Awaiting blood tests for dia
Posted , 12 users are following.
Hi all. I saw my GP yesterday for my HRT check up and mentioned a few seemingly unrelated issues, neck and shoulder pain, strange feeling in the ball of my feet, tinnitus and a patch of excema (which I have never had before). All of these have been going on for a while but seemed too trivial to bother the GP with. After getting me to move my arms in various ways (which flippin hurt) he told me that he thinks i have polymyalgia and i need to book to have blood tests. As there was a queue at reception I decided to phone later to make the appoitment. I got home and went on line to find out what polymyalgia is......and scared the life out of myself !!
I was treated for Graves disease in 2013 and, on prednisone, gained 4stone and have only lost 3 of them so far 😞 so, just when i am beginning to look and feel like myself again I hsve to accept that i will be on the steroid treadmill again.😰 All my new found self-confidence is fling out of the window😶😥
0 likes, 3 replies
Diana112 xradacerx
Posted
Heartfelt sympathy to you. The condition definitely isn't a walk in the park but maybe his diagnosis won't be borne out by the blood test. Perhaps you only have a mild form of the disease as you seem to have been managing despite the pain in neck and shoulder. All the best, Diana
EileenH xradacerx
Posted
There is absolutely no need to be terrified of pred. When you know how to deal with them, most of the adverse effects of pred can be minimised or avoided. Even weight gain.
Cutting carbs drastically, eating a low carb, not necessarily a keto diet though, means there is far less likelihood of gaining weight and it is even possible to lose weight while taking pred. I gained weight while one sort of steroid but I had gained as much with untreated PMR some years before and it just redistributed itself once I went on pred. Changing steroid again and going on a strict low carb diet helped me lose 35+lbs whilst at above 10mg/day pred and even a recent flare that has sent me back to 15mg didn't result in weight gain even though I wasn't as strict as I could have been. No-one would know I am on pred - even the doctors say so.
Plenty of people will help with advice and suggestions - being on pred isn't the end of the world and will make life a lot more comfortable.
artfingers xradacerx
Posted
I agree with EileenH don't worry too much. If it is PMR it is better to handle this with the pred, but see what the doctor says as far as amount. I know sometimes you don't have to start on super high doses and then too, you can slowly reduce. I agree too that a low carb diet really does help and oddly, you don't feel as hungry either when on it. Good luck and keep us posted.