pain in wrist

[Gettingbetter1]

I was diagnosed with PMR just over 2 years ago and with the usual ‘ups downs’ and occasional flares I’m now down from 40mg  (with slow tapering) to 4.5 mg of Pred. I’m left handed but have had persistent morning pain in my right wrist for the past couple of weeks. I thought it might pass as my body got used to the ongoing taper but it hasn’t. I’m thinking of increasing the Pred dose to 6mg for a few days to see if it clears before dropping back down to 4.5 mg again. (assuming of course that the pain is PMR or taper related). Do you think this is the right approach? Thanks 

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Think link contains usual advice for dealing with a flare, which it what it sounds like, so you may need slightly more than 6mg to get under control and when you come back down - to 5mg rather than 4.5mg if that’s where the issue began -

healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...

[Gettingbetter1 in reply to DorsetLady]

Thanks for the quick Sunday response! I’ve re read the link you provided which is a helpful one and will do as suggested. Thinking back I did experience similar wrist pains around 15mg a year or so ago and overcame them through correct tapering so hopefully can do the same again. Paracetamol dosent seem to help so a flare is the most likely problem.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to Gettingbetter1]

you’re welcome -enjoying a cuppa supplied by DIL -and catching up from yesterday absence from forum.

Paracetamol won’t help PMR….

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Is it just pain in the wrist or are there any other effects? Tingling in fingers for example? If so, it could be carpal tunnel syndrome. On the other hand, wrist pain was always a sign I was starting a flare! Has it worsened or stayed much the same?

[Gettingbetter1 in reply to PMRpro]

hi thanks for the quick response. There’s no tingling in fingers and the pain has come and gone over the last week or so, today being the worst. So as you say it’s most likely early signs of a flare. Thanks again.

[piglette]

If it is just pain in your wrist you could try painkillers first before you increase your steroid dose. If the painkillers don’t work I increase by 5mg for a week ir so, then drop down just above the dose where the pain started.

[Lilly-Gee]

i get pain in my wrist too. It usually is the first indicator Im going to get mor pain. Sometimes it is much worse than at other times, often coinciding with bad weather and with a drop in pred. I get by with some Panadol and I find gentle wrist exercises actually helps. Ive just done a very slow taper from 3.5mg to 3mg and my wrist is hurting a little bit today but I will give it a few more days at 3 mg before I go up because it usually goes away as I get used to the lower dose. If it doesn't go or gets really bad I go up by tiny amounts like .25 extra for a few days then sit at that if the pain goes for about 4 or 5 days then reduce by that tiny amount very slowly. It took me 3 months to get from 4.5mg to 3mg today. I have 1 mg tablets I chop up into quarters. All the advice on this site says go slowly and very carefully with a tiny taper when getting down this low. I can only say from my experience that this is excellent advice hope you get through it soon 👍

[Gettingbetter1 in reply to Lilly-Gee]

Hi Lilly- Gee. What you have described sounds very similar to my situation only Panadol doesn’t seem to relieve the pain. It’s only one wrist and all else seems ok so it’s a shame to up the pred just for that although there dosent seem to be much of an alternative. I agree that gentle wrist exercises help. The good thing is that when the pain goes the wrist returns to normal strength. I’ve given the wrist 10 days or so to get better at the current dose of 4.5mg but it doesn’t want to play that game!

[Lilly-Gee]

Damn wrist! You just have to do what you have to do to get by. Good luck. Mine feels sore too today must be going out in sympathy with you 😜 (I am at 3 mg though so I hope I can keep it up 🤞)