I was so happy to finally get down to 5mg after 4+ years PMR and GCA...though attempts to get below this are so far not working but I am being patient. However 6 weeks ago I woke up to an itchy rash on my back and still have it. Diagnosed via photos and text with gp (4 week wait for f2f appt) as eczema and given steroid cream. I know several others have experienced similar and would love to hear if this is likely to be temporary, is there anything else I should be doing. I am wary of steroid cream having used it many years ago for psoriasis on my feet and seeing how quickly it thinned the skin but appreciate it may be the most effective route.Weirdly/annoyingly it has appeared when so much else is going well..more energy, sleeping better and feeling like my old self.
Looking forward to hearing some sage advice.
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Waves2
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Hello, I’ve noticed here that when people complain of allergic type symptoms it is on low doses. I was no different and developed sensitive skin, rhinitis and dicky tummy with particular foods somewhere around 5mg and below. I chewed through lots of anti histamines. After some months it went, though I could no longer eat brassicas after eating masses for years. I wonder if mast cell activity is suppressed by Pred and when it is withdrawn the mast cells, have a field day until it settles down. Anyway, just a theory.
Thank you. I think you are right, I am also sneezing like crazy and am having bouts of hay-fever..a nightmare for me as someone who spends most of their time gardening. I am also now thinking that excess salt was maybe the trigger.
I agree with Snazzy's thoughts. I developed allergies in early PMR which calmed down at higher doses of pred. They haven't returned but I haven't got that low on pred ever! A local gut specialist back then was of the opinion that such allergies were linked to leaky gut syndrome - and these days there is a fair bit of thought that that also contributes to autoimmune disease. I sneeze a lot - but that can be a side effect of one of the drugs I take!
Guilty of seriously over indulging in spanish cured ham a few days beforehand. Got carried away by the pleasure of being on our first real holiday since I first developed pmr and all my sensible diet choices went out of the window for a few days....
Very similar to my situation. Currently tapering down, on 6mg Pred. I've always had sensitive skin and prior to my PMR diagnosis developed a nasty rash on my shin every summer, which disappeared as soon as I started taking Pred. About a week ago a very itchy rash has appeared on my neck, along with hay fever symptoms. I've been chewing antihistamines also and wondering what on earth is going on. I had a light bulb moment reading your post though! I do hope you get some relief soon
Not sage advice, just commiserations and empathy. I am also on 5 mgs and itch like crazy, nothing to see though. I have a number of cutaneous warts that itch sometimes and extremely violent sneezing fits that pre-date the hayfever season. I like Snazzy’s theory too.
I get the sporadic itching with nothing to see as well...usually in the middle of the night which drives me crazy on 2 counts! Mind over matter/yogic breathing is the only way to solve that for me. So frustrating to add a visible rash too..
I have been suffering from it too at night since 5mgs. Drives me crazy. I have just had a 2 week break from it! I went to Darwin, Northern Oz. Wet season had not ended , usually 33 degrees daily , 27 overnight and extremely high humidity. I perspired endlessly. If that rids the body of toxins I should now be squeaky clean. The surprise benefits were , I slept better than I have for years, my chronic allergy type coughing improved greatly and I had no itching what so ever ! On return home , still sleeping much better, allergy’s resting , but itching returned crazily. I certainly wasn’t expecting any health changes on holiday . I wonder why I had them.
I have just remembered that I was treated for Psoriasis on my feet . The doctor prescribed a small tube of steroid cream and a large tub of base cream. This treatment kept it at bay. I saw a Podiatrist at a later date who analysed scrapings from my feet and said it was actually out of control,Athletes foot, which has now cleared up with” Lamisil Once “that I bought after she had applied it. She was well worth seeing.
I started getting patches of intensely itchy eczema mostly on my hands, but all over my back for a while, just before my husband was due to come out of hospital after a stroke. I put it down to anxiety. I didn't take any medication then. Two years later I was diagnosed with GCA. So now I put it down to the beginning of auto immune problems, but of course, I could easily be wrong.
At first I controlled it, not very well, with eumovate cream. For the last year or so, at the first indication of an itch on my hands I put a smear of Golden Eye ointment aka Chloramphenicol, and it keeps eczema at bay and cracked fingers whole and useful. Sorry to bring this up again but it really works on me! I would refer to the earlier posts about cracked finger ends, if I knew how.
Thank you. I will have a look at this. Stress was definitely a trigger for me developing psoriasis many years ago. Hope your husband is fully recovered.
Hello - I think it was my post about cracked fingers that you’re referring to … just to say that I took up your suggestion of Golden Eye cream. which is amazing and eased the cracked thumbs and fingers within a day or so! Thank you so much for that recommendation!
Hi, I have had Psoriasis since teenage years (inherited) & manage it with Cetraben cream twice a day which keeps my skin moisturised. Low steroid creams when absolutely necessary. Initially with PMR my psoriasis disappeared until I got down to low dose. Now on 3.5mg & psoriasisactive again but weirdly just on upper arms. Fairly soon after diagnosis I became allergic to penicillin & wasps bites (both causing anaphylactic reaction) so interesting others are finding they develop allergies too. Agree with PMRpro re. Leaky gut.
Interesting. I have had a dry scalp since puberty - started on my eyelids actually, then moved to back of neck, then elbows before settling in the hair. It used to come and go but disappeared with prednisolone!! Now I am down to 6mg and about to start reducing again it is back with a vengeance!! Scratch all night and during the day. Skin dry and flaky - drives me mad. Have tried coconut oil but just makes a mess. May try antihistamines as I haven't tried them yet. Damn nuisance - carry my own snowfall around with me - need to wear white a lot!!
This may be completely irrelevant! But have you tried Head and Shoulders shampoo? My son, soon after becoming vegetarian, developed astonishing dandruff, huge flakes and itchy scalp. Some years later, after prescribed remedies had had no effect, a hair dresser friend suggested Head and Shoulders, and it cleared it up. Recently, he realised it is a reaction to soya, which he hadn’t had much of until he became veggie. Interesting how things work.
Oh, amazing how things work, isn't it? Years ago I tried Head and Shoulders, Coal Tar, Nizoral - in fact you name it and I tried it. They all seemed to make things worse as they dried the scalp out more. It may well be an allergy but that's a hard task to find out what to. If it is food I suppose I could do the carnivore diet for a while and then add other foods back in; but I suppose it could easily be anything else. Thanks for the thought, though.
That was recently suggested by an optician but the dry skin is all over my scalp and my eyelids seem fine - according to Patient UK blepharitis only affects the eyelids. Thanks for the suggestion.
Just wanted to add a quick comment to say that I too experienced a short term skin issue but at 7.5mg of prednisolone.
All was going well, when I woke one morning feeling itchy, and when I took a look I was covered in hives.
My GP diagnosed urticaria.... the cause of which still remains unknown.
It took an increase of 25mg of prednisolone (for 10dys only) and two different prescription-strength antihistamines before the rash finally began to subside.
It was at least 6wks before my skin had fully returned to its normal condition.
No one could really explain why it may have happened and it occurred completely without warning...... another autoimmune response???
Hi KendrewMy first thought was hives but I think the 6 weeks plus duration put it into the eczema camp. It is reassuring to know I am not alone..a problem shared etc.
Interesting. I’ve been struggling with what I thought was particularly obstinate cellulitis. I have recently had cellulitis, and the rash followed on the same part of my leg, accompanied by occasional tiny itchy spots randomly distributed around my body; but the dr said it wasn’t cellulitis and blamed stress (I’ve had plenty of that). Maybe this is part of the explanation. My pred has been yoyoing a bit recently, increasing it temporarily to cope with other physical challenges a couple of times and then dropping it again, but my current baseline is 3 mg, which puts me in the frame I think.
Hi I two developed very itchy patches first in my inner elbows and then on my hands around my eyes as I got to very low dose of steroid - 2 mg After visits to my GP over a long time of unbearable itchiness lack of sleep was referred to a dermatologist. Another wait. She diagnosed Saborrhoeic dermatitis and prescribed different strength steroid creams for my face and body to only be used for two weeks and then stop. Followed by different strengths of Protopic ointment for six weeks and then gradually wean myself off it over another six weeks. She also suggested I try antihistamine tablets, 2% Nizoral shampoo for my very itchy scalp and lots of Cetraben or Eppimax cream to keep my skin moisturised.
At last I have some relief but it does return and I start the above treatment on my skin again.
The consultant did not link it with my reduced steroid but I still wonder if it is connected. She said it was fairly common at my age, 73.
Mind over matter just made me more uncomfortable as I failed to control it!
Thank you for bringing this up. At .5 mg my skin has decided to rebel, too. Little red, itchy dots here and there with the skin peeling off in perfect circles. Have been slathering on Cera-v which helps but doesn’t make it go away. I was worried something more sinister was happening.
The last Covid shot I had in the fall caused an immediate response of hives. The allergist said it was a response to being jabbed again, not a response to any ingredient in the vaccine. After five months I have finally stopped responding, thank goodness!
Thank you forum for your well rounded knowledge and for access to others having similar experiences.
Not Excema but on low levels of prednisone I have struggled with repeat fungal infections which require a combination of a fungal cream and a steroid cream to keep under control and sometimes whennit gets out of control. an oral treatment to treat the entire body.
I have eczema, asthma, hay-fever and few other common allergies (ie. atopy). Therefore I'm on antihistamines, inhaler(s), nasal spray, eye drops, steroid cream and emollients every day. I can back off my atopy meds when on oral steroids, but have to reintroduce them when tapered to about 5mg/dy. It then takes a few weeks to get things stabilised and the dose of everything back to the minimum. Try to avoid anything that dries or irritates the skin, too.
Remember: steroid creams come in a massive range of potency. The new cream may not thin the skin as much as the previous one.
A daily antihistamine is a good idea. Remember, the % value on the steroid cream is only part of the story. As this table shows, the actual compound is important, too. An Ultrahigh potency cream in Class 1 at 0.05% is much stronger than some low-potency Class 7s at 1%.
A table showing the relative potency of topical steroid creams.
I have had psoriasis on and off for many years. Just before I went down with PMR I had a significant flare up of Psoriasis. It disappeared whilst I was on Pred., only to come back again once I had reduced my dose and eventually got to zero. That was in November 2019. Now the psoriasis on various parts of my body returns fairly regularly, especially if I'm stressed. When its really bad I have to treat it with Dermovate Cream (Clobetasol proprionate). Eumovate cream (Clobesasol butyrate) made it worse. Interestingly, my GP prescribed Vaseline as a barrier over the psoriasis and this has certainly been helpful. Good luck with sorting it out.
I had trouble with skin rash when I first began taking steroids, mine was also diagnosed by sending a photograph to my GP and also diagnosed as eczema. I used the steroid cream as prescribed as sparingly as possible, I had one strength for facial issue and a stronger one for neck and chest. The problem gradually abated and I haven’t had any issue since.. just be very careful how much you use and stop using when things have calmed down. Good luck. 😉
hi Waves2. I’m like you, 4 years on Pred now and currently tapering (again!) to 2.5mg. (Don’t think I’ve ever got this low before).
But a couple of years ago I suffered an horrendous itchy rash. In the end, despite trying a few different lotions and potions, we finally identified the cause: our recent house move and an allergy to the different tap water! Since getting a water filter I’ve not really suffered again with the itching & rash.
I was prescribed Aveeno cream, which I call my magic cream when I did itch.
But I do find one thing that does now sometimes make me itch is labels on underwear and sometimes the stitching in clothing.
I suffered from an itchy skin condition for years called Dermographism. Itchy hives can develop from pressure. For example I might carry a grocery basket by putting the handles over my forearm. Some people might be left with a pink "handle" mark that quickly goes away. This kind of pressure from the handle on my arm results in an itchy raised welt that can linger for hours. Also can just have general itchiness everywhere. I developed PMR over 6 years ago and have been up and down on pred the whole time. I'm just now tapering down to .5mg a day. The prednisone seemed to keep the dermographism at bay for all these years but now the itchiness is coming back. Some evidence that dermographism is an autoimmune disorder. I wonder if any other PMR peeps also have this skin condition?
I don't have anything like that, but the thin skin on my ear is still a problem. When I sleep on my side, the skin gets raw from my soft, honestly, pillowcase. I had it treated once, but I saw my general practitioner today for a check-up (it looks good), and she wants me to go back to the dermatologist.
The rash must be frustrating, you got lots of great input !!💞
I did..all very helpful and reassuring especially when it is so difficult to get a f2f gp appointment. The lack of communication is nearly as frustrating as the rash!
I'm off prednisone now however at about 5mg I got a bad rash on the inside of my thigh.Never had skin problems so I saw a dermatologist. It was Eczema. Biopsy done and cream. Things kept getting worse and another Biopsy.
My Eczema went from viral to bacterial. All during covid so whole process took a year to clear up.
Glad to hear both that it cleared up and especially that it didn't return. It is so helpful to hear other people's experience of similar issues. Thank you.
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Taken low dose by mistake 
Symptoms - settling, or dose too low
skin problems
Low dose prednisolone
Low dose pred timing 
