Flare up.

[Kazm04]

I'm not sure if I'm having a flare up as I'm aching all over and feel so tired all the time . I was diagnosed with polymialgia rheumatica 2 years ago and prednisolone has helped me with my symptoms . I've never had a flare up before so not sure why I'm feeling like this. And advice from this wonderful forum would be great as I'm really struggling at the moment.

[piglette]

What dose of pred are you on now? Could it be your adrenals are starting to wake up?

[Kazm04 in reply to piglette]

I'm on 7mg now .

[piglette in reply to Kazm04]

That is around the time the adrenals start getting grumpy about being woken up!

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

As you were on 8mg in November as piglette says likely your adrenals -so to that end have a look at this link - but could also be a flare so a double whammy.

healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...

Just a reminder, it’s always very helpful to state what dose you are on now - or if you have been through any recent occurrences that might account for you feeling as you do, otherwise it’s guesswork on our behalf.

[Kazm04 in reply to DorsetLady]

Thank you Dorset lady I reduced to 7mg about 5 months ago .

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to Kazm04]

And been on 7mg since then? And how long have you felt like you do today?

If okay, then more likely to be adrenals I think… and unless you have had anything very stressful in last few weeks, would say your PMR is happy enough at 7mg.

Are you sure you don’t have a virus - that usually a good cause of overall aching.

So maybe continue at 7mg for now and see if your adrenals do start to awaken.. if they do then you should feel marginally better. Unfortunately cannot say how much, it’s very individual. .. but usually it’s time, and you do need to try and reduce [but slowly] so they get the message. That sometimes isn’t very pleasant, but you do have to try..

See how things go, others that have struggled more than I did will be along with their views. Mine was only random bouts of fatigue, but overall aching can occur, although I am a bit worried it might be something else.

What are chance of getting GP appointment in your area, just to make sure ?

[Kazm04]

I was doing fine on 7mg until now I've seen a rheumatologist recently who wants me to try and reduce my pred dose with t he help of another tablet not sure off the name it begins with L. Trying to make a Drs appointment here is impossible but i will keep trying. Do you think it would be ok to increase my pred for a few days as I'm going away the weekend and don't want to feel like this. Many thanks.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to Kazm04]

Leflunomide - it’s a DMARD - it may help, it does for some but not everyone… no personal experience sorry.

Usual advice for flare is in this link - so as we aren’t 100% sure what it is, it’s worth a try -

healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Whatever dose you are on is critical: you are never reducing the dose relentlessly to zero, youa re tapering the dose to find the lowest effective dose for YOU. You start at a dose of pred that is more than you are likely to need and then reduce it slowly to find the lowest dose that works for you. If you go below that dose, there is no enough pred to manage all the inflammation and it builds up again to a level where you feel symptoms.

And at this level, you adrenal glands have to wake up and start to produce cortisol again - and that can leave you feeling fatigued.