Short Period of Pred Increase

[choirsinger1986]

Pmr sufferer for 3 and half years and currently on 9mg of pred. Initially prescribed 40mg of pred which proved to be too much for pmr and suffered very high blood pressure until Ramipril prescribed. Over time i reduced to 20mg with a few flares to 9mg where I will stay for rest of my life due to pituitary tumour damage.I developed cough for 9 days and had trouble breathing over last couple of days with wheezing and ruttly chest. Went to out of hours clinic where doctor who has prescribed 30mg of pred for 5 days, 5 days of antibiotics and inhaler as and when required.

My worry is the high dose of 30mg of pred prescribed and then go straight back to 9mg after 5 days - is this dose too much and then the sudden leap back down to 9mg ?

[PMRpro Ambassador]

No, pretty much standard procedure for a severe chest infection these days for everyone. The 5 days is not long enough to have an effect on adrenal function so it is just the same as for someone not on pred but your baseline is a bit higher.

[choirsinger1986 in reply to PMRpro]

No problem with going straight back to 9mg after 5 days then ?

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to choirsinger1986]

shouldn't be

[choirsinger1986 in reply to PMRpro]

Thanks for your response. Hopefully the extra meds will sort out my chest and shortness of breath - a bit scary this bit !😕

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to choirsinger1986]

I think shortness of breath is one of the scariest symptoms! But the pred should reduce the swelling pretty quickly

[choirsinger1986]

Thank you 👍