Ive been told I have PMR by the local hospital rheumo (who I like and trust.) I cant see him for another three weeks and local GPs, tho pleasant , are really no better than me at reading off the internet!
For a few days Ive been getting dizzy/ faint moments when I need to close eyes, hang into doorframe and slightly lose the track of my thoughts - I just had to look up my password to return here for instance - Spells last seconds rather than minutes but not cheering:
I feel slightly worse daily, and tho taking 16 mg of pred daily, I wonder if something needs doing before July 8th when I see the Great Man again?
Would be very interested to know if this loss of focus/ dizziness is typical, induced by pred. or by the PMR . Its disconcerting !
Do you have any other symptoms besides the dizziness and what is effectively a loss of short term memory. You say you feel worse daily - what do you mean?
I would be inclined to say you really need to see a doctor of some sort immediately - and if you can't get an immediate appointment with your GP then go to A&E, If you haven't got someone to take you please don't drive yourself in case you have an episode while driving but call 999 and explain to them what is happening. These are signs that could be a TIA (transient ischaemic attack or mini-stroke) and I think need to be investigated asap. It may be the pred - but it doesn't matter - the cause needs to be identified and quickly.
Thanks Eileen, you are such a star, deserve v good luck. tho i hope youre wrong abt the tia I do feel awful, shaky, vague and useless. Just spent fully 10 mins trying to get back on here. Dont want to go to Hosp! Outpatients dept being where you sit for eternity Oh BUM
Dear gentian
i agree with Eileen in that you should be seen ASAP with the symptoms that you have. We must be very careful and not to fall into the trap of blaming prednisone for all our symptoms and signs that we experience.
Get sorted quickly.
Kathy
I have dizzy spells too when I take higher dose of pred. I break up
the dose and have part in the a.m. and part in the p.m. This takes
care of dizzy spells and you're right last just few seconds. Sort of like
the earth tilts on me. My doc said it was okay to spread dose out.
I was on l5mg,,,,,took l0mg in the a.m. and 5mg in the evening.\,
You might try that.
Not usually if they think there might be something unpleasant going on.
No - I don't want it to be a TIA or anything else nasty but there is obviously something decidely not right happening and a TIA is one possibility and the one the doctors would probably start with ruling out. I had a TGA - transient global amnesia - before the major PMR flare I had but what you are saying doesn't sound like that yet at least - I had a 3 minute memory, a goldfish had nothing on me! Got me a CT scan I remember nothing of - twice as it has happened twice...
Next thing I want to hear from you is that everything is sorted!
Hi there Gentian
I also have similar faint, weak spells, with a bit of queazy stomach. I am 4 weeks in to my prednisone treatment at 20mg.. I assumed it was a reaction to the medication rather than a PMR symptom. I would also like to know. The mental fatigue is also present. Thoughts just fall off the wharf. :-)
Eileen has given you the best advice possible, call 99 and get it sorted out. At least if you are in Outpatients and it happens again you are in the right place. And don't wait till Friday morning either.
Gentian, as the others have said, do get this checked out immediately. It could be a reaction to the Pred (I ended up in A&E feeling very unwell with my pulse all over the place but I was on a much higher dose than you at the time). Pred can cause an increase in blood pressure which could account for the sudden dizziness, so that needs checking. But wise to get other things need to be ruled out. Hope to hear good news from you soon.
I just want to add something else to this discussion because of the numbers of you who are saying "this happens to me and it is the pred". That is fine if you have already had it checked out and/or tried alternative ways of taking your pred that stop it and other more serious causes have been ruled out.
However, correlation is NOT causation.
I had dizzy spells, though not as bad as what Gentian is describing in that I didn't become disorientated. Eventually I had a serious reaction to a medication and was found to have atrial fibrillation which they thought might be the high dose of pred I was being given at the time. It has been treated and those episodes have stopped. I was still on pred and they had gone. Atrial fibrillation can be caused by PMR which was what had happened to me - but arrythmias can also be a side effect of pred causing reduced potassium levels.
Atrial fibrillation and other arrythmias are a major cause of stroke - and it doesn't matter what is causing it, it remains a cause of stroke. Tiny clots form in the heart which are shaken up during the fibrillation and pushed out into the circulation - when they get to a narrow blood vessel with a bit of atherosclerosis or other damage they stick - and if you are unlucky they can cause either a TIA or even a stroke. TIAs can present in many ways - dizzy spells and memory problems are just one. If the a/f is identified the risks can be reduced dramatically - simply by taking an anti-coagulant.
If you have any symptoms that would send you to the doctor if you hadn't got PMR, if you were not on pred - please go to the doctor. Please do not assume that everything can be put down to pred - sometimes it can but sometimes it is something else. If you have more than just the odd dizzy spell or there is more than just feeling a bit dizzy like memory problems go to A&E - while you can still get there on your own and don't need an ambulance.
And if you have bad episodes of this sort - please consider very hard whether you should still be driving if that applies to you. Being distracted when driving during even a short period of time can have horrendous consequences.
Hello again all, five days late but to update- I hope dizziness is due to pred reaction but I see The Gt Man on July 5th. Cant wait, tho he will prob say nothing new.
As Eileen reccommended I saw a GP who had never met me before, found nothing wrong and wrote on my notes "walking; - as usual", without asking if I had needed teo sticks previouslyis NOT! I was not previously wobbling along on 2 sticks.
. . . sorry, cut myself off! I am turning into a sour old bee. anyone know of a clump of nettles I can whack with a stick? Need to do it sitting down tho'. Good luck all . have a much better day.
Maybe that GP? Honestly - I wonder where they come from sometimes! They seem to have lost any clinical skills they may ever have had!
Don't worry, probably 'Steroid Brain Fog' one of the not on the side effects list, but should be .