SYMPTOMS WORSE
PMR since Spring ( diagnosed 2 weeks after Covid jabs!) Started on 15mg Prednisolone, recently dropped to 8mg. But, since then have joint pain as well as muscle pain for 1st time. Can a drop of just 1mg after 6 weeks cause this? Do I get in touch with Doctor? Advice welcome!
How long after reducing did the symptoms kick in? I found reducing hard at every level in that within 1-4 days i felt fluey achey in joints and muscles, plus very tired and often had to go to bed more. Often i would get a headache too. This lasted for a few days to a week. As a general rule, if the symptoms kick in a week or more later, it may be from build up of inflammation again.
Thank you for your comments; yes, it probably did start about a week after the drop. I have another blood test coming up, so maybe will wait for results to see if inflammation levels are up.
I echo Snazzy’s post, I find exactly the same 😟 Currently getting up courage to go from 12.5 to 10, which I’m going to split into 12.5 to 11, and then 11 to 10. I find it can be disheartening to feel worse, but so far, it’s come right after a week or so.
As Snazzy says, if you still feel symptoms after more than a week, maybe your body is not ready to reduce….
Good luck
Nextoneplease x
Strangely I have had NO blips dropping so far - till now; which is why I am so concerned by it. I think I will 'hang on' a bit longer before trying to see Doctor SOONER than my next regular appointment and see what blood tests show. It is so helpful and supportive to know others are in the same boat! Thank you so much - good luck to you too!
FWIW I'm presently tapering 1mg per week for two weeks then skipping a week. I started this taper at 30mg and am currently at 21mg.
I drop the 1mg on Tuesdays and notice that the following Sunday I have an increase in symptoms for about 24 hrs. Then things settle down again and I move on.
Assuming I make it to 10mg, I plan on parking for a bit and then working towards 5mg. We'll see how it goes...
Chris
Never heard this plan before Chris but sounds good!
All the best 😊
This post explains the difference between a flare and steroid withdrawal -- healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...
Your reduction has been very quick, so to me sounds as if you have gone below the level you actually require. You are not reducing relentlessly to zero, you are trying to find the lowest dose that gives you the same relief as the initial dose... and once/if you go below that, then the symptoms resurface.
As for blood tests, as SnazzyD says, can lag behind symptoms, which is why symptoms are the key.
You may not have had any blips so far, but that's because the Pred was sufficient, now it's not..
Even a 1mg drop that takes you slightly too low can be enough for symptoms to reappear after a short time as left-over inflammation builds up to a level that is enough to cause symptoms.
Update to symptoms dropping from 30 to 25 and weird visual symptom
update on symptoms after holiday
Does anyone have worse symptoms with different brands of Prednisolone? 
Increased symptoms after Vaccination
