, however next week we fly from Australia to Ireland for month. I wonder how best to cope with time changes? I hope to avoid a flare while on holiday.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Hi Croc1au,

Hi there,

I visited NZ from UK 18months ago, when I was on 6mg with no problems. Depending on which way your journey is guess you'll have at least one stopover, maybe two.

What I did was take tablets at normal time on day of departure, then during your journey- if you can work out roughly half way time-wise take another dose, and then on arrival take another at what would be your normal time - I.e morning.

That's means you will take slightly more than normal, but no bad thing with the stress of flying etc.

Make sure you have plenty of tablets with you, just in case, and rest the day after arrival, but most of all - enjoy.

[Croc1au in reply to DorsetLady]

Thanks Dorset Lady! That sounds good, I am trying to be in good form for family particularly as this time last year I had PMR but undiagnosed. It was hard to hide how miserable I was from family😉

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to Croc1au]

Have a good holiday, but remember you still need to take things a little easy. Let your family spoil you whilst you're with them.

Forgot to say earlier, bring a copy of your prescription with you. Easier to show to customs rather than explain what tablets you're on, if required.

[Rabbit1951]

I am also leaving Sunday week for 7 weeks in UK. I have been on Prednisone for 1 week but am happy to keep on current dose of 5 mg twice a day. Pain is much reduced. Enjoy your holiday and just check with your doctor in your return.

[Croc1au in reply to Rabbit1951]

Enjoy your holiday Rabbit1951!

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Like DL, all I do is either take a proportionally higher dose on the long day and then resume taking the pred at the normal dose and time once I arrive or take a bit extra part way through the long day (by that I mean due to the time changes). The short day way round I just take the normal amount on consecutive days - a bit extra here or there once does no harm at all. Beware - you may feel quite stiff even with taking your usual dose and a bit more pred to deal with it won't hurt. I've just got back from a trip to the west of Canada with a stop in Chicago for a week on the way back - apart from being rather tired it's all been fine.

By the way - whether you think you need it or not, request airport assistance! I had a connection to make at Chicago going out and was a bit concerned about it so requested assistance there. I arrived at Munich airport to fly out and hadn't realised how far it was from our chosen parking to the terminal - I was already tired by the time I got to the check-in - only to be told I had to get to a different one, on a different floor. Then there was no signposting! All the arrivals/departures from there on were with assistance and what a difference it made.

[Croc1au in reply to PMRpro]

Thanks PMRpro, good advice , last year I had just started PMR but not seen Dr as rushing to get away and airports & planes where we were bussed out & had to climb steps from ground were misery. Was diagnosed after holiday when I could neither get in or out of bed!