Flare or not ?

[Retallack]

Started at 15mg a year ago. Got down to 6mg last month. Pains in hips and aching thighs and stiff but not in rear of thighs as first had. GP agreed i should go up to 10mg but no difference after a week. Should I go up to say 12.5 or struggle on a bit longer ? Thank you.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

The usual suggestion from experts is to add 5mg to the dose where the flare started. Was it really not until 6mg or was it waving at you before? That takes you to 11mg and 1mg can make a world of difference - so I would say trying a couple of days of even 15mg might be worth it. You can drop back to a lower dose after as much as 7-10 days at the higher dose.

[Retallack in reply to PMRpro]

Thank you. It started at 6mg, also had carpal tunnel syndrome reading it's ugly head. Will go to 11mg as you suggested. Grateful for the advice.

[Yellowbluebell]

you got to 6mg very fast so maybe its time to slow down about once you get this under control. Its taken two years for me to get to 6mg but I haven't had any flares fortunately. YBB

[Retallack in reply to Yellowbluebell]

Thanks. Am going to try 11mg and then reduce at a slower pace.

[alangg]

I would agree with the earlier replies. Also, when I was reducing I often had PMR symptoms in different parts of my body before I was settled on the new dose. My original aches and pains were in the back of my thighs pre-pred but over time they moved to my shoulders and neck and my thighs felt ok. So I think that you might have reduced too far but it's just showing up in other places.