Feeling dispirited having had a flying start to meds, now regressing. Advice

[Fatsiajaponica]

Diagnosed and prescribed 20mgs of prednisolone 5 days ago. Woke up the next morning and a miracle had occurred. 95% improvement, could get out of bed, dress etc... Yesterday some symptoms returned mildly, today only 50% if that. Shoulder, neck, arms, legs and hands stiff. Is this normal? I haven't overdone it, just mowed the lawn on day2.I was pretty bad as there was a delay in diagnosis and had hoped the higher dose would clear the inflammation. Thank you in anticipation.

[piglette]

PMR can be life changing. The mantra is rest, rest, rest. You can’t just go back to your normal living, even your diet can affect you.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

I haven't overdone it, just mowed the lawn on day2.

Sorry but that a contraction in terms - and your answer all in one… and sounds very normal - unfortunately..😳

You really have treat yourself a poorly person - certainly until you have got grip on all symptoms…

Then, and only then can you increase you activities gently… and mowing the lawn doesn’t come anywhere near gently!

ps - know you’ve seen my intro post - read again please- and inwardly digest the link on pacing

healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk......

[Fatsiajaponica in reply to DorsetLady]

Point taken, thank you. I'm now prone on the sofa

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to Fatsiajaponica]

Best place for you 😊..enjoy

[SnazzyD]

Hello, my money would be on “just mowed the lawn”. You are in very early days territory, literally, and have had the Pred miracle which is great. However, many fall foul of the yippee effect that they go about tasks that they couldn’t do easily before. It comes as a blow when jobs that are routine are too much for the body that is being besieged by its own immune system that has forgotten which side it’s on. It is common to do something and get hit with muscle pain a day or two later. The Pred is your protection from the inflammation that is caused but it doesn’t help the autoimmune activity which will sort itself out eventually. It isn’t the case that you take the Pred and carry on from where you left off. That’s the hardest thing to deal with, with this condition. It will get better but you need patience in spades.

[random901]

Mowing the lawn 🥺, deadheading the roses 😀. Hoovering 🥺, a little light dusting 😀. I'm still working on the happy medium, and not always getting it right. So wish there was a patience pill! All the best, Fatsiajaponica!

[Rubha in reply to random901]

I need to remind myself of the patience. Thanks for bringing it up 😊

[PMRpro Ambassador]

"I haven't overdone it, just mowed the lawn on day2"

And there, I fear, is likely to be your answer! Personhandling a mower, whatever sort. is pretty hard on the shoulders and back - just the parts that PMR has its grip on.

There is a good reason we warn again and again that you shouldn't rush back to "daily duties"!

[Nominem]

I took prednisolone from December 21 to September 23. It was a process of gradual dosage reduction. My experience was with gca rather than pmr. I have not had to resume prednisolone since then. I realise that I have not directly experienced pmr but I hope things improve for you .

[SheffieldJane]

Mowing the lawn is a strenuous task at the best of times. Don’t poke the bear.

[Pol53]

hi fatsiajaponica - I did the same when I was on 20mg I felt like wonderwoman especially after waiting 16 months for refferal, initially they do make you feel like u can climb Mount Everest in the beginning - learned to time myself ten mins at the time then rest - I’m the type of person that hates seeing things that needs to be done but I got a lot of terrible cramps in my legs from overdoing it so we live and learn ( currently sat with only the lamp on ignoring the mess on my sofa - see I’m learning take it easy hopefully someone else can do the lawn for a little while x

[GrandmaPirate]

I got PMR 3.5 years ago. Was put as well on 20 mg/ day and experienced the same miracle. Of course I build up my very active life (pilates 50 mins/day dogwalking 10 km, cycling) slowly again and mowing the grass was maybe a little bit too much to start with. It is important to reduce the prednisone dose very very slowly. After 2 months I was allowed when symptoms stayed away to go to 10 mg/day. We reduced slowly to 2 mg/day and while attempting 1mg/day as my rheumy suggested, I got my first covid vaccination immediately followed by a flare, so my daily dose was put again at 6mg/day. Now I had to taper down even more slowly. E.g. on Sunday and Wednesday 1 mg and the other days on 2 mg/day. Then 3 days in a week 1 mg and 4 days 2 mg/day. I changed my dosage after 1 month symptomfree. I am now more than a year on 1 mg/day and that is my maintenace dosage. On the PMRGCAUK Forum you can find more info about slow tapering of prednisone. I am 77 and my fitness age is now 69, so I take my daily pred with pleasure. Just take care of your body weight by eating low carbohydrate meals. There are apps available that allow you to control food intake (carbohydrate, proteins, fat) very well. Hope my reply is helping you.

[Fatsiajaponica in reply to GrandmaPirate]

It has helped, thank you. It's a small lawn but clearly still too much at this stage. It's heartening to see how much you do now having treated this illness with respect! I've saved your reply and will look back on it, and others, when getting tempted to do too much. Lovely to hear that you are settled on 1 mg dose. Does your GP not try even then to get you off completely?

[GrandmaPirate in reply to Fatsiajaponica]

It's my rheumatologist, who saw me initially quarterly, then every 6 months and now yearly. My GP just takes the blood samples in view of the appointment wit my rheumy. Hope you will feel as I do after a while.