treating PMR with supplements

[moondance44]

I have been on prednisone for 1.5 years now and successfully dosed down to 2 mg. When i went to 1 the pain returned. I am slowly increasing the dosage, but still no relief at 3mg...very hesitant to go higher. I have found ibuprofen very helpful. Are they any particular supplements that can help treat the inflammation? Any suggestions would be appreciated. thx

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Taking ibuprofen long term is more risky than the low doses of pred you have got to. Although if ibuprofen works it suggests it might not be PMR that is the main problem (though never say never).

Why not try say 5mg for a few days and see if that helps - if it doesn't then you can drop back to 3mg. Top experts say add 5mg to the dose where you flared - that would be 6 or 7mg for you. Creeping up rarely works - the inflammation is building up while you mess about, going straight to a higher dose often means you use less overall. It is perfectly OK to then drop back to the old dose after about a week. These are very low doses, less than your body makes in the form of cortisol in order to function, so have few risks.

But supplements - no, not really. Turmeric and garlic are claimed to reduce inflammation but the best you can hope for is a bit of help, they won't replace the right dose of pred. Cutting sugar and other simple carbs also helps reduce inflammation.

[Pongo13]

Holland and Barrett cannabis oil (it's ok, I'm not all "hey man" - its quite safe) helps with pain for me. I add turmeric to food/drinks, cod liver oil, various vitamins, iron, magnesium. Mind you, I have had to increase steroids this week as despite best intentions, all these supplements did diddly squat. I phoned Dr yesterday and immediately asked advice on here and - guess what?! - today I'm miraculously better! Good luck x

[piglette]

Personally I would check very carefully on taking supplements, they tend to make a lot of money for the suppliers and most really have little or no effect on us, apart perhaps from the placebo effect, unless we really need them. If you think you need supplements I would check either with a pharmacist or your doctor before you waste your money. Otherwise look at your diet and see if it is healthy.

As PMRPro says if Ibropofen helps, you may find you have something other than PMR in that pred seems to be the be all and end all drug for PMR. Taking Ibuprofen long term is probably worse than pred in my opinion.

[Grants148]

The doctors at my surgery never recommend vitamins,a healthy balanced diet should be sufficient .l understand that there are health issues that may need supplements,but it is true that it is a money making business and care needs to be taken not to overdose on them as this can be bad for your health.

[Hindags]

I have found that as I've tapered below 7mg old pains and some new "gifts" of pain (bursitis) from the inflammation of PMR started coming back. I find I'm taking tylenol again, as I used to before PMR and before Pred. . I'm haven't been tempted to go back up on Pred. (yet) because it doesn't feel like PMR and despite the odd pain/discomfort, my body feels more like mine that it has since the onset of PMR Dec. 2016.

I do take calcium, a multivitamin, b12 prophylactically and D periodically. I seem to need magnesium for cramping as I have since before PMR.

[piglette in reply to Hindags]

If you are on pred it is recommended that you take vit D with calcium to counteract the side effect of pred. Your doctor should have prescribed this. You say you take both only periodically. You may find taking a multi vitamin is wasting your money! What is in it? In the US six billion dollars is spent in supplements yearly of which a tiny amount are actually needed. Lots of money for the suppliers though. If you have a poor diet multi vitamins may be helpful though. Of course changing diet is a better idea.

[Casia]

I had a similar experience and as PMR Pro suggests upped my pred to 4 then 5 for a short period as I also had tried ibuprofen but felt it was upsetting my tummy. So far so good, and going up 1 or 2 mg for a short time seems to be the answer.

[piglette in reply to Casia]

If Ibuprofen helps it is likely it is helping something other than PMR, as PMR seems to only really answer to pred. It is also suggested not a good idea to take the two together although you are on a pretty low dose of pred so it probably will not make much difference.