Prednisone

[Uglow]

Do you all adjust your prednisone dose or is a doctor doing it please as my back is killing me can o just up prednisone😩thanks

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Those of us who do vary our doses are usually doing it in agreement with our doctors. But you can't use pred as a painikiller - it doesn't work like that. And starting to yoyo the dose of pred can make it harder to reduce the dose later.

Is your return of pain after a reduction in dose? Or have you been doing more than usual? Is it the sort of back pain for which you would have taken paracetamol or ibuprofen if you didn't have PMR? What dose of pred are you on?

It is a much better idea to try to identify what sort of pain it is and try alternative ways of managing it first. I get low back pain which is sort of related to the PMR as it is due to myofascial pain syndrome and spasmed muscles - but my first approach is a single dose of 800mg ibuprofen and sitting with a hot water bottle over the painful area. Takes a few hours - but it works and I rarely need a top-up dose of ibuprofen or to take more pred.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Ditto to PMRpro 's reply.

Some doctors are happy to let patients juggle their dose, but only if experienced, and notifying so records can be adjusted. Others are not!

But you do need to know the issue is definitely PMR related

[Koalajane]

My doctor is happy for me to manage my reductions, this was decided after several months of consultations

[MamaBeagle]

Same for me as KJ.

[Bcol]

Ditto to all the other replies