Stopping pred

[Bee2222]

Well here I am again 2weeks without pred and my shoulders are hurting. Do I go back to it or carry on. I am very tempted to take 5mg today to see if it helps. It obviously hasn't gone away like I'd hoped. What do you all think. Thanks

Bee2222

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

You might find that a smaller amount is enough to get it back under control….

... or maybe try 5mg for a few days and then drop back down to say 2mg.

But don’t just leave it, or it will undoubtedly escalate if it is a return of PMR.

[Bee2222 in reply to DorsetLady]

Thanks just what I was thinking

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Bee2222]

And exactly what I would say. More often than not, if you were fine on 1mg for a few months then a couple of days of 5mg and back to 1mg will probably be enough.

[Bee2222]

Yes it seems to be working. I took 5 at 9am and shoulders are now much better. before this I had been on 1mg per day and was fine. Thanks for your help

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to Bee2222]

Are you saying you dropped from 1mg to zero? And how? When you are so low, 1mg to 0.5mg on a slow tapering regime, then 0.5mg to zero again slow taper…even stopping at 0.5mg for a month or so if necessary .

At these doses, 0.5mg makes a very big difference as many can testify., even if some doctors don’t believe it….

[Bee2222 in reply to DorsetLady]

Yes you're right I think I was going too fast Will be more cautious in future thanks

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Bee2222]

Even 1/2mg every other day has been known to keep low activity PMR under control - at zero symptoms return as the drip of inflammation builds up.

[Chris0808]

I think that I would take 2mg and see if that helps if not go up gradually but I would not start at 5mg, but that is me.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Chris0808]

It is standard protocol for dealing with a flare and that is the same here - you wouldn't stay at 5mg for more than a week at most but it clears out any accumulated inflammation. Creeping up to manage a flare rarely works, you are always playing catchup.