hello, I had PMR/GCA diagnosed January 2020 . A minor relapse and then a major one in August 2021 where I had to up my dose to 40mg Prednisolone. After that I have been tapering, cautiously until December 2022 where I was on 5.5mg. At Xmas I was hit by flu with high temperature and cough. My legs wouldn’t hold me up. I isolated in my bedroom as I had a full house with children and their families and luckily full fridge and freezer. My husband was a major help as I was stuck in bed for 3 weeks.
i was prescribed amoxicillin which helped. I decided to increase my Prednisolone by 5mg to 10.5 for the last 3 weeks. I need your advice please on what to do next as my flu symptoms have subsided.
Do I drop back to 5.5mg? Incidentally I am expecting to have a knee replacement operation in a month or so.
Thank you
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Dolcelatte
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I certainly wouldn’t because for me personally I don’t underestimate my body’s ability to get used to things quite quickly. Therefore, I would want to avoid withdrawal, plus at 3 weeks you are on the edge of adrenal shutdown again. If it were me I would try 0.5mg per week but be very wary of kickback. The trouble is with viral illnesses is that you can feel mildly knocked back for a while which can also feel like adrenal insufficiency. I’m sure you’ll get more advice so sit tight.
As SnazzyD says you’ve gone past the usual time when you can drop back down easily after a flare [maximum suggested is 14 days] - so for that reason, and recovery from flu it does need to be slower…
Perhaps 8mg or 7.5mg initially - and see how that goes….after a couple of week at that level you can then re-evaluate the situation.
Come back and let us know - and maybe have a look at this for upcoming replacements- if this is first one -
When I was first put on pred, it was 2 weeks each of 15/10/5/stop. That was with a baseline of zero so if you take YOUR baseline as 5mg, I would try 7.5mg on the way down - if that worked, then drop to 6mg after a week or so. If the 7.5mg feels or felt too much all at once I'd go via 9mg for a few days,
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PMR flare advice needed
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Advice please!
