What should my expectations be on the 4th day of taking 15mg pred? Is what I’m experiencing normal? I’d be grateful for any info.
I’m definitely moving better, able to get out of bed more easily and rise from a chair (unless I’ve sat for more than an hour). I still have pain and discomfort in my left upper arm but it has improved. Walking still feels a bit weird.
Is this as good as it gets or is it too soon to judge?
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Probably still a bit early to judge, and as I said in previous post, some people get instant results, others don’t…so don’t get dispirited.
I think you have a week’s supply of Pred - and then have to report back to GP, so do that, but be honest about it.
As we know on here it sometimes takes longer than a week to get a good result, and/or it takes more than 15mg.
But it is an improvement , so that’s a positive.
thank you for the reassurance 💐
Too soon to judge - you have some improvement quickly - some don't even have that and then suddenly it kicks in after up to a fortnight while some need a higher dose. 15mg is the bottom end of the starting dose range according to the expert guidelines.
Overall - what sort of percentage improvement would you say you had? In terms of moving more freely I had maybe 80% improvement in a day or so - there was a massive improvement in 6 hours and it got better each day - but it was a couple of months before some of the pain, in hips, feet and hands in particular, faded slowly away,
Thanks for your reply. Overall I would say at least 80% better. I was even able to do a Joe Wicks 10 minute workout yesterday morning - it took me 10 minutes to get out of bed last week!
Moving around the house is fine, but when I take a walk outside after a few minutes I still find discomfort in the tops of my thighs! It makes walking difficult and I feel I’m walking abnormally. If I bend forward (curve my spine) the pain goes and I can walk quickly! The bending forward was just an experiment you understand!! I don’t intending to adopting it for everyday use.
I’m not sure if this is related to PMR or some other condition.
Be careful with the Joe Wicks workout, you might pay for it later in on. When I first started on pred the improvement was dramatic and I was wired to the point of massively overdoing it. I paid heavily by not being able to even walk down the garden for 4 months. Turning in bed, carrying anything etc, total nightmare which I have never forgotten.
See how you are after a few days before attempting another.
Sounds like you're on the right road with the pred though. Try and get to speak to your doctor before they run out as you don't want to find improvimprovement and not have any in the house.
Very possibly - I feel the sensation of being forced to lean forward and it relieves the discomfort in the same places. Start moving as much as you can now - BUT start small! Probably halve the JW workout at least and build up SLOWLY. As Sophiestree say - very very easy to overdo things at the start - it is a new normal now/
I started on 15mg at the end of December which like you, had a noticeable affect in 4 days. After 2 weeks 80% of my pain was gone. I had a review with my GP after 3 weeks and reported some residual shoulder/upper arm pain. We increased to 20mg and a week later all pain gone. I stayed on 20mg for 3 weeks and I am now 7 days into my first reduction to 17.5mg. So far so good - no pain has returned. Another review planned in 2 weeks when I pray my GP will continue to be pragmatic and slow but he has been very good so far in my opinion and I have confidence he will do the right thing.
The difference between the agony I was in 8 weeks ago and now is enormous and I see why people use the word “miracle” in respect of prednisolone. Still early days for me but feeling positive and hopefully you will too. Good luck
sounds like you have a really sensible GP. I had a similar experience at diagnosis, other than I started at 20mg, then moved up to 30mg to kill off all the inflammation. That worked well.
that’s great hear and I hope you continue to improve. Good luck. Hopefully I will follow a similar pattern.
Funny, I was wondering how you were faring yesterday, Bigbaldgit67 (can't type your name without laughing). Good to hear you're doing ok.🙂
I started off on 15 MG a day, but I’d had PMR for so long before I was diagnosed and because I had a high pain threshold (diagnosed with atypical PMR because I could perform exercises the rheumatologist didn’t expect me to) it took almost 2 weeks before I really felt better. And then I felt wonderful!! Yes, please give it more time.
Good morning, really good that things have started to improve and it's going in the right direction. Be upfront and honest with doctor this week, and if he/you feel that 20mg might be beneficial for a few weeks, to help clear out any residual inflammation, before starting a drop down then go with it. Try to bear in mind there is no quick fix or any short cuts, and, as a number here have discovered, dropping too quickly ends up with taking more Pred than if you taper slowly. Good luck.
Within 2 days of taking 15mg prednisolone I had about 75% of my movement back. I remember it well because for the first time in 4 months I was able to sweep the yard. It took about 2 weeks to get to about 90%, and a further week to get to 95% - that was the day I was able to bend my knees comfortably to get into the bath. From then on it got better and better and I was able to do all the things I did before PMR.
15mg initial dose didn't work for me. Went to 25mg and the relief was almost instantaneous. Perhaps give it a few more days and if you are not improving request an increase.
Sounds about right and very good progress on 15 mg. Sometimes takes a few days, but I bet you've achieved a lot of relief and encouragement from what has happened so far. I started on 20 mg and got some overnight relief, but got even better over the next few days. As DL said, be honest about your pain with the GP and don't let them start reducing the Prednisone yet (from experience).
I was 80% better within 24 hours but the next 20 percent took about 2 months. I still have mild pain in the morning until my dose kicks in.
Doses of Pred
Day 1 of Pred
Set back. Day 4. 
Flare of GCA after 4 yrs on Pred ?
Heartburn/reflux, coated pred?
