is this a prednisone side effect?

[AnneNeville]

I've been on a burst of prednisone which has been, I guess, fairly high (2 weeks at 40 mg/day, 2 weeks at 30 mg/day, and now I'm on my second week of 20 mg/day).

In the last couple weeks, I've been getting some truly gnarly muscle fatigue, more extreme than my normal fatigue. Like, arms ache from holding them overhead to do something, and getting sore and tired from pushing the vacuum cleaner around. This morning, I woke up achy and all I did was take out the trash and put away an ironing board last night. My legs occasionally feel wobbly.

Is this a side effect of going down on the prednisone?

[quietdynamics]

AnneNeville, I would inform Dr. who may order labs to investigate.

I found that when I was put on extended trial, a few weeks, of prednisone, as chronic inflammation abated the symptoms/pain from fibro came to the forefront. Fibro markers have been found.
This is new: "There is a blood test -- called FM/a -- that identifies markers produced by immune system blood cells in people with fibromyalgia. One study showed the test can also help distinguish fibromyalgia from other conditions that can have similar symptoms, such as rheumatoid arthritis or lupus.Jan 2, 2017" 

The pain for me between SJS and Fibro was difficult to tease out, until the prednisone trial. After a few weeks, as prednisone does not work for Fibro, I was able to experience Fibro pain alone.

Bottom line is to notify Dr. as this may be a window of opportunity if chronic inflammation is being managed by the prednisone to investigate if other issues are occurring. In my reality Fibro, muscle weakness, weightiness, etc.. but, there could be so many triggers.
On the flip side of coin of the human condition,is that we are all different, so simply if a side effect is not listed, does not mean for "you" it is not happening.

[Linda196]

Steroid induced myopathy is a known condition, and your doctor should be told of your symptoms to either rule it out or confirm it.

This is a pretty comprehensive article about it :
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3784879/

[AnneNeville]

Thank you. I'll leave her a message to call me. Better safe than sorry, right?

[Sharon]

AnneNeville- What you describe is how I felt BEFORE I began the Prednisone...
I must say that every time I lowered the dosage while tapering I had a flare of symptoms for a few days.

[AnneNeville]

Thank you for the feedback, all! I talked to my doctor, and we will slow my taper a bit.

[warmwaters]

What you describe is how my muscles feel most of the time. In your case, it could be a prednisone side effect, or a possible new Sjogren's symptom. I remember when I reported to  my (now ex) rheumy, she told me I couldn't be having those symptoms. Later, a different rheumy said, oh, yes, it's common.

[AnneNeville]

I will hope that in my case it's a side effect.