Hi does anybody else get a swollen face that feels really hard and pins and needles in their lips
I had this first of all a month ago and doctor told me to reduce prednisolone from 20mg(was on 30mg in jan 2010)
I have been doing this for the last month and am now down to 11mg
Yesterday the swelling started again and so did the numbness also I am so stiff today and really fed up and finding work very difficult to cope with
I just wondered if anybody out there could offer me any advice
Many Thanks
Liz
Hello Liz and so sorry to hear of your suffering. You don't say whether you have been diagnosed with PMR or GCA. With GCA certainly one can experience swellings around the facial area. However, if you have been diagnosed with PMR and the GP has asked you to reduce down quickly then I can only assume that he thinks you may have been having an allergic reaction to the high steroid dose. However, the stiffness you are now experiencing is, no doubt, due to this rapid reduction.
Have you had ESR and CRP blood tests and been referred to a rheumatologist? If not, then do go back to your GP as soon as possible and ask for referral. I can so understand that you are finding work difficult to cope with at the moment, and I do hope that your GP will be sympathetic and act swiftly to get your symptoms under control.
Very best wishes and do let us know how you get on.
MrsO
Good morning Liz, I wonder whether the swollen face is one of the side effects of the steroids? A lot of us on this site complain about our \"hamster\" faces, and I would say that the sides of my face, round the cheek area, down towards my chin, feel stiff, almost hard, and a bit numb. Does this relate to what you are aware of? I have had to increase my steroids a little this year, but before as I was down to nearer 7mg. the face certainly shrank a fair bit to my relief.
I do feel for people who have to cope with PMR whilst still working -- one advantage of being retired is that one can do things when one feels like it and not work to a time schedule!
Anyway my best wishes for an improvement soon as you come down in the steroid dosage (not too quickly as so many on this site will advise). green granny
Hallo Liz I can sympathise with how fed up you are feeling but you have come to the right place here. You can ask questions, have a moan and be assured you are certainly not alone. Do stay with the forum because assuredly you will have more to add to the body of knowledge. We sometimes feel that we know at least as much as the doctors...well, some of them anyway.
I wonder if you have been prescribed allendronic acid as a guard against osteoporosis? I took six doses of this ( 1 a week ) with no problem until one morning after the seventh dose I experienced swollen, numb, tingling lips and my GP immedaitely stopped the drug and marked my notes. He did not offer any explanation. I must have been shy in those days; I'd certainly want to know why if anything like that happened again.
I wish you well in your fight with PMR. Betty