Healthy Living

Our older relatives certainly encountered stress!  Two world wars, little food at times.  Migration.  Lack of facilities, etc etc. - and it seems to me that that generation lived/is living longer then the present ones.

Everyone talks about stress stress.  People just used to COPE.

I know our relatives encountered stress but they probably had a better attidude about it and only stressed over major things... today we can stress over multitudes of things because we are basiclly spoiled and have the ability to change so many things that they couldn't change... we are families with multi vehicles back then one per family for the most part and good ole dad took care of everything except the kids... life is just so very different today and so many times we stress ourselves out over basically nothing... I know mine was caused by stress... we need to learn to let things be !!

Yes they did encounter stress and they also had a very close community support network everyone was in the same boat. My mother and her family were in a Japanese POW camp. They had no food and lived under constant fear. Not one of them came out of it unscathed but none of them had or later suffered an auto immune disease. For those in the UK the war time diet was actually very healthy. It gave them exactly what they needed... untampered food and portions were smaller too because of rationing. I opt for the "stress" that our bodies are put under constantly trying to cope with all the additives/chemicals/environmental issues they are bombarded with. 

Yup, I agree pressures are different now. We are wrapped up in cotton wool and our atitudes have changed too. If I was cold as a kid I was made to put on a warmer jumper, now I expect to turn up the heating. I walked 3 miles to school each day and back, now kids expect a lift or a bus. And yes even I worry if I don't have anything to worry about. We may have more but I feel our lives are more fragile.

 

I agree about the stress.  I may have had a predisposition to developing an auto-immune disease, but it was the stress of the past couple of years that pushed me over the edge into full-blown illness.

Yes, this can happen, and extreme stress can cause a full-blown long term illness.  I believe this was the case with me.

 

You're all missing the point - stress is only one of a load of possible triggers of PMR: environmental factors, infections, allergies and so on also have overloaded the immune system and it isn't always stress that is the final things that breaks the camel's back. 

AND our forebears had PMR too, but they didn't call it PMR, they called it rheumaticks or arthritis. Although it was described first of all in 1888 by a doctor in Scotland it wasn't until 1966 in the US that it was described as a separate disease and given the name we know it by. Of course then they suggested all sorts of causes - including viruses but that too will just be a small part, there is no evidence of any factor common to all patients. There was no "cure" or means of management until the early 50s when pred was developed - and the patients in wheelchairs who were given pred and got up and walked were almost certainly PMR patients with severe symptoms.

Plus, given the ages at which it is more common, it is relatively recently that age expectation has increased to the sort of level where there are lots of people in their 70s and 80, increasing the numbers seen with it. When I was young people in their 70s were considered really old whereas these days they are still relatively young. 

I'm not missing the point!  The years before PMR hit were really peaceful.  Why it hit, I have no idea (except my mother always had to sleep on one side because of pains in upper arms and shoulders - ring a bell?!?

There is an International Survey on PMR & GCA run by Elliot Green in the USA.   It is well worth a look and perhaps filling it in.

 

Eileen, as always thank you for your thoughtful input.  One year into PMR, I am still trying to understand WHY I have to deal with a disease which does not readily go away.  Even RA (for me) was never  such a challenge because a flare would happen, but it would be gone within 3 days, and I would feel well again.  I would agree that underlying factors can develop into so called PMR,  and also age has a lot to do with it.  I should not be too unhappy, because it did not hit me until I was 74.  There are much younger fellow sufferers.

I remember my grandfather saying that he suffered from " Rheuma" at times, and he needed to rest.  So, it seems it runs in the family.......

 

Hi Erika.  I am still trying to understand WHY after nearly 4 years!😡   If you find out, let me know will you?😏

After 10 years and counting I still don't know WHY - so I don't waste energy wondering 

Don't take this as criticism - but you could just as well ask "WHY do I have to get older?". There are parallels so it isn't such a daft comment as you might think. Everything gets less efficient as we get older and in some ways that also includes the immune system. In the past PMR was accepted as part of old age - if it were still the same and not manageable at all would that make you feel better about it?

My WHY was really tongue in cheek.  I've accepted old age (at 76 I'm not doing too badly)!  I've even accepted PMR and pred (😡😡).  Now I mean to relax and just take what comes.  Life's too short!

Have a great day.  C. 🍷

Constance, you are right.....life is too short, and we need to make the best of it ---on good and bad days.  I am thankful for the good ones when I hardly feel any pain and I can walk well.

 

Wasn't just aimed at you Constance - but I wanted it here in the thread and this stupid system now makes it so difficult to be sure it will be seen in context - even if they think it is better!