Looking through this site and finding hidden treasures of information, including a (very short) list of three medications used to treat PMR. But "prednisone" is not amongst them. Are dosages identical for prednisone and prednisolone? Thought I would like this clarified as we all seem to talk about "pred" but the two names refer to somewhat different chemical formulations.
Hi Anhaga, What are the three medications you found? Pred is really the only thing that effectively sorts out PMR, although there are biologicals on the way. Prednisone gets converted into prednisolone in the liver so the result is the same at the end of the day. If you take prednisolone it means your liver does not have to do any work. Prednisolone tends to be given in UK and prednisone in the US, although this is a generalisation. There are different sorts, 4mg of methylprednisolone is equivalent to 5mg of prednisone for example. There is a newer product called Lodotra in Europe and called Rayos in the US which was developed for rheumatoid arthritis. It is a "programmed release" prednisone, which you take in the evening. It has been passed for PMR in a lot of European countries but not UK, although you can get it on private prescription, as it has been passed for RA as an NHS drug. One day it might even be passed for PMR in UK, but there seems no hurry due to the cost. It is a lot more expensive than the bog standard pred. With prednisolone you can get a coated version tablet which guards you against having stomach problems, as it gets down to the gut before being absorbed. Different preds also come in different sized tablets. This is a potted version so it may not be one hundred per cent complete, I hope it is not too confusing.
What can you tell me about Methylprednisolone? What is the difference in that and Prednisdone?
Didn't realise there was an enteric coated version! That's on my list for GP next week for sure.
Methylpred is supposed to be more "potent" than pred but is interchangeable. In the US it is quite a bit more expensive than bog standard pred.
I am not sure where the enteric version is available, you can definitely get it in UK. The downside is it is only available in 2.5mg and 5mg tablets. Lodotra/Rayos is also coated, but with a "super" patented coating.
I'm in the UK so worth a try. Just out of interest what's the lowest dose tablet avail? Do they do a 1mg or is 2.5 the smallest? I only have 5's at the mo but once things have stabalised again maybe a lower dose reduction as well as slower would be better.
The non coated one is available as 1mg and can be cut as well, which is not possible with the coated one. I was just given 5mg to start with and I tried reducing with rather disastrous results in my case, as it was a big drop. Lodotra is also available as 1mg (also 2mg and 5mg) but is mega expensive in UK £1.33 a tablet and needs a private prescription.
In USA we don't have the coated ones... That sucks HUH?!
Sure wish we had time released ones. Might make our mornings a whole lot better! But then again, the pain makes me count my blessings. 
Layne, You have Rayos in the US, that is coated, time release. It is approved by the FDA for PMR. I imagine it may not be cheap though.
Just wanted to make sure that when we talk about, for example, 15 mg of "pred" it means either prednisone or prednisolone - that the dosages we are discussing are interchangeable. In North America prednisone is the drug of choice, but I believe in the UK it is prednisolone. As I'm in Canada and most of the experts on the UK site appear to be in the UK (or Europe) I thought I'd better check!
In general we are all talking about the same doses for the bog standard preds which most of us take. Prednisone gets converted by enzymes in the liver into prednisolone, methylprednisolone is not quite the same, 4mg of methylpred is equivalent to 5mg of bog standard pred.