12.5 MG not working YET....

[LarryLeek]

Well it looks like I’ll have to call my Rheumatologist tomorrow & let him know I need to go bk. up to 15mg because the pain has returned to my shoulders, arms, & hips making it near impossible to sleep. Strange thing though even when I was on 20mg OR 15 in no pain My hands & fingers still gave me pain & I still couldn’t make a complete fist. When my rheumatologist had me cut from 20 to 15mg I has no issues & I was hoping for the same results when I went to 12.5 but oh well maybe next time. I was curious though if any of you still might have issues with your hands & fingers while on your normal or should I say effective dose of prednisone?

[PMRpro Ambassador]

So you are saying that most of the "PMR" pain went at 20 and 15mg - but the hand pain has NEVER gone?

How long have you been on pred? I had hand pain though probably not as bad as you describe with my PMR and after starting 15mg pred it probably took a good 5 or 6 months for it to go altogether. Very occasionally even now, 8 years on, I get sharp stabs from what I assume is the same sort of tendonitis as then.

However - is he absolutely sure about "just" PMR? Or does he think the hands may be RS3PE which is often found alongside PMR? And maybe you just need a bit longer at a bit more for that to clear up.

And next time - see if the rheumy will let you reduce 1mg at a time.

[LarryLeek in reply to PMRpro]

He has mentioned that it is tendonitis but until I came down w/ PMR I never had this pain. My rheumatologist won’t let me stay on a particular dosage more than 4 weeks on avg. then he has me cut bk. & it sounds like he’s cutting me bk. too quickly & too much @ a time, even though the experience from 20 to 15 mg was a good one. I honestly think for now that 15mg is my #. But the 1mg reduction @ a time sounds like a TREMENDOUS idea. I will definitely ask about that tomorrow when I call. I’m not scheduled to go bk. Until the 6th of May. But yes ever since I’ve been on prednisone which has been since last Oct. my hands though the pain is not as bad, they haven’t felt the complete relief that the rest of my body has. My grip is nothing like it was, I can’t make a complete fist & every so often I get these spasms in my hands that makes them feel like they want to fold sideways, not like folding into a fist but down the middle of my hands...

[JanetGarrettN in reply to PMRpro]

RS3PE? Hmmm... this is a new one for me. I did have a lot of hand finger forearm pain in the beginning but it's been pretty well controlled since bringing the original PMR under control.

[HeronNS]

I found this web page yesterday and remembered it mentioned hands. If you use the "find" function of your browser you will find 7 mentions. Quite interesting.

uptodate.com/contents/clini...

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to HeronNS]

Thanks - I forgot to add it!

[LarryLeek]

Yea after reading the link you shared the issue I have w/ my wrists & hands sounds an awful lot like RS3PE syndrome. My wrists & fingers don’t have nearly the range of motion that I had b4 contracting PMR. Thanks for the link Heron....

[LarryLeek]

Also the spasms in my hands make it difficult to open my hands back up if I close them, I meant to mention that....

[Soraya_PMR]

“I get these spasms in my hands that makes them feel like they want to fold sideways, not like folding into a fist but down the middle of my hands...”

I know what you mean and had that pre pred and higher doses of pred. Check you’re getting enough potassium and magnesium.

[LarryLeek]

I’ve been taking magnesium every day & recently started eating bananas. I rarely use to eat them....

[Soraya_PMR in reply to LarryLeek]

Bananas are perfect. I ate them daily to prevent crampy pains. Not a problem now.

[LarryLeek in reply to Soraya_PMR]

Good to know, thanks 🙂

[JanetGarrettN in reply to LarryLeek]

Check out this link for the top 10 potassium rich foods. Would you be surprised to know there are nine richer then the average banana? Many don't.

draxe.com/top-10-potassium-...