Have been struggling with diagnosis and taking pred. Have now got Kate Gilbert's book which is very helpful. Everything seems so complicated. Will I ever understand everything. The pain went after 5 days but for the last 4 days I have the arm pain back. Hope it doesn't mean I'm on too low a dose. Am very worried about taking pred and side effects. Trying to come to terms with it all. It's only when you leave the GP and check the Internet you realise what PMR means! Thank goodness I found this site quickly. There are so many posts and replies my head is spinning. I definitely have brain fog. I had vertigo before and pred doesn't help. First blood test post diagnosis next week.
I have just read Bromelain can work with pred to lessen pain and even allow you to reduce pred. Does anyone know anything about this. I don't want to take anything that might interfere with it.
Thanks for any comments
Joanbill13
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Joanbill13
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The question about bromelian comes up every so often - and the general opinion has been, the claim is too good to be true! As is the case for most other such claims.
I have to ask - as soon as you felt better, did you go back to normal activities? The pred only manages the inflammation and relieves the symptoms. The actual underlying disease process is still active and causing the immune system to attack your muscles and making you feel as if you have flu. It also makes your muscles intolerant of acute exercise. Do too much and your muscles will be sore as if you have been doing far too much - and it will take longer to resolve than usual. Management of PMR is a joint task: you take pred and make lifestyle changes to accommodate other aspects.
The side effects of pred for PMR are rather over-egged - when you know how, most of them can be either avoided or minimised. Just ask.
Thank you that is helpful. Yes I have been over doing it I guess. I felt “normal” so did the garden! Didn’t realise it’s not a good idea. Also alot of stress with a family problem keeping me awake. I need to learn how to avoid the side effects or minimise them as you say. I’m having trouble taking everything in just now
Yes, it can be both dizzying and daunting, but take one step at a time. For now, take your pred, take your calcium and D3 supplements a few hours apart from your pred dose, eat a healthy diet that's light on unnecessary carbs.
Try to do some light stretching and walking every day, and try to get extra rest. Re-discover the art of the nap - something we all could do as children and somehow forgot.
And find some youngster to do the heavy lifting - yard work, window cleaning, floor scrubbing - or just let it go for now. My new idea of cleaning is to sweep the house with a glance.
I found for the odd aches and pains, using Aspercreme as my new body lotion seemed to help. That could be just me, or it could just be the placebo effect, but it might be worth a shot. Do a little patch test before you slather it, or anything like it, all over yourself. Make sure you don't get an unpleasant reaction. Pred can make your skin sensitive in ways it wasn't before.
There's plenty o' plenty o' time to get more deeply into things. Once you settle in some, you can take on more info. The first thing is to try and get settled. The more you mess with things at the outset, the harder it is to find what what works and what doesn't. We're all different, and it takes time.
Don't let the doctors terrify you about pred. Yes, there are side effects, but most of them can be managed with supplements and diet.
There's a lot of information available on this site. And lots of empathetic ears. We've all been there. You're not alone.
The good news is that we get better. It takes time, but we do. You'll see.
I am a great fan of the post lunch afternoon nap - varies from between 30 mins and 1 hour and a half but makes me feel so much better but I know I am fortunate not to be working so I can do this
Hello Joan - welcome to the forum. I have to agree with the previous posts - take it easy, don't overdo things. Pred can make you feel fine, so you overdo things, but remember you're *not* fine at the moment! Be gentle and pamper yourself. Eat healthily and reduce carbs and refined sugar while you're on pred. When the brain fog appears, stop what you're doing and try it again later. I can remember the feelings of brain overload - the simplest thing became so complicated... but the next day it was often quite straightforward. Just be gentle on yourself!
GP said I had to get used to some aches and pains so reducing slowly and only put up preds once from 6 mg to 7 when felt really bad - I use ice pack for pain if needed
I haven't started reducing yet still on 15mg first prescribed eight weeks ago. Seeing gpin two weeks. Can stand the few aches and take paracetamol as recommended by the helpful people on this site. So good to,have everyone's comments
It really is time you started to look at reducing that starting dose. Some guidelines say you should have reduced to 10mg by now - not that anyone here would support that speed of reduction! But after about 6 weeks it is time to try the first 2.5mg drop - no more and preferebly less.
Ok thank you. I had a bad week 4 weeks ago where I was asleep for 3 days and didn’t take any Pred. I didn’t realise at the time how bad that was as hadn’t got into reading all this info. Then only took 10mg for next 3 days. Which again I didn’t understand the repercussions. Started back on 15mg for last 3 weeks but with moderate pain. In the beginning 2 weeks I had none. I feel loath to change the dose yet until I have blood test week after next. ?
OK, then really you are just 3 weeks in - but in future, remember it is important to keep a steady and regular dose of the pred. At least give it a chance to work its magic.
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