How did your PMR start ?

Wow Layne!  so sorry to hear of all your troubles.   No wonder you were struck down.

Glad to hear things have improved somewhat.  Positive thinking is sometimes difficult with PMR, isn't it?

How is your husband now?

All the best wishes and a healthier and happier 2016.

Constance 💐

Hubby clear. Thanks for asking. He's been a real help.

As for my dad... His burns are still healing after a year, but fortunately he's been too handicapped I'll say to get in to trouble!!! Plus he moved himself to a coastal city away from those bad people, but hard for us to help him. That kid made him think people were out to kill him, dad just didn't see it was the very people he thought he was helping...selfishly...he really just wanted the younger woman at his side and people in his house.  Ego! So odd what old men who lose their wife behave like! I'm from a divorced family, so he's not close to us kids, although it seems he's our responsibility now...ugh. He's 89 now. He won't go be around people his own age. But...I just can't let him stress me out! 

No more! 

OMG you certainly have been tested to the max xxx sending you a big hug and hope you and your father are FINALY rid of those vile people x❤️

hi Layne , oh my goodness , lot of stress for you. Aww so sorry to hear about your dog .  Gosh your dad my goodness. What a headache for you. 9 months for burning down a house , that kid should of got at least ten years in my thoughts. Prob will come out and offend again. 

Hope your dad keeps away from trouble now. Real sorry to hear about your dog. Only dog owners know how much they mean to a person. I had to get my pet dog put to sleep in 2011 ,2 months later my mum died . Stress don't help fr sure. 

I now now have another dog which I got in the same year. My father is no problem but my father in law is. He thinks I always dramatise my illness to get out of working. Which is not the case.  It's stressful going to visit the in laws as he gets the rest of his side of the family to say nasty comments . I I Feel like the black sheep lol. I swear I will blow up and say something one day . 

i hope your on the mend now . 53 is also young to be getting PMR .  Yes keep away from others problems , it's not worth getting ill over . 

Very best wishes , Veronica 

 

Layne, you couldn't invent a story like that.    Have you thought of writing a television drama?  Hope you, yourself, are continuing to feel stronger in yourself.  It is hard to pull away from things that have been so involving even when they are bad for us.  

Anhaga, you make me laugh.  Yes my dad's neighbor who helped us a lot would always say...got more stuff for that movie.  At the trial the prosecuting attorney kicked me out even though I wasn't on call list. Later I told her I was bummed because I wanted to see the trial for the book or movie! But she didn't laugh. Got to sit in room with the police and firemen and adult and child protection agencies, we got to know each other on first name basis for sure. 

Yeah, wish I could find a way to get word out about those low life people, but my luck I'd get arrested! Ha, ha. 

Yeah, dogs rock!!!  

My Bowen gal said something to me other day which has stuck, blessedly in my mind... regarding negative things in life that we think about...she said, "and how does that serve you?"... She's like a therapist & healer for me.

now I laugh when I start to have a negative thought, or obsess over a worry.

Nice!  i try to be upbeat, not always successful.  Today not good, alone too much, weather cancelled things I'd looked forward to.  Isolation is really unhealthy.

Interesting you say that,  I received a newsletter from a guy who said being social is as important as eating well, exercising, ...  But honestly I think it depends on the person.  When I go out with others most often I think, gee, was that worth it?  I didn't really enjoy the conversation, I'm exhausted now, ...or I probably said something I didn't mean... So, I'm thinking that guy doesn't know what he's saying.  But yes... I do get lonely sometimes, my husband travels, so he's gone a lot. But most of time I just enjoy doing my own thing.

Well, I'm glad you've got us to chat with! Hope your tomorrow is better.  

hits hard when you have been active don't it, Stress seems to be a key trigger for  a lot of people on here.  Sounds like you had a lot of crap put on your shoulders which don't sound fair. 

All lo the very best for your recovery and hoping your be back active again , Veronica 

In my thirties I was diagnosed with non-symptomatic sarcoidosis, don't know if that is related as another autoimmune disease.

Anyone who already has one autoimmune disorder is at a higher risk of developing another. The other thing is that there is such a wide range of symptoms - and while in the past you often got a label that had got its name on the basis of the symptoms someone had gathered together and named, nowadays some of them have been lumped together because the lab findings are the same and given a different name that covers them all. Sometimes someone will have symptoms for two or three - and then they may tell you it is "non-specific connective tissue disease" or that it is "overlap autoimmune disease". The specialists know about it (sometimes) but because it is so complex most GPs don't - nor do they they have time to keep up to date.

Hi Anhaga,

I also was diagnosed with Sarcoidosis, around mid 2013.

In March of 2014, PMR hit me with a vengeance.

I just assumed, what EILEEN  clarified, that having one autoimmune disorder, I was at higher risk at developing the PMR.

Based on my health  history, I'm betting they are a result of a breakdown of the immune system

 Autoimmune diseases, in general,  seem to share many of the same symptoms,and I am unable to find a doc That clearly understands the differences, or has been of great help. ( I'm in the US )

Thus, I am learning by mostly trial and error, and reading this forum keeps me above water, 

 most of the time.

Barb

I was thinking about the "autoimmunity " aspect. I had a battery of tests to rule out other autoimmune diseases like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, etc. All came up negative. In other words no incriminating antibodies associated with those diseases were found my blood. Why not in PMR? 

Since adrenal hormones mitigate PMR symptoms I was wondering if PMR was a form of adrenal insufficiency in response to stressors.

Hi Barb. In my case the sarcoidosis was found as a biopsy of an enlarged lymph node.  As there were no other symptoms and the doctor said we have (or at least at that time had) little idea what causes sarcoidosis (tuberculosis exposure, or a reaction to pine trees being two suggestions!) I simply assumed it was a one off finding and that I was perfectly fine.  A recent x-ray (because of all my aches and pains) revealed as an "incidental" finding that I have evidence of old granulomatous disease, which I suppose must be traces of the sarcoidosis.  As a young child I was rather closely exposed to tuberculosis and had a positive reaction to patch tests meaning that I had an annual chest x-ray for about eight or ten years until reverting to a negative reaction in my late teens.  Perhaps this is the sort of history that could be gathered when researchers are trying to determine the causes of auto-immune diseases?  They might find a pattern that could lead to better treatments or prevention.  

"Why not in PMR?" - probably because they haven't yet identified them because there isn't the technology or something hasn't been noticed - the knowledge base is expanding all the time and often findings are accidental. You can look for something you don't know exists. A couple of years ago they found that neutrophils are probably involved - and that may make monitoring better but there are so many stages to work through and each takes months if not years. And MONEY!!!!!! This is stuff that the pharma companies won't fund.

Makes sense. It's as if we have an orphan disease which will take a grass roots revolution to get attention- unless some researcher comes down with it him/herself.

There is actually a lot of research being done - and by people who don't have PMR and GCA. GCA is classified as an orphan disease - PMR isn't because it is actually pretty common. It is the most common inflammatory arthritis in people over 60. GCA isn't recognised by GPs because it is likely that a youngish GP won't have seen a case - and you do have to know what it may turn up like. The symptoms are vague and differ from patient to patient. There are also preconceptions - the average age of onset is about 72 so a lot of people who don't quite "get" statistics fail to understand that if you have a load of people with it in their late 70s and 80s, there must be quite a few younger ones to bring that "average" age down to 72. Average just doesn't reflect the range of ages. It isn't common for GCA to appear in an under 50 year old - but uncommon doesn't mean it is impossible.

seems quite a lot of us had been miss digonoised in the passed . Sorry to hear that you broke your leg. Hope that don't give you jip now. All the best for your recovery , Veronica 

Veronica, Thank you.  Oddly enough the leg I broke is now one of the most painfree parts of me.  It wasn't a bad break, didn't need surgery and healed quickly and well!  After four weeks of enforced rest I actually felt (and looked) better than I had for years.  Too bad that didn't last!

thats a shame it didn't last , but it looked like the rest must of didyou some good. Maybe all the shock to your body didn't help at the time. Best wishes , Veronica . 

I think it was going back to work and diving right back into everything without realizing that I needed a more gentle transition.  I was never going to be old and ill, you see!