I found this site yesterday and it’s so encouraging to hear about other PMR sufferers. I’ve been taking Prednisone for exactly a week now, the pain at times has been intolerable and it’s been a struggle to keep myself mentally on top of things.
I feel slightly better today although the morning stiffness is still an issue. I was hoping there would have been a quicker improvement to my 15mg daily Prednisone.
Am I being unrealistic? I would love to hear other peoples experiences please.
Welcome to the forum BigEric.
Your initial dose of pred has a lot of work to do to help clear the build up of inflammation. For some it needs a higher starting dose (20 or even 25mg). I would recommend speaking to your doctor to see whether this is the case for you.
I hope you improve soon - let us know how you get on x
Hi,
From what you have written, I suspect you may need a bigger starting dose of prednisolone.
The recommended start is usually between 12.5 and 25 mg. In my case I was started at 20 mg and upped a bit from that to get the inflammation under better control. - that worked for me. However, you will need to check with your GP.
Others will for sure be along soon to give much more information. Meanwhile, as you’re new to pmr, have a good read through the Frequently Asked Questions. It is a goldmine of data.
Try to give yourself plenty of rest. With pmr, you will needs loads of patience!
Good luck, and do keep in touch with this excellent Forum.
Paddy
Maybe have a look at this intro/info post - and yes you may need a little more -but give it time -
healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...
And maybe look at another newbies profile - -
I found that I was back in the land of the living within 24 hours of starting steroids, but I did start at 20mg. I could hardly move before diagnosis. Either you need a higher dose for the magic to happen or you do not have PMR.
Hi and welcome.
15mg is the bottom end of the range for starting dose for PMR and often takes a few days at least to work - and the morning stiffness may persist for a while. As already mentioned - you may need a higher dose, especially if the diagnosis has been slow or you really are a bigger person as your forum name seems to suggest.
And I have to ask - have you been acting as the poorly person or struggling to carry on as normal? Being on pred is not a get out of jail free card to go back to normal life! It needs all the help it can get and you do need some rest and TLC for a while.
For some people the symptoms of PMR magically disappear within hours or days of starting Pred but for others (including myself) the Pred achieves a great reduction in symptoms but the symptoms persist. In my case, I would say that within a couple of weeks I was about 85% better, which was a massive and very welcome improvement. I found that I varied from day to day and that I was better later in the day.
As others have said, your starting dose may be too low. I am a woman and started on 20mg.
I am on day 10 of Pred (15mg) after a few weeks of agony/despair, much like yourself.
I noticed an improvement in my hips and legs from around day 3, and in my shoulders from days 4/5. My right shoulder was my most painful area and that is still sore now but at least 70% better than before. My hip and leg pain have gone and my left shoulder is around 90% improved.
My main issue, as the timing of this reply may suggest, is sleep. I have not had more that around an hour of unbroken sleep in the last 4 days or so, and even during the day, I am unable to catch up. Fortunately I am off work and can afford to spend the daytimes feeling dreadful, lethargic and ratty, but that won’t last much longer. I have tried going for walks and keeping active, then resting, reading, submitting to Homes Under the Hammer - the lot! The only option as yet untested in 2023 is wine 🍷, which I know will attract a mildly disapproving 🤦🏼♀️ from Dorsetlady should I yield to the grape!!
I don’t know if Pred at 15mg could really be the cause of my inability to sleep but will discuss this with my GP when I have a review next week. I personally feel I may need 20mg to see off the remaining shoulder pain, but don’t want to be a sleep-dodger much longer as I want to go back to work which is unthinkable whilst I am feeling like such a lethargic layabout 😭.
On the plus side, I’ll take the tiredness over the pain anyway!
Good luck with your recovery - as I and countless others on here can vouch for………there is hope 🙏😁
Only mildly disapproving- am known to quaff a glass or two of the old bubbly myself 🥂
..as yes many find 15mg is enough to disrupt sleep…. although for a lot is does improve as you reduce.. Think it depends maybe how how good a sleeper you were beforehand..even on silly doses [80mg then 60mg for first 8 weeks of my GCA] my sleep returned to normal after a few months.
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