Hi all,
iv've had a bad year so far. Last November had a total hip replacement, a week after surgery found out I had an infection in the new hip. Had to have the new hip taken out a week later and left with no hip joint for nine months while infection was treated etc. Finally in August this year had a new hip joint put back in and all seemed to be going well with recovery, although they kept me in hospital for two weeks to make sure I had no infection there. Now seeing physio and all was going well until pmr decided to kick me in the teeth and come back with a vengeance. I was on 9 mg of pred while all the surgery stuff was going on and managed ok. Now I am back up to 12 mg a day😕 Have really bad pain in my new hip knee and can't sleep with the pain. Am very reluctant to up it any more but may have to as I can't live with this pain. The 12 mg has helped a bit but middle of the night the pain kicks in again...
Am also dreading seeing my Rheumy, he won't like it because iv'e gone back up, but he ain't got the pain has he !!
Anyway thanks for listening. 😊😊 Sue
I presume the 'pain' is from PMR - in which case you NEED the pred! Knowing what I know now from experience and from this forum, there's no way I'd be letting any dr tell me not to take whatever dose I needed to reduce the pain - they don't have to live with it!
I always believe you should do what YOU need to do as far as Prednizone is concerned. These doctors aren't dealing with our pain. I have a big surgery in Nov. I asked my Dr if I would need to up my 5 mg during surgery and he says no. I'm telling you, I will if I feel the stress of this surgery puts me into a flare. Good luck to you, I hope you feel better soon.
Sue,you have certainly been through the mill.Hope things improve and that your rheumatologist surprises you by being sympathetic of your pain.Good luck
So very sorry to hear of all your troubles. As all the others have said, up the Pred. A few more mgs should relieve the pain. It's your body - listen to it, not the Rheumy.
I'd love to know if there is a Rheumy out there who has PMR. Most seem to have no knowledge of how debilitating PMR is.
All the best. Regards from Constance. 💐
Sue sending you a big hug ❤️ Hope your pain improves for you , you certainly have Ben through a lot , their of lots of people on here that are very Knowledgeable with PMR and will give you all the help they can xxxxx
I hope that you can improve things with an increase of pred. As the pain seems to be due to the hip you may find that another type of painkiller may be recommended which could work better, maybe your rheumy can help?
Ah yes - but there is a difference between asking if you should put it up "during surgery" and needing it because of a flare - two completely different reasons. Putting it up during surgery is not to avoid a flare, it is because your adrenals may not respond to the stress. It used to be normal practice to increase it for procedures, now they prefer to wait and see if you need it and the majority ofpeople don't.
That just all sounds very greedy - and totally unfair!
If it were me I'd be treating myself to a few sessions of Bowen - the surgery will have completely changed the way you stand/walk and could well have put a lot of new stress on your back muscles. The pain there often feels very like PMR pain and can affect right down to your knees. It's only 3 sessions to see if it helps or not, if it hasn't by then it won't, and even if it just reduces the pain that is a big plus. Sorting out back problems that were affecting low back and hips as well as shoulders has allowed me to manage with a much lower dose of pred.
Good luck with the surgery Pam. My pmr didn't kick in until a week after the surgery and at first I thought it was pain from the hip joint but when it carried on and began to get worse, keep me awake at night etc I realised and then uses my pred. Immediately got relief.
Thanks for the message
Sue
Hi, your absolutely right but I worry that my Rheumy would say he is going to stop my prescription, silly I know because I don't really think they can do that but I just don't trust them. I have now upped my pred to 12 and the pain is almost gone. Thanks for the message
Sue
Hi Eileen and others; yes I thought that they uusually increased the Prednisone prior to any surgery, (but as not a PMR sufferer, don't know the latest, like you guys know); but if it were me, I'd go in and ask some questions on the web about others experiences.....or the general rule.....do you think the surgeon would really know if you did this on your own decision??? good luck, as no surgery is nice and recovery is always a stressor................Bron