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Is it still PMR or RA or OA?

Posted , 10 users are following.

mphooey
mphooey

I have been diagnosed with PMR since May 2014. At that time I remember all body parts ached and I felt tired all the time. I also had muscle weakness in arms and legs. Went the  whole pred route, up and down.

In October I had a burst baker cyst in my L knee and had a cortisone shot. Now l. knee is stiff if I try to bend it too far but otherwise relatively ok. In December terrible sharp pain in r. knee, required a cortisone shot on New Years Eve ha ha. Settled things down for 2 weeks. Now pains are back. 

Rheum says I have RA. I don't ache anywhere else, at least not as bad as before. Little bit in shoulders, but I attribute that to rotator cuff tears (10 years dragon boating!) I am on 5 mg. pred and methotrexate. It's the knee that radiates pain all up and down leg. He won't give me the viscous shot or give me MRI because it won't make a difference. I doubt RA and I don't think PMR is an issue any more. Any other ideas?

BTW, this is playing havoc with my emotional state. I can no longer do those activities (cycling, snow shoeing) that are leg specific.

0 likes, 16 replies

16 Replies

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  • angela43016
    angela43016 mphooey

    Posted

    Feeling for you. Can I ask what u think it is, I understand it is hard when you have to deal with it. No one understands unless they have been through it. Are you aching or is the pain controlling your life. I'm not saŷing I no the answers but  if the pain is that bad then don't be afraid to get a second opinion! We are at our most vulnerable when trying to get on without pain xx
  • jeanne333
    jeanne333 mphooey

    Posted

    You need a 2nd opinion .. really sounds like other issues .. you didn't state your age, but boating 10 years puts you at least approaching 30 to 40 years of age .. and your body is telling you to slow down a little .. if you do have RA you need to protect your joints not put added strain on them .. RA can deliver a totally crippling blow if you don't heed your doctor's advice (Strongly advise that 2nd opinion) Believe it or not .. there is life after excessive physical activities cease
  • gillian_25383
    gillian_25383 mphooey

    Posted

    I feel for you as I too have what I refer to as a triumvirate i.e OA,RA &PMR.One thing I can say "it is not fun"
  • ptolemy
    ptolemy mphooey

    Posted

    You poor thing. Can you exclude any of the possibilities? Is any of the pain bilateral which is a PMR trait? Have you had any blood tests recently? Of course you may have all three which is a possibility. 
  • EileenH
    EileenH mphooey

    Posted

    I'd say you need another doctor - who doesn't have pre-conceived ideas.

    The knee sounds as if it COULD maybe possibly have something floating around that needs washing out. Or a torn something. 

    By the way - tell me about not being able to do things that require limbs. There are a lot of favourite activities I've given up. There are others though.

    • mphooey
      mphooey EileenH

      Posted

      I should add... My last blood test on January 5 showed nice low CRP but sed rate still high, around 34. What does this split mean? Before they have both been high.

      This rheum IS a second opinion. I also went to an orthopod for the physical pain. There is stuff floating in there but he told me it isn't in an area which affects me badly. I don't have symptoms like knee locking, etc.

      Also, I am 65 years old. There is a psychological difference in choosing not to do physical activity like hiking, cycling, etc. and being prevented from doing them.

      I can't get an MRI until I finish my course of PT. That's how the system works. However electro stim does help.

    • EileenH
      EileenH mphooey

      Posted

      "Also, I am 65 years old. There is a psychological difference in choosing not to do physical activity like hiking, cycling, etc. and being prevented from doing them."

      There is, I was prevented too. I live in the Dolomites, we moved here to ski and mountain walk. I managed the skiing well for 4 years - now have had 4 years without for various reasons and have reluctantly accepted there is unlikely to be any more. I can't go out of the house without seeing the ski runs.

      The ESR can be raised for various spurious reasons and that is why some doctors prefer the CRP. It may also be that your "natural" ESR is at the high end of the normal range which, generally, was felt to be as high as 30 for people our age. Mine is 4 - whatever state I am in with PMR. 

    • mphooey
      mphooey EileenH

      Posted

      I just came back from rheum where he drained 65 ccs of nasty fluid out of mt knee. He says this proves beyond shadow of a doubt this is RA. Upped my pred to 10 mg and my methotrexate to 20 mg. Funny thing is no other joints are affected. He says he'll have me back on my bike.

      By the way, have you ever heard of Regenexx?

    • EileenH
      EileenH mphooey

      Posted

      This one: "Regenex Corporation is the premier extruder of recycled rigid vinyl in North America." ... ? wink

      Seriously though - you mean the stem cell cartilage replacement technique? I doubt it is of any point in RA. RA is not destruction of cartilage etc due to wear and tear or trauma. It is an ongoing autoimmune condition which means your immune system does not recognise your body as self and so attacks various tissues as "foreign". This happens in PMR too but the lining of the joints isn't involved - in RA the joints are the main focus of the inflammation and damge and it is ongoing as long as the autoimmune disorder is active. It may go into remission periodically but once it is active it is actively damaging the tissues in the joint. You could replace it - but the damage would recur and you would be back in the same place as before. The stem cells have to be harvested and I would think that wouldn't be an option more than once or twice at the most.

      It sounds a bit as if your RA started by masquerading as PMR - LORA/EORA is one of the exclusion diagnoses for PMR but it may not be apparent in the early stages until the active joint damage starts. About 1 in 6 patients given a PMR diagnosis have it revised at some point, very often to LORA. It sounds as if you are one of them.

    • ptolemy
      ptolemy mphooey

      Posted

      Regenexx uses stem cell techniques. The people running it sound a bit iffy and have come to blows with the FDA, they are also set up in the Cayman Islands for some unknown reason. I think stem cells will be a real panacea in the future for all sorts of things including knees, I am not sure how far we have come so far though. 
    • EileenH
      EileenH ptolemy

      Posted

      Yes - not something I'd touch yet though the technique does sound promising.

      "they are also set up in the Cayman Islands for some unknown reason" - don't think it take s a lot of imagination though does it?????

       

    • mphooey
      mphooey EileenH

      Posted

      It's really odd that it settled i n just one joint: my knee. If the PMR was really embryonic RA, maybe it was just looking for a place to manifest. My R knee has been  a bit problematic since a ski stupidity over 20 years ago. I also never heard of draining fluid out as a symptom of RA either. I should put a tap in there!
  • noninoni
    noninoni mphooey

    Posted

    If your knee problems are due to osteoarthritis rather than PMR or RA, then NSAIDS like naproxem sodium should help there.  I take both prednisone and celebrex, which doesn't make my rheumie happy, but I really need both- if I go without celebrex I can hardly walk from knee pain; or if I go without preds then all sorts of other things related to PMR go wrong!  I really need new knees, but I need other things sorted out first like my PMR related breathing problems.
    • jeanne333
      jeanne333 noninoni

      Posted

      I started this discussion for PMR related questions .. but I'm seeing other medical related conditions .. I dont think you can ever recieve to much wise advice from fellow suffers
    • mphooey
      mphooey noninoni

      Posted

      It actually proved itself yesterday to be RA. Possibly the PMR was just a leadup.
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