Flare or not

[Carathedog]

I was on 7 mg, started to feel a bit sore, so upped to 12 fora week, now back to 7, day three, I’ve never felt this bad before, neck, hips, back, arms, and muscle spasms.

I guess I came back to 7 too quickly, any advice

Thanks

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

When you have a flare, and the initial rise in dose has got things under control, when you drop back down you need to be at slightly higher dose that where the issue started. In your case if 7mg was too low a couple of weeks ago, it’s still likely to be too low today..

You might find that an increase to 8mg or even 7.5mg is enough - so try that initially. If not, then you may have to repeat the process….this link gives more info -

healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...

[Carathedog in reply to DorsetLady]

Thank you so much, I’ll try 8, going on holiday in a few weeks, so want to be feeling ok

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to Carathedog]

Hope it works -and don’t think about tapering until after holidays..

[PMRpro Ambassador]

If 7mg wasn't enough and a flare was setting in, it still won't be enough after the flare-blitz - you need to drop back to the last dose that worked well, probably at least 7.5 but maybe 8mg.

[Carathedog in reply to PMRpro]

Thanks, I’ve slept for six hours

[Blearyeyed]

Did you go straight back down to 7 mg after taking 12 mg the day before.This can be a reason you are feeling so bad.

If I take emergency increases in medication I find it's better to reduce the emergency dose over a number of days to the dose I was on before the dose which was so low that I felt the symptoms were coming back or a flare started.

So for example , if I'd taken 12 mg for a flare, and I'd been alright on a dose of 9 mg , if felt ok after 7days , I would then drop 1 mg a day over 3-4 days but remain at the 9 mg dose . I'd stay on that for a few weeks while giving myself good self care and nutrition to help recover from the effects of a flare on my body.

Then I would try to taper as normal again.

[Carathedog in reply to Blearyeyed]

I did go straight back to 7, guess it was too quick

I’ve never experienced a day like this, I’ll be more careful