Flare Ups do and don’t please help

[jensen0518]

Need help had flares ups with PMR

Flare up Saturday woke up hands very hard to move and both arms very hard to move I am currently taking 7 mg and overall very good

Saturday took 5 mg prednisone around 9 at 11 took another 5 mg my hands and arms feel terrible took another 2 mg around 1 feeling a little better by 6 pm I was feeling good the rest of the night felt good

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday felt good taking 7 mg

Woke Wednesday for work felt terrible again my hands and arms terrible

Took 5 mg at 10:30 am around hour later still bad

Took 5mg around 1 still bad no improvement

Took 2 mg around 3:30 and 5 pm little improvement with hands and legs

My question and concerns do I keep taking more prednisone every few hours till I feel better, Is there a certain amount I should take or should I Just take 7 mg and tough it out?

Help not sure what to do with these crazy flare ups

Jim

[SheffieldJane]

I think your body would respond better if you took 12 mgs in the morning on a regular basis and begun a slow taper when your symptoms have settled. It would help people to help you, if you told us what your diagnosis is, how long you’ve had the condition and what your start dose was ( and your early medical advice). Toughing it out doesn’t work with PMR and GCA, it just enables the inflammation to get worse.

[Hidden]

It's no good bouncing your dose around like that. If you need a higher dose for several weeks then that's what you need.

However I would also ask a question about what you are doing that may be impacting on your hands!? What kind of work are you doing? Is it osteoarthritis or previous injuries resurfacing? If I overuse my arms and hands, and that includes keyboards, driving or any repetitive action they really hurt. This pain is often delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) and can be better managed by OTC painkillers.

Taking 19mg total over 5 to 7 hours is not a good strategy. You were barely waiting for pred to kick in and when an extra 5mg plus kicked in and you felt you needed more then that suggests it's DOMS. If you generally felt well at 7mg but did something to make your hands sore then try OTC painkillers. Hope your hands feel better soon it's not pleasant, I gardened for 20mins one day and suffered for 3days.

+++++++++++++

PMR 3yrsplus 6mgpred

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Stop messing about with your pred dose and accept that 7mg simply isn't enough and you need to raise your daily dose to the level you need. You cannot and should not use pred like a pain-killer, it is there to manage the inflammation being created each day and you need the amount you need to combat it. If you take too little then not all the inflammation is cleared out and over time it builds up until you are back at the start and you hurt. Pred works most effectively taken in a single dose early in the day before the inflammation has really taken hold - not in little nibbles to a far higher total dose than your probably need.

As well as possibly needing a daily dose closer to 10mg, you also have to do your bit. If something makes your hands hurt - don't do it or find a way round it. Pred manages the inflammation - the rest is up to you with pacing and lifestyle changes.

If there is an increase in the activity of the underlying illness or, more likely here, you have reduced the daily dose too far then you will get symptoms again - a sign you need a bit more pred. But you can't deal with it effectively they way you are trying.

[Blearyeyed]

Yes , listen to PMR Pro !

Pred isn't Paracetamol you don't take a bit here and there through the day until you feel it has cured the problem then stop the next day .

If your symptoms have flared , and are consistently there , you increase your dose at the usual time you take it .

Small amounts through the day won't cut it you will actually disrupt your system more and potentially take too much making it incredibly difficult to find a stable dose that is right for you again.

You could increase your dose upto the amount you found the relief on and maintain that but I wouldn't do it alone , it needs some supervision when you first encounter these problems .

I would suggest , in your case , making an appointment with the GP telling them what had happened with your symptoms and what dose you felt comfortable on and asking for them to tell you which dose to adjust to , then stay on it for 2-4 weeks before trying to taper again .

Doing this they should also be able to give you more advice on better ways to control the condition and alter your dose in the future too.