I thought my pain in arms, shoulders and hips was being caused by Fosamax 70mg and have stopped it two weeks ago. My Dr. after looking at my blood work believes that I have Polymyalgia Rheumatica and would like me to start on a low dosage of Prednisone. I am terrified of having to take prednisone. Any suggestions.
It does not sound like a low dose of Prednisone could cause any permanent damage. You could just try it and see. Did you express your concerns to your doctor? Prednisone may make you feels alot better. Hopefully your doctor knows what he is doing.
It does not sound like a low dose of Prednisone could cause any permanent damage. You could just try it and see. Did you express your concerns to your doctor? Prednisone may make you feels alot better. Hopefully your doctor knows what he is doing.
You're right...prednisone can have nasty effects, but you're on a low dose, and any side-effects you have will be mild and they'll go away once you're off the drug. With polymyalgia rheumatica, patients feel 100 times better once they've started to take the prednisone....they often say it's a miracle!
Did your doctor also check for inflammation of the artery in temples...i.e. temporal arteritis. This is associated with polymyalgia rheumatica. You have to watch out for things like scalp tenderness, jaw claudication (pain in the jaw when it's being used...i.e. chewing), amaurosis fugax (sudden visual loss in one of the eyes).
I thought my pain in arms, shoulders and hips was being caused by Fosamax 70mg and have stopped it two weeks ago. My Dr. after looking at my blood work believes that I have Polymyalgia Rheumatica and would like me to start on a low dosage of Prednisone. I am terrified of having to take prednisone. Any suggestions.
12.5mg of rofecoxib twice a day works for me - safer than prednisone.
12.5mg twice a day of rofecoxib works for me - safer than prednisone
I am interested in alternatives to prednisone. Did you try it? and did it not work? I am on 20 mg of prednisone for polymyalgia rheumatica and am getting some relief not complete. My sed rate is 106. The sed rate did nothing but climb on Vioxx and Artheritec. I am concerned that my pain will increase when the doctor tries to lower my dose. He wants to get to 5 mg a day. Right now I am in constant pain, but I am able to be independent. Before the prednisone, I had to have help to get dressed, shower, etc. I am 50 years old and up until last July I was very active, horseback riding, gardening, teaching, etc. Now I feel grateful to be able to get up out of a chair with no help.
thanks for any info, Margie
I am interested in alternatives to prednisone. Did you try it? and did it not work? I am on 20 mg of prednisone for polymyalgia rheumatica and am getting some relief not complete. My sed rate is 106. The sed rate did nothing but climb on Vioxx and Artheritec. I am concerned that my pain will increase when the doctor tries to lower my dose. He wants to get to 5 mg a day. Right now I am in constant pain, but I am able to be independent. Before the prednisone, I had to have help to get dressed, shower, etc. I am 50 years old and up until last July I was very active, horseback riding, gardening, teaching, etc. Now I feel grateful to be able to get up out of a chair with no help.
thanks for any info, Margie
No I did not try Prednisone. Don't like the description of the side effects at all. Rofecoxib (vioxx) works well for me at 25mg a day. Sometimes I skip a day or two and then pain is bad so I take 50mg and it eliminates it all. It is much more expensive than Prednisone unless you by it overseas which I do. Cost is $.21 cents per pill for 12.5mg and $.35 per pill for 25mg.
My 71 yr old wife had been suffering for years with joint pain, muscle pain, neck pain etc.
Had CTS in both hands which resulted in surgery. Could hardly walk, couldn't drive any more due to limited neck movement.
She changed PCP whom after two visits and reviewing her extensive records sent her to a Rheumatologist who after one visit and blood work diagnosed PMR.
He put her on 15mg Prednisone daily and told her she would have relief in 72 hours.
Yeah sure.
In 72 hours she was almost pain free and has been gaining mobility gradually. A miracle!
That was a month ago. Doc has since reduced dose to 12.5mg and will reduce to 10mg next week.
Yes, Prednisone is a dangerous steroid but the results are dramatic. Doc predicts she will be off the steroid before spring.
This week she was driving again and doing the grocery shopping herself with little or no problems.
Hope this helps your decisions.
Polymyalgia Rheumatica 
