Doing o.k. lately..

[daworm]

Made it through the Holidays with out much of a problem, then hopped on a plane to San Antonio Texas to see my daughter graduate from Air Force basic training for a few days right after New Years....lots of stress going on mentally, got lost, plane delays, plane cancellations, my base pass wasn't at the entrance gate....lots of stuff....but no bad flares!! I stayed on 15mg's through all this, now I will start the reduction my Dr. wants...im ready to drop down...the PMR seems to have settled into my wrists and hands...not the usual place which makes me think that perhaps this is some type of RA instead...we'll see what he has to say in a couple of weeks..tomorrow I start the reduction...not sure if ill go to 14 or be dumb and go a bit lower trying to get to 10mg.

[Patience47]

Congratulations on your daughter's basic training graduation. I would taper slowly and reduce only by 0.5 mg. ; especially, when you get below 15 mg. I learned this the hard way. Haste makes waste really does apply when tapering. Taking prednisone really is like dancing with the devil.

Good luck, Edward

[daworm in reply to Patience47]

I know, I'm pretty comfortable with 15 right now, I tend to forget the crappy days I had just a month ago...dont really want too many more of those..

[Rose54]

Good luck

Their have been a few post with PMR in hands

I sometimes experience aches in fingers when reducing then it goes away so I feel this is PMR,

But who knows ?

[TooSore]

Congratulations! You've been quite busy! As far as reducing your medication, if you're settled again and feel ok on 15 it should be ok to make a change. I'd say if you've had a lot of difficulty in the past, then 1 mg at a time might be best. Otherwise you could try 2.5 for now but I wouldn't go to 10mg. That's too big a drop! Once you get to 10mg, it's best to go 1 mg at a time until you get to 5mg. Good luck! Take care of yourself.

[daworm in reply to TooSore]

its going to be 1 for a little bit here...

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Please don't aim for 15 to 10 in one go - it's riding for a fall!!!!

[daworm in reply to PMRpro]

I agree!! whats the rush..I don't want to be on prednisone but its working and I am not noticing much in the way of side effects..it works, its cheap, but I hope I slowly get off..

[Jackoh]

You've done so well! Don't rock the boat!! It's so tempting when things go well to just take those chances. Better to go slow and sure, I feel. I'd be inclined to go I mg a month and confidently carry on rather than risk a flare which puts you back physically and sometimes emotionally.

[Rugger]

I went from 15 to 13, then 12, 11, 10 and so on in 1mg monthly tapers, but still flared at 4mg, so back up to 10mg. I'm now doing 0.5mg per month DSNS. As others say, it's best not to go too quickly because you run the risk of having to go back to square one. Also, remember the rule of thumb "never more than 10% of the previous dose".

Me PMR 20 months, now on 6.5mg