Coming road trip

[ancientprune]

In 3 weeks my daughter is flying cross country to visit 5 days, bringing a friend. We will be taking a 3 hour drive to visit my grandson and will drive back the same day. I've had PMR for 5 years with several flairs at 4 mg.Pred. My dose is at 5 now as I'm tapering half a mg. Every 2 months and will stay at 5 mg. for October. I feel like my adrenals are trying to wake up so I get palpitations and tightness in my head{ no pain} then it passes ,usually around the same time every day. I take my dose at 2 am so feel better around 4 pm. Would taking extra pred during this time be helpful and how much? I 've been to the GP last week, had blood work, she says everything looks good. I read the forum every day and the information is so helpful since I only talk to rheumy on the phone every two months. Thank you all from a very grateful heart.

[sidra1968]

At the very least make sure to bring extra with you. Have fun!

[PMRpro Ambassador]

"I take my dose at 2 am so feel better around 4 pm" - do you mean 4pm? That is an awful long time to get relief.

Extra pred might help - but it is a bad habit to get into using it as a boost like that. Are you doing the driving or are you sharing it? If you are driving - when did you last drive that much in one day? The day and following day of long drives (and that means 4 to 8 hours this summer) I feel fine but I do feel more tired a few days later. I don't take extra pred. Everyone is different and you have to find what works for you and I'd advise having a Plan B for the journey. Just in case. I have a camper - bed and tea always on board and I do stop for a sleep if I get too tired!

[ancientprune in reply to PMRpro]

Thank you so much for the quick response. I do take pred at 2am and feel fairly well until around 4pm when the head swelling sensation and palpitations set in.They are usually gone by dinnertime which makes me think it might be adrenals, Hope. You are so right that I don't want to up my pred as a boost but I don't want to start a flair is why I asked. We will make the trip in one day 3 hrs each way and I won't be driving but it will be overstimulating with 4 girls in the car to visit my grandson and his new wife in their new home.I'll take extra pred along, just in case

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to ancientprune]

Good luck

[Nextoneplease]

Hi ancientprune (love the name by the way!)

I do hear where you’re coming from, I often have similar conundrums. Generally I don’t take extra pred to cope - I only upped my dose temporarily when I had Covid and felt ill enough to follow the Sick Day Rules.

However, that said…..I am currently slowly tapering from 7mg to 6.5mg and am finding that I’m truly exhausted almost every day. I simply have to give in to the urge to nap and am asking my husband for help with physical tasks like tidying more than ever. And…..my daughter who lives in London ( around three hours away) has announced that she and her husband and our grandchildren aged two and five, would like to come for three or four days over Christmas. We will already have our other daughter and grandson aged nearly eight.

I considered saying I couldn’t do it, but it’s such a wonderful opportunity I don’t want to turn them down. They have said they’ll cook, but as that would leave us with the children I think the cooking might be more realistic for us to do.

So, I’ve ordered a frozen ‘Christmas bundle’ that’s allegedly easy to cook, I’ve found out about pantomimes etc so that they can take the children out, and I expect we’ll spend most of December getting ready.

To your point about extra pred….. I may break my own rule and take a couple of mg extra if I feel I have to, but on the whole I’ll focus on pacing myself and getting enough rest (!)

Good luck and above all, enjoy your time with your daughter and the rest of the family 😀xx

[ancientprune in reply to Nextoneplease]

Thank you for the helpful information..As the musicians say when they are unfamiliar with the music,I'll play it by ear and pray for the best. I will enjoy seeing my daughter and she's bringing her #1 son's honey with her so we will be visiting her#3 son's new home here.I'm really excited to be with them but I will take extra pred along just in case. I'll have about 20 for Christmas so,like you, I'll be busy in Dec. Have a happy holiday with those Grands.

[Nextoneplease in reply to ancientprune]

You too ancientprune 😊

Enjoy the time with family and friends, it’s so valuable isn’t it and I feel so lucky to have the opportunity xx

[ancientprune in reply to Nextoneplease]

Since my daughter lives on west coast of US and I live on east coast it will be a joy to see her and we will visit her son who just moved to this coast with his new wife.I am so blessed to share time with them and I know you will enjoy yours as well.I'm 88 so I try to be with my family as much as I can. OXOX Thank you for your kindness.

[Nextoneplease]

Thank you so much 🤗x