Intermittent pain in left temple while tapering

[Donna5658]

I am using DL’s tapering schedule and am down to 4.5 mg. Recently I have started having some dull pain in my left temple that comes and goes. It is never intense. I have had no visual changes. Is it possible to have temple pain that is not related to GCA? I will go into the ER if things change at all, but just wanted to see if others have had unilateral temple pain when it wasn’t GCA? Thanks!

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

It certainly is possible, and any new head pain should always be checked out.

Please keep us informed.

[Donna5658 in reply to DorsetLady]

The temple pain arrived about the same time as I’ve had a return of neck and bilateral shoulder pain, my initial PMR symptoms. The pain isn’t nearly as intense as when I was diagnosed, but definitely noticeable. I have a CRP and Sed Rate scheduled for tomorrow and after that I thought about increasing my prednisone dose from 4.5 to 5. 5 is the last dose where I was pretty much pain free. Even though it isn’t very cold so far this winter in Seattle, it feels like the fall weather has made things worse.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to Donna5658]

Changes in weather doesn’t always help… most people complain about damp conditions, but cold can affect other health issues.. depends on what you have.

Might be wise to increase Pred… but “pretty much pain free” is not exactly a ringing endorsement for 5.5mg… so you may need a tad more. If it is, it is… no point in not taking enough.

[Donna5658 in reply to DorsetLady]

By “pretty much pain free” I meant the pain was gone from the original sites (neck, shoulders, thighs, glutes) but I was still stiff in the morning until prednisone kicked in or until I got moving.

[Donna5658 in reply to Donna5658]

It’s been kind of insidious, but it just dawned on me that I am probably having a PMR flare. If this is the case, it sounds like your advice is to go up 5 mg until symptoms subside and then head back down to last dose where pain was controlled, which for me seemed to be 5mg. Does this seem like a reasonable approach? Is there a number of days on the upped dose above which I’d have to start the taper all over again rather than dropping back to the last dose that worked? Thanks!

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to Donna5658]

This link contains info for dealing with a flare , and no you don’t need to do a slow taper back down once you’ve got it under control so long as you’re not on increased dose for more than 14 days -

healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...

Sometimes I do suggest dropping down in two steps rather than one, with about 5 days on interim dose, it really depends how you feel.

[Donna5658 in reply to DorsetLady]

Great. Thanks for all of your help!

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to Donna5658]

🌸