Anyone with pmr on prednisone get shortness of breath?

[Lukster]

Pmr and shortness of breath

[Dancingrosie13]

Hello lukster, yes I had shortness of breath from the start of taking prednisolone, 50mg. Had gca/pmr for over 4years now and down to 4mg with few flares. I have since been monitored by GP for blood pressure and it was high so went on medication and now 90% better. But pred does cause breathlessness.

[Gumnut]

Morning Lukster yes I do get shortness of breath- not sure if its the PMR or Preds. I thought it might be tree pollen. But I get it everyday. Yes its worrying. I had a Covid swab test and negative . Anxiety doesn't help. Try and keeo busy and walk in the fresh air. 😊

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Some more details would be helpful. PMR itself can be the cause of breathlessness as it leaves the muscles short of a good blood supply which is what brings the oxygen. The muscles signal they need more oxygen - and we perceive that as being out of breath,

[Lukster in reply to PMRpro]

Thanks! Pmr symptoms began for me in December 2019 and suffered for a couple months with symptoms before finally getting on prednisone in middle of February. Started at 20 mg. I am a 52yo male. I started having shortness of breath occasionally in late March and early April that has persisted despite my gp prescription for simbacort singular and one other asthma med. They didn’t work. I have upcoming appointment with asthma and allergy specialist that I am a little hesitant to go to due to high covid surge here in California. I don’t know what could be causing this but is a scary symptom. Have read it could be too much sodium causing fluid retention due to prednisone but really have no idea. Thanks so much again

[Thelmarina in reply to Lukster]

I am on Seretide for allergic asthma and occasionally experience the shortness of breath you describe. I have found deep breathing helpful. I lie on my back on the floor, slowly inhale, pause and exhale. I do this several times and it does seem to help. If nothing else it gives me a sense of control! 🌺

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Lukster]

It could be the pred - it is a known effect

njmonline.nl/getpdf.php?id=...

I do wonder about the abandon with which GPs hand out asthma medications without investigations. A GP nearly killed my husband by doing so 26 years ago - not even the chest x-ray that would have shown the tumour that was the actual cause was done first.

[Megams in reply to PMRpro]

~Wow PMR pro - you are the first person to ever shed light on possible breathlessness causes. Several episodes of sudden ongoing breathlessness on this PMR journey resulted in my heart rhythm playing up for good length of time. Hospital admissions usually ensued - know what to do now to keep it under control ~

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Megams]

Hang on though - that is a chicken and egg question. The arrythmia will cause breathlessness.

[Megams in reply to PMRpro]

~Yes indeed. For me its inclined to be breathlessness first which I haven't been able to bring under control despite implementing other tools in my tool box and has eventuated into A/F and/or SVT.

[tangocharlie]

Yes I do when I get to low doses of Pred. I have all sort of heart and lung tests and also asthma which all came back clear so am now being investigated to see if it is vasculitis.

[Arflane97G]

Yup, very noticeable at the beginning when I was at 15 mg and finally started getting out and about again. Not so bad now (2.5 mg!) but still get a bit breathless if I try to walk too fast or uphill!

[mtrafter]

Yes, about a year ago after tapering from 6.5 to 6mg of Pred had episodes of breathlessness, intermittent palpitations and dizzines had numerous tests lungs and heart all clear. Gp made some adjustments to my hypertensive meds and all settled down until about 3mths ago when I had increasing episodes of shortness of breath and palpitations on slightest exertion. ( had recently joined a physio program for people with arthritis of knees and hips! Referred by Rheumatologist ) Had reduced to 5mg Pred went back up to 5.5 , Rheumatologist referred me to Cardiologist had a CXR and coronary angiogram both normal! So what next! Advised to lose weight, ( I have only put on 5kg in my 3 yrs of PMR) , hard to do with arthritic knees and Pred, but have gone back to physio program after few weeks off while awaiting results of latest tests, am also trying to reducing carbs. My shortness of breath seems to have settled again but am reluctant to reduce Pred as it seems to coincide with a taper down.

[tangocharlie in reply to mtrafter]

Exactly the same for me, I could never get under 5 Pred without SOB. Rheumatologist is finally investigating after I've nagged for years.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to mtrafter]

My arrythmia does worsen with flares or with reductions in dose - but there is nothing to see anywhere except during an episode. It is SSS (sick sinus syndrome) and seems to relate closely to the a/i part of PMR and inflammation.

[mtrafter in reply to PMRpro]

If the arrhythmia could be attributed to the a/i part of PMR would it follow if one has more than one a/i disease they could be more susceptible to random episodes of palpitations?

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to mtrafter]

Very possibly. I needed the amount of pred I did for a long time to manage one aspect of the arrythmia - I'd hoped that the pacemaker would allow me to reduce the pred but it hasn't really worked yet. Now it's stress ...

[Flosy]

hi,i get out of breath if walking.i try and go for a walk every day,but still get out of breath,if I walk uop hill then when its worsth.i am 0n 15mg and lower til 10 mg.on sat aug 1st.

[Sally001]

I thank all of you for sharing your flare ups of breathlessness. I had no idea pred causes this too; I thought it was because of my weight gain, which I know doesn't help. I have been on pred for 9 years now since being diagnosed with GCA, my dosage fluctuating over time, and am now back up to 20 mg. I too, do the breathing exercises and that does seem to help sometimes and other times I need to use a rescue puffer, it can be very scary.

Does anyone have trouble with their sinuses? Sounds odd but sometimes it feels like my sinuses are packed, I blow my nose and nothing comes out - is this another lovely side effect?

I am very grateful that pred has saved my eyesight and at the same time these side effects are driving me around the bend. Does anyone battle with Thrush from time to time as well or have a continuous cough?

I am only 64 but some days feel like 84 - I can't wait for the day that I can be "normal" again, if that Is even possible. Thank you all in advance for your help.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Sally001]

Thrush is a common effect of pred - the GP can provide Nystatin or another antifungal. You might help the weight gain, and also the tendency to thrush, by cutting carbs drastically. There are anti-candida diets which are often helpful and sugar is a major "feeder" of thrush.

The continuous cough CAN be a GCA symptom but given the time you have required pred I'd think your doctors should be doing a PET-CT to see if you have LVV (large vessel vasculitis) affecting the arteries in the trunk (aorta and so on). Explained here, the figures are easy to understand:

academic.oup.com/rheumatolo...

[Sally001 in reply to PMRpro]

Thank you PMRpro, I appreciate the advise and the link.