Advice please....high stress

[ILbbHpmr]

Okay, here's the deal. I am currently on 4 mg of prednisone. Started the 7 week reducing from 4 1/2 mg back towards the end of May. I have been on 4 steady for a little over two weeks and have struggled with anxiety for the last two weeks due to a serious medical situation with my son. Next week is the big week and I have started to wake up with my stomach in knots. It does settle down some about 2 hours after I take my prednisone.

Should I increase a little or just try see it through? I hate to undo 3 months of hard work but I also want to be sensible about the situation.

I'm sure this question has been asked a million times and I apologize for asking it again. Thanks!

[SnazzyD]

If it were me going through this nightmare I’d add another 0.5-1mg if your current dose helps you feel better later. Keep an eye out for adrenal insufficiency symptoms and of course PMR. It is a shame after all your hard work but life has got in the way and besides, you may be fine to drop back fairly quickly if the dust settles, This isn’t in the same category as wanting to put up the dose for an all day shopping trip that is a choice. Keep your doctor informed.

[ILbbHpmr in reply to SnazzyD]

I think I will try adding 0.5 tomorrow and see if that helps. If not, I'll go to an extra 1mg on Monday. I kind of thought that but I guess I wanted reassurance. Thank you!

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Sorry to hear this - no wonder you are stressed, and your adrenals will probably be struggling to cope as well. .. anxiety being a common symptom of that.

We wouldn’t normally suggest increasing Pred to cope with adrenals but to give them time to do their thing… however in your situation you probably do require a tad more… maybe try going back to previous dose or even an extra 1mg to get you through the next couple of weeks.

Hopefully you should be able to drop back to 4mg once the stress has been lessened if not totalling removed.

[ILbbHpmr in reply to DorsetLady]

I know, I hate to increase since it's such a long arduous process to reduce but I figured I probably should. I think I will increase 1/2 or 1 mg for at least this week and see how it goes from there. I've been through a lot worse stress in my life but this is hitting hard due to adrenals, I'm sure. Thank you for replying.

[Louisa1840]

Firstly, I am so sorry to hear of your son's medical condition. Secondly, be aware of what stress does to your body (and PMR) two years ago my beautiful grandson, who was also my gardener, suicided. I have never been in such a place! I had to up my pred to 15 mgs from the 3 mgs I had taken five years to get down to. I am only now back to 3 and a half mgs.

I can't advise the dose you need. Maybe experiment? But just be aware that stress is a killer as far as our condition is concerned.

Prayers are with you.

[ILbbHpmr in reply to Louisa1840]

I am so sorry to hear about your grandson. I can relate a little bit, my youngest son had a malignant brain tumor when he was 4 1/2 years old in 1990. He went through surgery and radiation and was lucky enough to survive. Unfortunately, while saving his life, the radiation therapy has caused some significant side effects throughout his life.

Now, as a 38 year old, he has a benign brain tumor and will undergo gamma knife radiation on Tuesday. I am not handling this as well as I did in 1990 and I'm blaming it on adrenals or maybe it's just age. However, I have increased my prednisone for the time being and reducing won't be on my mind for a while.

Thank you so much for the prayers, I really appreciate them!

[Louisa1840 in reply to ILbbHpmr]

Thank you for your reply. You have a lot to worry about with your son's condition. You have made the right decision not to try to reduce whilst you are undergoing this stress. You're right, we definitely don't handle stress as we get older and the adrenals plus a generally weakened system would all contribute. It's morning prayer time for me so you and your whole situation will be held up to the Light......

[ILbbHpmr in reply to Louisa1840]

Thank you so much!

[PMRpro Ambassador]

I would - and did - add a bit. As much as I needed to cope and worried about the tapering later. Life does this and it doesn't help if the desire for low pred means you can't cope, you just worry even more.

[ILbbHpmr in reply to PMRpro]

I have increased. I gave a little more info in my reply to Louisa1840. Thanks PMRpro.