Is it PMR pain or arthritis
Posted , 12 users are following.
I have a very painful back and have had for 15 years. When I was diagnosed with PMR 3 years ago I didn't notice any difference in my back pain. the pain I felt was predominantly in my thighs, neck, shoulders and forearms. as soon as I took the prednisone it all got better. both my sed rate and C-reactive protein were pretty high at that time. so I have taper down to 1 mg when I got a case of gout. The doctor put me on 30 mg prednisone and the pain in my lower back and neck improved significantly. once I had tapered back down to 1 mg the pain returned. so I did it again starting at 30 mg and tapering down fast like a normal person would. once again the pain is back. my rheumatologist just email me my blood test results and my sed rate was normal and my C-reactive protein was only a little high at .6. my question is if prednisone helped my pain that much does that not mean that it's PMR pain? are there other kinds of pain such as rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis that can be relieved that much with steroids? I will be seeing my rheumatologist next week but I was hoping to get other people's opinions.
0 likes, 9 replies
ptolemy amkoffee
Posted
Steroids are used for over 200 different ailments. 30mg would be enough to help some of them although some require higher doses. PMR is actually helped by a pretty low dose.
BettyE amkoffee
Posted
I can certainly vouch for the fact that Pred. masked my OA pain. Also my sister tells me that, since being on pred. she no longer suffers from what has been almost lifelong hay fever. ( with her it's flowering trees, not hay so she'd certainly be suffering at this time in UK )
It seems that Pred. has a few " good" sides. Pity someone can't find a way to keep those and mitigate the downs.
amkoffee BettyE
Posted
I always say that prednisone is the drug we all love to hate . I couldn't have gotten through PMR without it and I'm still taking 1 mg every day for my PMR.
ptolemy BettyE
Posted
I am reading a book on the great breakthroughs of medicine and they reckon that steroids are one of the twelve great break throughs in the last eighty years along with penicillin, IVF and heart transplants. I don't think I realised how useful it is. It helps over 200 different things.
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EileenH BettyE
Posted
But actually that's what we keep saying on the forums - when you know how it is perfectly possible to reduce or avoid the bad bits but it does require a bit of discipline in some cases. I'm living proof that pred doesn't have to mean what so many doctors claim - was said again in hospital last week. I'm overweight but twas ever thus, but I don't look at all as if I take pred. Used carefully and sensibly it is a wonderful drug. And cheap. Its so-called replacements are not all they are cracked up to be - just better marketed.
amkoffee EileenH
Posted
I am one of the unlucky few. In the 2. 5 years I've been on Prednisone I've developed diabetes, fatty liver, anemia and osteoporosis. I had 8 broken bones in 6 months last years. I've also lost 55 pounds so I am no longer diabetic and my liver is good again. I took a dose of Prolia 7 months ago but when I went to refill it my co-pay was $300 and I could not afford it.
EileenH amkoffee
Posted
High doses of steroids will often help any inflammatory pain - and are regularly used in flares of RA or other inflammatory arthritis. In some people the blood markers lag behind the developing inflammation, especially if they are on steroids at any dose. What is more interesting will be not that the CRP is slightly high but whether it continues to rise so it should be checked every wee while.
lodgerUK_NE amkoffee
Posted
I wonder if you back pain is a Pirisformis syndrome as you suffered it before PMR came along.
I only found out when Sciactica came along and after a couple of months booked into an Acupuncturist.
Lo and behold the sciatica was caused by that syndrome and now have got rid of back pain after many years.
Worth looking into?
amkoffee lodgerUK_NE
Posted
actually I had that thought because of where it's located and so I had a doctor give me a trigger point injection into that muscle. It did relief my pain but it only lasted for 4 days and it cost me $265 for those four days of relief. I know that I have arthritis in my SI joints . And I know that pain from them can go into the butt cheeks. So I guess I don't know exactly what's causing my pain in my lower back. I've been on Prednisone for 2 and 1/2 years and I have developed osteoporosis so badly I broke a total of 8 bones in 6 months last year. five of those were in my back. of course they've all healed and I don't think I suffer pain from them although three of them were lumbar vertebrae. I have osteoarthritis in so many parts of my body that it's so hard to deal with all this pain. and my rheumatologist will not allow me to be on a high dose of prednisone any more because of my osteoporosis. And I don't want to either. I'm really stuck between a rock and a hard place.