Impact of COVID on remission

[squashie]

Came down with Covid a week before Easter. Had flu like symptoms accompanied by stiff neck and shoulders, and unusual back stiffness. Apart from a very sore throat it wasn't too troublesome, and I was reasonably OK, apart from fatigue, by about day 4. By end of first week started to regress - fatigue worsened and stiffness returned, although no flu like symptoms..

When I recalled that a stiff neck was the precursor to my original PMR diagnosis, and my shoulders were getting progressively more painful I started to wonder if it was PMR rearing its head. As I couldn't get to see my very good GP for a couple of weeks I thought I'd try some pred - 5mg. Worked a treat. Stiffness and fatigue has disappeared. So what to do till I see the Doc?

Current plan is to steadily drop to 1mg and sit there until checked out.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

If you’re on 5mg and are seeing doctor in 2 weeks -not sure how steadily a drop to 1mg will be! Just make sure it’s steady enough..,and maybe aim for 2mg not 1mg.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Look for the dose that keeps you where you are now - might be 5mg, might be 1mg.

[Ptolemy66]

Hi Squashie, I too got Covid a few weeks ago. I have been in remission for 6 months. My dose of covid was pretty mild and after a week I had bounced back and was back at work. Then a week later I started with the familiar twinge, nausea and fatigue. After a couple of days on fiddling around on low doses, I went up to 10mg. I've been tapering by 1mg a day since then. I'm know down to 5mg after 5 days and I can tell it's time to pause for a few days before I start tapering again. Hope you manage to get off the meds soon. 😀