hi it the biker51 here

[Biker51]

I have rheumatoid arthritis or Pmr .Been on prednisone 60 mg. off all medication still have pain, but not wanting to be on medication.

[piglette]

Before I took pred I could hardly move. I could not have continued without it. When I did start it worked like magic.

[SnazzyD]

Hello there. We might be able to give you some pointers if you tell us a bit more about your case. For example, what symptoms you have, when you started your 60mg and what happened after that.

[Nextoneplease]

Hi Biker51

Like piglette I could barely move before I started prednisolone so for me it’s been a blessing (for all its difficulties).

I do wonder why you were on 60mg as a more usual dose for PMR would be 15-20mg. Could you tell us a little bit more about this as otherwise it’s difficult to comment?

Take care 🙂

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Hi and welcome.

I don't quite understand what you are saying - if you are still on 60mg pred and still have pain - it is extremely unlikely that what you have is PMR. If you are no longer taking pred and have pain - then that is hardly surprising since PMR is a chronic condition like RA and a short course of pred will achieve nothing. It is managed by a far lower dose but ongoing.

It has been said by a few here in the past - if you don't want to be on any medication, then your pain isn't bad enough!! Not dissing you at all but pain all over, which is what you often experience in PMR, day after day after day with no remission sends you to take something. And of the options you might consider, pred used properly is preferable to NSAID pain relievers long term. It is also not a simple equation: pred bad, no pred good. The inflammation is doing damage to your cardiovascular system and also putting you at a higher risk of cancer and other conditions.

If you have RA - refusing the right medication is likely to result in deformed and disabled joints that could put a stop to biking (if your name is representative of your hobby). Come to that, not managing PMR can result in disability that makes it impossible to get on that bike, never mind ride it.

Tell us more and we'll try to help you understand better.

[Excelsior80]

for me, before diagnosis i could hardly move, shuffled around, and was in pain, im feeling fine on prednisolone and can carry on a little cautiously with life. i think if i hadnt taken it id have been long term inactive which causes other problems even if the pain did clear up eventually....i hate taking medication too but worth it in this situation in spite of side effect worries. To me, anyway.