Is it PMR pain if only right side

[Fifebornlass]

I have been on pred for PMR since December 2023. I started on 15mg which relieved the pain and stiffness within a few days. I have been reducing gradually, having went back up to 15mg in April when i caught a virus. I reduced to 11mg a week ago and have woken up on the last three nights at 5am with pain in my right hip and knee. It wears off when I get up. It feels similar to the original PMR pain but nothing on my left side. Should I go back to 12mg? I feel like I'm reducing so slowly that I will never be off pred.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Sometimes a flare can start on one side - and then progress to both sides. So maybe just monitor things for a few days rather than jump in with an extra mg unnecessarily.

Are you sure it's not mattress or you sleeping differently, or have done something to that side of your body. Does it go off before you have taken Pred?

You do seem to have a bit of a chequered start, so can understand you thinking its PMR... but not everything is.

You will be be off pred in time... but when you PMR allows it, not wishful thinking - unfortunately 😏

Let us know how you are in a few days...

[Fifebornlass in reply to DorsetLady]

It does wear off before I take my pred so probably not PMR. I did do some gardening on Thursday so that may be the problem.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to Fifebornlass]

Very likely….gardening has a lot to answer for!

[PMRpro Ambassador]

The rate at which you taper has nothing to do with how long you will need pred - you will need pred as long as the underlying autoimmune cause of the PMR symptoms is active. That may be a year (almost never less). 3 years or 5+ year. There is no way of knowing and no way of influencing that time. There is no cure, pred cured nothing, it is a management strategy that allows a better quality of life and less pain in the meantime. If you try to rush it, you risk the symptoms flaring as the inflammation is no longer well managed. And that often results in needing more pred and longer than if you had gone more slowly. Half of patients take up to 18 months to get from 15 to 5mg - so half take more - and you are well inside the curve.

[Fifebornlass in reply to PMRpro]

I feel that the info from this group is helping me to manage my PMR but I just hope for a return to my old life. I need to be more patient.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Fifebornlass]

We all want to return to our old life. It is necessary to accept that that desire may have to be put on hold for a while.

[piglette]

Have you tried taking a painkiller and see if that works? If it does it may be something other than PMR, if not it may be PMR.

[Fifebornlass in reply to piglette]

Once I am up and moving I don't have pain. It's only when I am lying down.

[Broseley in reply to Fifebornlass]

That's interesting because my PMR is the other way round. If I sit or lie still it's fine. It's only when I try to move that I have a problem.

[Sirtomas]

Are you certain that pmr is the cause of your pain? I ask because I believed it was mine also but I couldn't rest at that decision and so spent time reading everything I could find which related to it.Despite knowing that I had been born with only one kidney I had survived a fairly normal life until the last few years.

A couple of years ago I was prescribed prednisolone and. within a few days realised how much better I felt. And how much worse when it was stopped

This led to my inquisitive mind checking everything I could regarding my body. If I had only one kidney, how could I have two adrenal glands which are attached to each kidney.

Finally after much researching and discussing with senior medical professionals I managed to persuade one doctor to listen to me and arrange tests which has now proved that I do not produce enough natural steroids and so have been prescribed steroids on a permanent basis.

Success.. it may not be the answer to your problem but if. you are not satisfied with the answers ask again and, if you can, keep working on it until you have the solution to your problem .

[Sophiestree in reply to Sirtomas]

Really interesting. What dose do you take now? I'm assuming it was initially for PMR?

[Polygolfer]

hello! I’d suggest discussing with your doctor as he/she will have all your medical history including if you have arthritis or any other condition than can produce joint pain. Steroids will ‘carpet bomb’ any inflammation, be it auto immune or anything else. But if what you have is more simple then taking or increasing steroids intake is a massive overkill with all the bad downsides everyone is well familiar with! If, for whatever reason, you choose not to or cannot see your doctor try a strong ibuprofen for a few days, if that sorts you out it’s likely not PMR, but your best bet, especially as you are very rightly quite keen to get yourself off the steroids, is to agree a way forward with your doctor!

[Purple-Owl in reply to Polygolfer]

Just a mention that I have been told not to take Ibuprofen with Prednisolone.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Polygolfer]

One lady with PMR was told by her GP to use ibuprofen. After 3 doses she was blue-lighted to the ED with a coffee-grounds gastric bleed. She has taken pred for some years with no problems.

[Polygolfer in reply to PMRpro]

Doesn’t make steroids safe and ibuprofen dangerous… also, it just highlights the need to only take, increase or decrease drugs with medical supervision.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Polygolfer]

The use of NSAIDs in PMR is discouraged in the 2015 Recommendations, so the top experts don't approve of it either

[Polygolfer in reply to PMRpro]

Yes, that is correct.

[Polygolfer]

Correct!! Only under doctors supervision!

[byebyebicycle]

Welcome. I'm also a new-commer and coincidently started Pred in December 2023. So I can't offer any advice based on experience. Your headline caught my attention - pain only on the right side - it's what I had initially and my GP advised me then that it may not be PMR because that was normally bi-lateral. Well right side persisted for 4 months and then when I had my first relapse going from 12.5 to 10mg it started to wander - days it was right, days it was left and days when it was both. I'm only glad the pain since taking pred is confined to my legs and misses my shoulders. But I'm not really sure it'll stay like that. My stomach problems, feeling bloated especially morning having taken the Pred with a good breakfast and Omeprazole, vanished after the first week and have now come back again after my 2nd attempt to get to 10mg. It just seems an unstable situation and I suspect the 2.5mg step is just too large. I'm hopefully seeing my GP tomorrow to agree a slower reduction scheme. I hope this helps as I certainly found the replies I got left me feeling less alone. Good luck. Mick.