Hello
I have severe bruising on my arm. Whole right arm. Super ugly. I've been diagnosed with pmr for three years. Could be down to 5 mg. However, had major insect sting and hives and reaction. So, went back up to 40/20/10 mg predisone for 12 days per Doctor. . Doctor gave me steroid shot, too. Please tell me that this new super dose of predisone may have caused all thus major bruising? If so, maybe can tolerate for a month or more? Thanks
I too am subject to terrible bruising from almost anything. However this is probably the thin skin of age and genetics rather than prednisone. I began to bruise easily 15 to 20 years ago- long before prednisone- and long before I began to take warfarin. It is now quite a bit worse than it used to be. My mother also used to bruise easily. Sometimes I wish I could wrap my arms in bubble wrap!
It could have - bruising is a side effect of pred and tends to be worse at higher doses. Is the bruising the same area as the insect bite?
I"ve been bruising for years. Docs tell me it's because I've
lost elasticity in skin, I believe it, hands and top of feet look
like tissue paper. Mine is age related as I've never taken any
blood thinners. I didn't notice it getting any worse when got
diagnosis of PMR three years ago. I"m pushing 80 and think
brusing is part of aging....Just one of those things we wish
we didn't have to bear.
No. The insect bite was on the face and neck. The hives never reached my arms. But face, whole neck and chest were in hives.
I dont believe my skin is that thin. Before predinsone I would bruIse when hurt. But, it would be black and blue. These bruises are definitely all red and come on quickly. I've had smaller amount of this bruising since predinsone, But, this is huge. Only on my arms. No where else.
For a while I was getting ugly red "bruises" which seemed to appear out of nowhere on my forearms. Fortunately they never got very large, but they were not the normal colour you'd expect from a bruise, and they didn't go through the usual colour changes regular bruises do as blood in the tissues breaks down and is reabsorbed.
And red you say? Have you asked your doctor what they think?
The red marks are a common effect of pred - it is bleeding into the skin - but usually are tiny, under 2mm are called petechiae and up to 1cm are purpura. But as large as you describe is a different matter and I think should be investigated. At least it isn't all over!
I looked up Senile purpura and that is exactly what I have. Pictures matched perfectly. It did say that predinsone was also a risk factor. It said it takes up to three weeks to go away. But it's benign.
So, will wear long sleeves for three weeks so not to scare anyone.
One lady said she go left alone in the swimming pool because of her skin appearance - not all bad maybe 
If you put some Arnica Gel on those spots 2-3 times a day they
will go away in about half the time. However, with me all I have
to do is just bump something a little hard and I have another one.
Some I get and don't know what thing I did that caused it.
Get flesh-coloured long-sleeved tops like figure skaters wear,
Funny maybe😒 Not sure what you meant by this. It's ugly bruising that no one would like to look at . Especially me
Okay will order arnica gel.
Also have very many really ugly bruises of different sizes. Largest is about 2in x 3in. Have been holding at 10mg medrol for a few weeks. I'm 81+ years and have spent a lot of my life in the sun. Before PMR I bruised, but nothing like this. Dermatologist (before PMR) said it was sun damaged skin. He asked if I ever had such bruises on parts of my body not exposed to sun very much. Sure enough, I don't. So I'm convinced sun damage is the underlying cause, but medrol seems to have exacerbated,
I'm 79 and my bruising started as I aged long before pred came
on the scene. I'm told my skin has lost elasticity and it's just what
happens. I don't have it anywhere except arms, hands and legs.
I grew up in FL so have a lot of sun damage. As teeners
we lived to get a good tan.....who knew what damage we were
doing?. I've had three skin cancers taken off I'm lucky it's not
a lot more. No melanoma yet.....
I've lived in FL also for the last 50yrs. Couple of squamous cell cancers removed. Could be a lot worse.
I'm quite convinced that spending a lot of time in the sun without using sunscreen was the major cause of the cancers, but I have no regrets. Would do it again.
You should wear a long sleeved cotton shirt to reduce bruising!
This is how I came to that conclusion: I decided I had to wear a long sleeved shirt when I realized I was taking 4 medications that could make me photo toxic. A few minutes in the sun and I have a bright red face for days. So I bought a big hat and a long sleeved denim shirt, 100% cotton. It was so comfortable I bought 2 more exactly the same, since it was the only one I could find.
I was astonished this morning to find all the purple bruising on my arms- the ugly bruising I had had for years- was gone! The "prednisone" red areas were gone as well. I also doubled my vitamen D pills to 2000 to compensate for the lack of sun. I do miss the sunbathing however.