Flare

[Fifelassieo]

I have been tapering, l was down to 2mg which l have been on for a month but this last week l have muscle pain all over my body, l am not sure if this is a pmr flare or fibromyalgia. I have tapered on a monthly basis by 1mg, l would appreciate advice

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Difficult to say, but if you’ve been on 2mg for a month would thought if it was a PMR flare if might have surfaced earlier. But on the other hand maybe not.

Have you done any extra activity or had more stress over the last week or two that might account for upsetting the apple cart?

You could try 3mg Pred for a few days to see if that helps....or increase fybro meds if that possible - or try paracetamol- might give an indication of what the pain is caused by.

Whatever would suggest 0.5mg reductions in future and a slower taper (if not already on one) - just one example here, there are others - healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...

[Fifelassieo in reply to DorsetLady]

I have had a little stress over the last two weeks, l also have arthritis in my shoulders, but what’s different is l also have pain in my arms. I will think about what you said about trying 3 mg, it is so difficult to tell when you have the three conditions

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to Fifelassieo]

Yes it is!

[PMRpro Ambassador]

That is a typical timescale for you having gone to the dose below what you need to manage the inflammation and it has built back up enough to cause symptoms again. If you were good at 3mg that is maybe where you need to be.

If it is fibro then it will NOT go away if you take more pred, PMR will - but whether 1mg would be enough to show the difference I don't know. But most people know the difference between fibro and PMR - and your fibro won't have gone away at higher doses of pred do it should have been fairly stable.

[Fifelassieo in reply to PMRpro]

Yes that makes sense, l will try going up to 3mg