Flare?

Yes indeed. Symptoms alone can indicate a flare. CRP can lag behind symptoms and I believe some people have PMR despite no rise in inflammatory markers. I always pay attention to symptoms first. Hope this helps.

Symptoms trump all.

Many people never have raised inflammation markers.

And, based on personal experience, even those of us that can have raised CRP, these markers can lag significantly behind the onset of my flare symptoms.

I'm new to PMR and GCR, only diagnosed in Nov with GCA so wish i knew an answer, although when they were lowering my steroid dose from 60mg to eventually 35mg i just didn't feel right so had anther blood test which showed a small increase in my inflammation markers so hosp put me back on 40 mg with a review on 2nd Jan. I wish my arms would stop aching when trying to do the slightest thing. Only way to get some relief is to let them just hang down, anyone else experienced this with their arms?

I'm on my 2nd flare in 5 years currently tapered to 8mg.

The 1st time or say diagnosis, an early warning sign was nothing other than hamstrings that seemed to need stretching.

However no matter how much I stretched I gained no improvement or relief.

Then the classic shoulders, reaching and moving the arms starting with the right first, followed by the left, (mind you I still don't know I need to see a doctor) then later the hips soon followed by general limited body dexterity AKA stiffness.

It go to the point I got scared I was headed for wheel chair status before seeing the doctor.

So OK, answering you question, I did the prednisone treatment and cleared it up and 5 years later my Hamstrings started acting up again. I knew what was coming and went to the Doctor. She pulled labs and found no markers. I insisted its an early warning and she agreed to do bi-weekly labs and sure enough my right shoulder and hips followed 2 weeks later.

We are all different but my hamstrings are my warning.

Good luck with your fight. As for me, I find eating right makes a difference. If I cheat and eat fried food I move backwards. Read up on anti-inflammatory eating.

I never considered diet until this flare. And was eating anything I wanted and over weight. This time it matters and makes a difference how I feel and progress.

If you eat anything you want and drink alcohol and have PMR you are in trouble.

A flare is a return of symptoms. Symptoms ALWAYS trump blood markers as some people don't develop raised markers when still on pred - often the duration of the inflammation isn't enough to create the response. Some people never have a raised CRP - I didn;t.

I became vegan just before my diagnoses. I have never been overweight, although i have gained 8lbs since steroids, now feel bloated 😦 I do have.couple G&T at night, but not large ones. Maybe I need to cut out the drink to see if it helps. Hoping my steroids dose comes down although somehow I don't think it will, just feeling.

If the steroids are not working for me then its a nasty drug, begins with M! cant remember the name right now. Which i really do not want. Plus injection 😦((

I became vegan just before my diagnoses. I have never been overweight, although i have gained 8lbs since steroids, now feel bloated 😦 I do have.couple G&T at night, but not large ones. Maybe I need to cut out the drink to see if it helps. Hoping my steroids dose comes down although somehow I don't think it will, just feeling.

If the steroids are not working for me then its a nasty drug, begins with M! cant remember the name right now. Which i really do not want. Plus injection 😦((

My doctor, bless her, told me right at the beginning that symptoms trump test results.