I am in the US and we watch the reactions to the vaccine in the UK. We are being told that drugs like prednisone will make it less efficacious for us. So our docs are suggesting that if we can lower our doses within reason it would be better.
I am down to 3 - 3.5 and should stabilize on 3 soon.
Thoughts?
It doesn't stop us taking up the flu jab - no different. They don't actually KNOW yet if it will reduce the effect for patients on immunosuppressants of any sort and there are a lot of us!
It is all very well telling patients to reduce their dose, but all of us are always doing our best to reduce the dose - or we should be. And you can only reduce as far as the current level of disease activity will allow - reduce too far and your PMR/GCA will reappear. Which is a bit pointless too.
Far better to encourage others to take up the jab to give us better protection and for us to not give up the distancing, mask and hygiene habits that have served us so far.
Thank you. Please post if you find any research on the reality of how our drugs could influence the efficacy. Most of us do take flu vaccines. The sources of info for people like us here are horrible.They are so behind in giving vaccines also. Thanks again
Does it matter? Any practice at recognising the virus is a positive - you are still ahead of the game if you have had the vaccine.
I guess you are right. It is just another concern because this thing is so scary and with different strains etc we want to be as protected as possible. PMR is lousy and hurts a lot but it isn't the suffering of COVID. So trying to go down in dose even if just for awhile while being vaccinated seems a good tradeoff. I lost my brother to iCOVID and it is no way to die. Thank you as always!!!
Hi Just to say so sorry for your loss
My Mum is 92 has Heart Faller , High Blood Presure ,diabetic and possible Dementia being investigated .
She had her vaccination today I am so glad she did .I know I'm not going to have her for long .
I do hope we all will be protected soon
I will be so glad to have mine on Steroids or not.
Covid surely can be a terrible thing but want to share that I am 78 and had Covid last June. I had a mild fever, a cough for only 24 hours, a 24 hour headache at the same time and generally felt weak and shaky. Oh, and I lost my taste and smell. My doctor said that BECAUSE I was on Prednisone my symptoms were mild. They give steroids in the hospital to Covid patients to ease their symptoms. I was tested and still have antibodies after 8 months.
I don't know your age but my 57 year old daughter had it and it was like having the flu, and my 49 year old son, his wife and 2 grown children all got it and mostly had mild flu symptoms.
I've heard we are better protected while on Pred.....Pred. always helped me when I had an asthma attack. So makes sense it's going to calm down the inflammation in our lungs should we catch Covid
"At a recent meeting of the American Society of Hematology held earlier this month [December 2020], the nation’s leading infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci, MD, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), encouraged people with compromised immune systems to get vaccinated when they have the chance, reported the American Journal of Managed Care.
“It is clear that if you are on immunosuppressant agents, history tells us that you are not going to have as robust a response as if you had an intact immune system that was not being compromised,” Dr. Fauci said at the meeting. “But some degree of immunity is better than no degree of immunity. So, for me, it would be recommended that these people do get vaccinated.”
Follow the Fauci, who continues to recommend that even those who have been fully immunized continue to follow mask, hand washing and social distancing protocols, as trials did not study whether immunized persons could still carry and transmit the virus even after full immunization and high levels of immune response have been achieved.
Also, the levels of immune suppression we experience, even at the upper ranges of dosage for PMR/GCA, are far lower than those experienced by persons undergoing chemotherapy and transplant treatment. While our vaccine response may not produce 95% protection, it is unlikely we will be so unresponsive as to not achieve a protective response, especially if we continue to follow protocols until herd immunity is achieved.
So get your shots when available, don't skip the booster, wear a mask, wash your hands, and keep your distance until we hear the All Clear.
Thank you so much!!! So well said and inspiring!! Will pass it on to my cousin who has MS.Thank you all!!
Follow the Fauci, who always speaks based on the science, tells us what he knows, tells us what he doesn't know, tells us what we can do to reduce our risks (even when we may not like it), and has both the credentials and the courage to oppose those who would have us observe a fantasy instead of reality.
Anthony Fauci, my hero!
I note that Fauci says 'don't skip the booster', It seems there is some difference of opinion about whether prolonging the length of time between first and booster dose as proposed by UK Govt will be be detrimental to effectiveness. Any comments?
I'm not impressed at all although I see their argument about having twice as many with 89% protection rather than a smaller number at 95% - after all, we do still need the existing measures ongoing until they work out if it also stops transmission. However - I would want to see the evidence which I am sure Pfizer/BioNTech could supply if it were there. And THEY have said no ...
Well that's not how the trials were conducted, so unless we're going to undertake another trial to test this out, I'd stick with the science as it is currently known.
What we're after is not only individual immunity, but herd immunity, which protects the entire community and eventually kills the virus as viable hosts become harder to find.
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