Itching: steroid side-effect?

[jezzard]

I'm on 7mg prednisolone having tapered from 15mg over 18 months with no ill-effects. Now I am experiencing outbreaks of continuous itching on shoulders, behind ears and on the face. Steroids or Reduction of or Not Related?

[SnazzyD]

Hello, it is somewhere under 10mg that people seem to start to complain of allergy type reactions such as skin irritation and food intolerances, me included. I wonder if there is some sort of histamine rebound once the suppressive effect of Pred reduces. This is just my theory. Mine wore off slowly over months but some have a bit more trouble and have to go on low histamine diets for example. Have you changed shampoo or washing powder? Itching of course can mean many things though. Is there anything to see?

You could try an antihistamine for a week or so to see if it helps.

[SheffieldJane in reply to SnazzyD]

That makes sense. I feel like a mass of allergies, blocked nose, gluten intolerance, IBS symptoms. Itchy eyes. Require unscented everything. Hovering between 7 and 8 mgs of Pred. Also Tocilizumab injections weekly. Don’t know if fortnightly would help any of this. Oh and itchy palms, nothing to see.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to SheffieldJane]

"and itchy palms, nothing to see" - that's a sign of xmas coming: itchy palms is sign of money exchanging hands. Left you give, right you receive

[SheffieldJane in reply to PMRpro]

I will receive a stern email from my bank at this rate! 🙄

[PMRpro Ambassador]

If it were the pred I'd have expected it to be worse at higher doses. Unless you have changed supplier of the pred and something in the fillers is different.

What Snazzy described is pretty common - at a higher dose other allergies are less of a problem but as you reduce they reappear. I htink there are some allergies that are linked to the autoimmune part of PMR but that is my theory. I have an allergy that started about the same time as the PMR to the starch in commercial wheat - at higher doses I can eat some wheat without itching, below 10mg I start to itch again.

[HeronNS]

Pred dosage can have effect. So can different detergent. Or dry skin. I recently experienced a confluence of all these things so I don't know what to blame. However, I went back to former detergent, my pred dose has tapered, and I have once again been using a good skin cream which I'd been unable to obtain for a couple of years. So from literal agony, having to remove labels from my clothes, unable to wear certain clothes because they had become so rough against my skin, etc., back to normal....

[winfong]

Any issues with allergies before? As an Englishman who lives in the American South, I have had serious issues with allergies all my life.

[Broseley]

Interesting question. For years I have had itchy ears, face and scalp. No rash. Also frequent sneezing and blocked nose. When i was diagnosed with PMR and GCA and put on 40mg pred, all this disappeared. I had got so used to it, I suddenly felt so much better. But since going down to 30mg a month ago, it's all come back. So not under 10mg as suggested!

[pegpowell]

Every few months my ankles get itchy late at night and I have to use a cream for relief. This is at 4 mgs pred. Never had this before PMR.

[Olympian]

Morning I am also on 7mg of Pred starting in April on 15mg. So far all is ok and no side effects . I hope your issues are resolved soon good luck!