Does Prednisolone alwys relieve pmr symptoms quickly ie within 48hrs

[JOHNONE28]

[polkadotcom]

Yes, and often far less time than that - mine was about 36 hours, but I've known people report relief in 3/4 hours.

This rapid response is often taken as proof of diagnosis and is used for those whose blood inflammation levels don't respond to the situation - i.e. normal test results.

Have you been diagnosed recently?

[iforget]

I did not get instant relief and it took several days for it to kick in. I have not been completely pain free since diagnosis but the pred certainly made a huge difference...and just how much of a difference is reinforced whenever I drop.

[Celtic PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Hi Johnone28

I had been ill for almost a month, and, apart from the pain, one of the symptoms was severe nausea and vomiting so I hadn't eaten much in that time. I took my first dose of 40mgs of Prednisolone at around midday and I was enjoying a hearty meal cooked by my lovely hubby 4 hours later. By no means pain-free yet but boy did I enjoy that meal.

[Hidden]

For some lucky people the answer seems to be yes. In my case there was a significant improvement within a few hours which was a real relief. However I was not pain free and it took two months for my blood tests to return to completely normal during which time I made further improvement.

[Annodomini]

I was a new woman the next morning!

[chubbycheeks]

My relief started almost immediately and within 6 hours joy of joy I could lift my leg, something I had been unable to do for a month or more. Maybe some people get a rapid relief if they have a milder form of PMR. Another thought I had was the fact that I was diagnosed on my first visit to my GP. Blood tests showed raised levels of ESR & CRP and classic symptoms of PMR confirmed the diagnosis. This was 44 weeks ago, not that I am counting the days, but I have successfully reduced dose of Pred 1/2 mg at a time to 3.5 without any problems or flares. Maybe PMR is like a fracture, there are many types from hairline to compound fracture and hence will take different length of time to heal x x

[bluejaygirl]

It did help but still in a lot of pain on 10 mg of pred.

[weymouthgran]

After 48 hours some improvement, after 4 days pain-free. After 4 weeks blood tests normal, and I'm now down to 12.5mg and no problems. Certainly wasn't instant, but once it kicked in, i felt better rapidly.

[Brassedoff]

My pain lifted after just two tablets, it took six weeks for the doctors to act and three blood tests, I still have aches in my shoulders, but that is nothing compared to the pain I was in, probably the pain in my hips are to with the same thing.

Good luck to everyone I hope you all get relief soon.

[paah]

Yes - I started with 60mg's/day and pain went within 24 hrs, eight months on I am now down to 9mg's/day - with only slight pain . It is my ambition to get down to 8mg's - that's when the weight starts falling I gather

[Pipistrelle]

Wow -- 60mg as a starting dose is very high for PMR -- the recommended start is 15-20mg. I think a lot of GPs do not understand this and opt for very high doses which then can have the unwanted side effects. However if there were a fear that the condition was GCA rather than PMR then a higher dose would be the right step. Many people have few to no side effects at the recommended starting doses.

If prednisone isn't managing pain reasonably well and if it doesn't get rid of most pain in 48 hours and anyone is seeing a GP and not a rheumatologist, I would ask for a referral to a rheumatologist as these things often indicate that PMR is the wrong diagnosis.

I went on 15mg and pain was gone within 5-6 hours. However after the initial two weeks on that does, I was never completely pain-free. Doctors sometimes say we should be pain free but I say that's because they haven;t had the condition! Pain management becomes a balancing act for many of us, complicated by the fact that reductions can trigger pred withdrawal signs initially, that are similar to PMR symptoms. I found those lasted up to 2 weeks but if I held out, things improved and after 4-6 weeks, I was usually ready for another small drop in pred dosage.

[kingharold11]

I had been suffering undiagnosed \pmr for 5 months during which time I was tested for everything under the sun, eventually a fantastic doctor at our local hospital told me I had PMR and prescribed 15mg of pred per day for 6 weeks then reducing after that. I felt better almost straight away, they gave me some pred etc in the afternoon and told me I could go home, I felt better that night and was a different woman the next day.unfortunately the problems have coma trying to reduce the pred.