Constant bouts of Itching

[apttony]

I was diagnosed as to having PMR just under 3 years ago. Currently reducing from 7.5mg /day to 7.0mg/day, using DSNS taper schedule, as I have had problems at this level before, and had to increase the dosage back up again.

For the last year or so, I have suffered with extreme bouts of itching, and taking antihistamine has little control over the reaction. I have read somewhere on PMRuk that some versions of Prednisolone have fillers in it, like sodium benzoate, which are high in histamine.

Does anybody have a definitive knowledge of which manufactured versions of Prednisolone do NOT contain sodium benzoate or maize starch, another common filler?

[jinasc]

Can't help with the details you asked for, however someone will be along who will be able to help.

In the meantime, if you are taking enteric coated pred gently wash off the dye before taking. The colouring can cause problems like itching, red etc.

Sometimes if you have a ready meal which could be spag boll etc, then look at the dish you have heated it in and probably you will find a residue of colour generally a pale reddish.

Different manufacturers use different colouring agents, the contents are exactly the same.

[Hidden]

Very timely post. I had "the itches" in two areas last week. Calf and hip. It was awful so I took a couple of knock out pills and spread some lip cream over the itchy area. Ta da it went as I fell asleep!

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Use your search engine to look up the various brands of pred applicable - the manufacturer's data sheet should list the ingredients including the fillers. It is possible that your local pharmacist may have access to them too

[apttony in reply to PMRpro]

I have found a NICE listing of 11 manufacturers/suplliers of Pred, but so far only been able to find the excipient lists of 2 of them.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to apttony]

Try writing to the company

[tangocharlie]

I have this problem. I can take Strides Pharma or Wockhart OK, or Accord enteric coated tablets if I wash the coating off first and put them in a gel capsule. Accord Northstar brand has sodium benzoate in. But they all have different fillers. Putting any meds in a gel capsule which you can buy on amazon etc helps me with taking other types of meds too.

[apttony in reply to tangocharlie]

Hi tangocharlie. I'm on the same Strides Pharma and Wockhart, the latter has lactose, maize starch, stearic acid, purified talc and magnesium stearate in them. So far cannot find the Strides Pharma breakdown.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to apttony]

Interesting - I can't see pred listed on their site but have found a UK data sheet:

stridesfoundation.com/downl...

The excipients are listed in 6.1, almost a the end, last page but one,

[apttony in reply to PMRpro]

Thank you PMRpro, now got it and downloaded the Strides Pharma list of excipients.

However you 2nd link is a bit confused and should be . . . . .

strides.com/pharmagenerics_...

Many thanks

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to apttony]

I don't know what happened to that second link, there were actually 2 and one disappeared altogether. One was to the link you've given and the other to the contact page. But once it goes live you don't see what happened.

[tangocharlie]

There are a few of us on here have unusual 'allergies'. By detective work keeping a food and symptoms diary I discovered my main trigger is foods that are high in histamines - histamine intolerance. I have written posts on it on here about it. Still trying to find the root cause but it may be mast cell activation.

[apttony in reply to tangocharlie]

Yes, I have been exploring the histamine intolerance idea as well. recently found a mobile App which lists just about everything you can eat along with their histaamine content, highlighting those to avoid. As with most of these allergy intolerance problems, the things to avoid always seem to be the most enjoyable ones. !!!!!!! "Work in progress"

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to apttony]

There is a theory held by some that the things we like best are ones that are bad for us

[apttony in reply to PMRpro]

Hmmmm! Typical!!!

😀

[apttony in reply to tangocharlie]

Hi again. I've had a look at some of your posts - wow! - so many. I'm not have as much of a problem/s as you seem to have suffered, so I count myself lucky. Just suffering from itching virtually all the time, except when I keep myself cold. So I'm not sure how many of your posts are relative to myself. Can you give me any pointers to particular posts?

[tangocharlie in reply to apttony]

These two might be useful:

Allergies to Pred

healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...

Histamine intolerance

healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...