New with PMR

[Shirpam22]

Hi. I came down with all the aches and pains of pmr a few weeks ago, and was diagnosed 2 weeks ago. My mum had it for years, along with various other complaints so I didn’t know much about it at the time. Have been on 15mg of pred for 2 1/2 weeks now and while I come good during the day and feel pretty good at night, the mornings are awful. I’m only 72 but in the morn could pass for 95! Not seeing dr for another week. Does this sound ok? From reading other posts, some have said felt like a miracle cure after only a few days. It’s great to read all the posts on here. Hope people are able to get the COVID vaccine soon. I’m in Adelaide Aust and we have hardly any cases, so life is pretty normal. Hope yours improves sooner rather than later.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Hi and welcome,

Not everybody gets a miraculous result......and it sounds as if maybe 15mg is not quite enough.....

....couple of suggestions/points -

Give it 4weeks (in total) to see if it gets better, if not then speak to doctor, you may need to increase,

Mornings are always tricky, until the meds get into your system - 4am is the time the cytokine storm hits you body and rages until steroids dampen it down, so the earlier you can take the Pred the better. If you wake early for a visit to loo, take it with a spoonful of yogurt or similar and go back to bed (if that’s possible),

Remember you have a serious illness, have you tried to be more active because most of your pain has gone,

and finally have a look at this -

healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...

[Shirpam22 in reply to DorsetLady]

Many thanks. Will be patient a bit longer. Tried 4am one day and was better when woke up but then next day slept through until 7am and could barely walk! So may be ok if take everyday at 4am, but I don’t always wake up. Take Panadol osteo before bed and I get a good sleep.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to Shirpam22]

Okay - best to try and take at same time every day - the body gets accustomed to that and sometimes objects to changes. But give it a bit more time - 4 weeks at least - although 6 is better - but not all doctors like that long!

Let us know how things go.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

What time are you taking your dose of pred? That can be significant for mornings.

DL has explained why the mornings are worse - for some people it remains like that whatever dose they are on since the antiinflammatory effect may last well under 24 hours for some. The earlier you take the dose after 4am, the sooner it works, as much as anything because it has less to do before you feel better. Later, once you are more settled, splitting the dose might help but better to wait until your doctor has seen the result of 15mg. They may be willing to try 20mg.

[Shirpam22 in reply to PMRpro]

Thanks for help

[Cosmos22Marigold]

Like you I am fairly new to this. 8 weeks in now but I take my tablets 17.5mgs at 5 pm in the evening. I changed the mornings as I couldn't do a thing for most of the day. It has taken about 3 weeks to adjust but DL gave me lots of good advice about the complaint and after reading so many good posts I seem to be adjusting. I get a few hot sweats. Get giddy but not so often now. My worst headaches are subsiding due to me drinking so much more but I still get the shakes. Wish they would ease off. I can't give you sound advice as I'm also new but read all the posts as they certainly do help. Evenings seem to suit me better but when the Dr reduces my pred I'll see how it goes. Good luck and enjoy your lovely weather in Adelaide.

[Shirpam22 in reply to Cosmos22Marigold]

It’s good to hear the different experiences people have. As I can’t say my dr has been any help. Basically said yes it’s pmr , take 15mg pred and I’ll see you in 4 weeks (as he went off to the cricket, and now on holiday). So getting all the info from this site has been soo helpful.Interesting that you take your pred at night, something else to consider if things don’t settle in a couple of weeks. Yes weather is lovely here at the moment.