Hi all. On Monday past I was supposed to drop my pred down to 10 mg. Instead, since Ive been in so much arm, shoulder, and neck pain I felt like I was flaring due to the fast taper rheumy has me on - I upped it to 16 mg for a few days. Today they called to say I could have my right eye cataract surgery done this Monday. Do you think it advisable to do so and also, if I do should I drop the pred back down to 11 mg starting tonight? I would not like waiting til July, but is it worth risking whatever. The 16 mg. has not made much difference. I have a phone appointment with GP tomorrow, but she says I do not have GCA and read too much (off topic, I know), but I don't put much weight on her opinion when it comes to PMR/GCA. Thanks for your insight.
CATARACT SURGERY & PRED: Hi all. On Monday past I... - PMRGCAuk
CATARACT SURGERY & PRED
Wouldn't this be a question for whoever is doing the surgery? In my experience the eye people know a lot more about GCA. My ophthalmologist said GCA should be treated as seriously as a stroke or heart attack. Otoh when I showed my then GP a slow taper method for PMR and GCA from here, she started to ask me what GCA meant, then caught herself as realisation dawned!
And all the best with the procedure. A number of my friends have had cataracts done in the past couple of years and all are happy. 🍀🌺
I have had my cataracts done and you will not believe how much your eyesight I,proves
I agree it’s really something that the eye specialist need to answer. I’ve been on 3MG prednisolone. I had my right eye done two weeks ago. As well as anti-inflammatory eye drops taken for 3 weeks they gave me steroid eye drops for 4 weeks. Because of the inflammation due to PMR I’m taking the steroid drops for slightly longer than a normal patient. So far, it’s been two weeks and everything‘s been fine.
Thanks. Can't wait to get them done and overwith. My right eye is worse, so doing that one first.
I had a problem with my first cataract op and some of the cataract fell behind the eye so they couldn’t put the new one in. Due to the prodding about there was a lot of inflammation and I was put on 2 different kind of drops. A week later I had a vitrectomy to remove the fragments and put the new lens in. At one stage I had to have drops every hour apart from a 7 hour gap so I could sleep! The second eye went very smoothly. You can have problems but they are rare and can be sorted out.
If the 16mg hasn't done much, you might just as well go back to where you were. That also suggests that it is something else causing your pain and not PMR. The fast taper is going to cause discomfort and every time you go back up you set yourself back again. Sometimes you have to bite the bullet and deal with the pain - there are other causes that can look very similar.
GP is going over blood results this morning. It will be interesting to see if CRP is still climbing. Last count was 15.94 up from 9 up from 6, up from 3. This and the pain, which could be something else, made me think a flare. That's when she told me I read too much. Thanks Pro.
CRP rising IS a red flag BUT it could be any one of a whole range of things. The extra pred not having an effect suggest it MAY be something else - or you would need a lot more pred - but someone somewhere needs to investigate where it is coming from.
Perhaps those couple of days at 16 wasn't quite enough. I did notice a slight difference in back of upper arms and shoulders. This morning is a different story as quite stiff withbth 12 mg at bedtime. However, didn't get much sleep. I agree that someone should chase it. I have a phone 3 month follow-up with the rheumy on Tuesday. Always a cause for anxiety. She's the one who gave the standing order for the bloods, so she would see CRP rising - if she looks.
Well you can tell her, can't you!!!!
Most of us in NS don't yet have ability to view our own test results, although they've been working on it for years. Welcome to the 20th century!
Yes, but the GP has TOLD Missus the course of the CRP levels, she quotes them in her reply to me at the top of this internal thread. So she can tell the rheumy.
No it was my pharmacist assessment and the two of us went through my bloodwork since December and came to the conclusion that as I taper the pred down, the CRP is steadily rising. When I told GP the 15.94 marker, she said "oh it's just plain arthritis pain" and prescribed Naproxen 375 mg 3x per day (which does nothing and I reminded her she took me off NSAIDS). She would not let me up the pred at that time, because the rheumy " wants to control my prednisone". I said "well you may not be able, but I can". Then there was the implication that my pred would be cut off if I didn't follow rheumy's tapering plan. GP is very intimidated by this rheumy. Myself, I'm very disappointed with both if them and actually got more knowledge and info from my pharmacist. It was the pharm who suggested I get bloods done 2+ years ago because my now defunct GP had not sent me after 5 months of agony. Results were referred to a Neurologist here in Halifax, who diagnosed PMR.
Fair enough - but you DO know your results which was my point in replying to HeronNS. So if the rheumy claimed she was watching for rising CRP - it is rising ...
Your GP sounds pretty clueless too. If the pain is osteoarthritis, the CRP shouldn't rise like that. And Naproxen shouldn't be used longterm either without precautions.
Exactly! Pushing pills at me. Dont get me going on the SSRI vs. Clonazepam (which works) train. Together they don't make one good brain. Last time at GP she said she was recapping because I get confused. To which I replied "are you sure you're not the one who is confused". I'm not generally a smartass, but these two bring it out if me. Of course, I laughed but really meant it. Lucky to have these docs in a doc-less world, but come on. Thank you Pro and everyone.
It's frustrating to say the least.
My GP called me in, saw me this morning. Blood pressure a bit high. Heart sounded okay. Then I had an EKG as the technician had just come in, and that of course was normal. I'm like the car with the mystery rattle that always behaves perfectly at the garage! However he also checked into the two unfilled referrals from 2022. Unclear what happened to cardiologist referral, but apparently the one for a stress test was refused! Would have been nice to know that long ago. He can't send for stress test now. He's referred me to someone at DGH, marked urgent, whatever that means, and that cardiologist will send me for any further investigations. If the echo in 2022 hadn't been so worrisome it wouldn't really matter, even with the occasional symptoms, but this waiting game is getting old and I don't want to play anymore.
Oh my. I hear you. My bloodwork done last Saturday was excellent. CRP down to 5, glucose good, ESR good, all goid but cholesterol, which is down, but not enough. So she wants me on a statin. Yet another pill. The waiting game here is ludicrous and stressful. I'm waiting on an endoscopy. They asked if I was willing to go out of town. I said yes if really necessary. So far nothing. On a trip to ER Feb. 12, the doc referred me to an Internist...still nothing. So sorry we have to share this experience. Luckily I got the cataract surgery off of a waitlist. I only saw the surgeon 2 weeks ago. Wowzers! I was shocked. When it's your heart, it's especially worrisome. Hope they come through soon for you Heron. Keep on them m'dear. xx
🌻🌷
Hi HeronNS,
I am going for an Echocardiogram next week. I had an odd EKG in Dec 2023 then my GP heard a murmur when she listened to my heart at my most recent checkup. Since you had a worrisome Echo in 2022- it doesn’t seem to have serious symptoms- maybe you should have a follow-up echo. Apparently an echo can have significantly different results on follow-up tests.
Good luck with your echocardiogram! 🍀
I saw my doctor yesterday, having reported in a phone appointment an unusual event which had occurred. He and the EKG tech found nothing concerning yesterday, but the fact that my cardio referral appears to have vanished into the ether, and the request for a stress test had actually been refused (?) he has referred me to a different cardio and says that this particular issue will now be in the hands of that person. I was really impressed how quickly he saw me and how much time he took; he was obviously fitting me into a busy morning schedule and I had not asked for an in person appointment, he'd cared enough to call me in! The symptoms I reported are apparently fairly classic heart symptoms in women. Maybe because I look after my health things are staying quite stable, but probably my luck will run out eventually. My goal is to live long enough for my (very young) grandchildren to remember me. 😊
"The symptoms I reported are apparently fairly classic heart symptoms in women. "
But of WHAT? There are an awful lot of things that can happen with one's heart! And women are almost always different from men ...
Well hopefully your luck isn't dependent upon the system here and vanishing rrcords, which I'm quite familiar with. 🌷🤞
I agree with you…grandchildren are wonderful incentives to live longer, as healthily as possible.
I can tell her and have, but the response was "you probably don't even have PMR and if you do it's probably not even active". This phone consult was 3 months ago..This is the rheumy who missed the compression fractures diagnosis on a CT scan she ordered. They found it at ER six weeks later.
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