Should I be on Prednisone?

[SMH4CRNA]

Been off prednisone for a year. I take Celebrex and Tylenol daily for pain. Pain in neck, hips, knees and back mostly. Pain meds decrease pain, but does not remove it in its entirety. Much of my history is in my bio.

My concern is I take pain meds daily. When I try to go without, the discomfort is evident. It does not go away. Trust me I tried to stop taking. So, most recently went to Urgent Care for ear discomfort. He prescribed me prednisone. As soon as I took the prescribed dose all my pain went away. Have not needed to take my daily pain meds since starting prednisone.

Question, have I been suffering far to long, and I should never had stopped low dose prednisone?

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

I would say [and I think we have in the past] that yes, you do have PMR, and now with ear discomfort maybe without it being treated correctly, then GCA has joined the party.

Had you remained on a low dose of Pred then your pain may well have been controlled [although there’s no guarantee] … and would hope that now you have relocated you can get the correct treatment.

[SMH4CRNA in reply to DorsetLady]

I may need to reach back out to the Rheumatologist.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

You know what I am going to say don't you? How much pred do you need to manage the symptoms?

Daily doses of Celebrex and Tylenol long term are equally as risky as a low dose of pred, if not more so.

[SMH4CRNA in reply to PMRpro]

<5mg seems to do the trick. Yes, agree, these other meds are not risk free. I'll send a note to Rheumy.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to SMH4CRNA]

If that <5mg can translate to 1 or 2mg over time - definitely pred over the other stuff. For me, even 5mg pred is preferable to them - and the lady in the Pain Clinic here seems to agree. Especially if 5mg pred WORKS and the others don't. No point using something that doesn't work is there?