Questions

[mo3go7]

Started at 20mg prednisone 14 mo ago, then 10, & then. I've been slowly reducing 1mg a month if no pain, at 3mg daily for August. For more than a month now I've had chest discomfort & pain between my shoulders blades off & on. At times like heartburn, sometimes achy pain. I keep having anxiety it's my heart so I saw my family dr who said my heart sounds good, pulse strong & an EKG was good too. He said only way to know if it's my heart is a nuclear stress test which I'm having Friday. (talk about anxiety-I'm in the US & have a high insurance deductible so this expensive test will all be my cost) This month I've also had pain & stiffness in my neck, lots of hot flashes & cant sleep well at night. Tonight I'm just wondering if I've been reducing too fast or possibly my body is adjusting to the lower doses. Any thoughts?

[markbenjamin57]

Greetings mo3go7

I'm on a similar tapering trajectory and now at 4mgpd Preds, with similar symptoms - soreness in between the shoulder blades and top of ribs in the mornings especially. My best guess is that it's some residual inflammation due to PMR activity which isn't being controlled by the (enough) Preds.

Either way, it will be interesting to hear what other people here think..

Best wishes

MB

[SheffieldJane]

I think your own theories are sound. In my view 3 mg from 20mg is quite fast. I am approaching 6 mg within a similar time frame. The advice is usually to return to the dose you were last comfortable at to avoid a full blown flare. Then wait a while before coming down again. I have never heard of a Nuclear Stress test. My guess is that your heart is fine and PMR is having a last play with you. If there have been physical or emotional stresses in the past few days they may be the culprit. Hope you get back on track really soon. 3 mg seems a world away to me - utterly exhausted!

[PMRpro Ambassador]

My version of those symptoms is due to myofascial pain syndrome - controlled fairly well at higher doses of pred, returns at lower ones. Sorting it as a separate issue helps manage the PMR with a lower dose of oral pred - local steroid or lignocaine injections and manual mobilisation therapy by a physio or therapeutic massage therapist.