I feel pain when prednisone wears off.

Bones, joints and muscles
1

I  take 10 mg at 6 pm by around 4 or 5 the next afternoon I feel slight soreness start.Does anyone else experience this?

 

2

Hi Carol, I have just reduced from 15mg to 12.5mg and so far so good.  I have no medical background and can only speak of my experience.  There are quite a few lovely ladies and gents on this forum and they will give you support, advice and loads of information.  I am sorry to hear that you are still having some slight soreness.  Hang on in there and someone will answer your question.  Good luck on your PMR journey.  All the best   Pat

3

Yes i feel it when it wears off...definately! I get very stiff and have to take a pain pill to get through the rest of the night...i was down to 15 but back on 20 for a while...pmr is an uphill battle for sure...it is in my opion a disease of mystery with different symptoms for each person...all i can say is dont give up the good fight of faith...have a great day

4

Prednisone does wear off after 12 hours, maybe 18, but rarely gives 24 hours of relief  for me.  You could split the dose --- 5 mg at night and 5 mg in the morning, but it might not help and relief your pain totally.  My arms are sore today because I did too much yesterday --- carrying bags of groceries etc. It is tolerable and I do not have pain when I don't move them, and my back does not hurt unless I get up and walk.  This is my story of a fellow sufferer.  All the best to you.

 

5

Carol,  first let me say that this has been a very trying and depressing time.  I hope you are finding support.

  I take 4mg twice a day and when I wake in the morning I feel the need for the morning dose.  Mostly I have been experiencing extreme fatigue which is the most depressing.  My body is not reliable to be ready for what I would like to do.  

6

I get 22 hrs then a little sore

7

When I started on prednisone I found it only lasted 18 hours. I talked to my pharmacist who looked at me like I was crazy. So I was on my own. I split my dose  10mg @ 6 am and 10mg @ 6 pm. With my 18 hour duration that gave me 10mg coverage half the day and 20mg coverage the other half (approximately). That was good for me.

I would try the 5 mg and 5 mg that Erica suggests and see how it works. It seems that you are getting 20-22 hous of coverage with your current single dose. so with 5 and 5 , 12 hours apart you would be sliding between 5mg and 10 mg each 12 hour period. More 10 mg than 5mg.

Charlie 44644

8

Hi Carol. Although this may not be the case with the majority of pred takers, you are certainly not alone in experiencing a diminishing effect of the prednisone as the day wears on. This same topic was just being discussed in another thread entitled "My Dilemma" introduced by ingo a couple of days ago. If you go to the list of "All Discussions in This Group," you will be able to find it. (You can get there by clicking on "Polymyalgia Rheumatica and GCA" above the words "Follow this discussion" at the top of this page.) 

9

Why do you take it at 6pm? The recommended time to take your pred is closer to 6 AM. 

There is good reasoning behind it: the substances (cytokines) that cause the inflammation that gives rise to the symptoms are shed in the body at about 4.30am. The sooner after that you take the pred the less work it has to do mopping up the inflammation. The effect also last through the entire day if you are lucky, the soreness returns overnight. The optimum time to take ordinary pred is at 2am - it then takes 2 hours to be absorbed and reach its peak level in the blood - just in time to attack the cytokines.

Pred's antiinflammatory action lasts from 12-36 hours depending on the person. You are one of the nearer 12 hour end by the sound of things but using your pred optimally may help. Otherwise the idea of splitting the dose may be your answer.

10

Hi Eileen,

  Thanks for the information.  My physician told me to split the dosage and not take it all at once.  I will research what you say .... I don't have pain any long er but the fatigue is extreme.  I just did some cooking and I'm dead in the water, as they say.  I need to sit and re-group  before I can do anything else !! 

11

I know the feeling to sit and re-group.  I need to do this daily.

12

Hi Carol... I take mine in the am after breakfast, I do find that it takes some time for them to take effect.   Hope you keep going ok.