Just diagnosed with PMR. What can I expect?
Posted , 16 users are following.
I was diagnosed August 15th and am on 15mg prednisone daily. I am also taking a drug to prevent bone loss.
If this dose of prednisone is working, will it always work ? or will it have to be increased sometime down the road?
I am experiencing some heart palpitations. Is this going to go away or get worse?
I am 56. Does this disease shorten life expectancy?
Sorry for all the questions-- my GP is .................not a lot of help.
In this part of the country (Canada) doctors are few and far between.
I am scared.
0 likes, 67 replies
Michdonn brenda69464
Posted
Hi brenda69464, is the 15 mg controlling the PMR pain? Normally if the pain is under control and you do a very slow taper you are probably at your highest dose. The amount of Prednisone and bone meds you are now when tapered down, should not cause great problems. But request a bone density scan, just to be sure. I have not heard or read that Prednisone has any affect life expectancy. Unfortunately Prednisone does have it side effects, on high doses I am ready to jump out of my skin. But most of us the forum just learn to live with it, so we can have as normal life we can. I hope your journey does not have too many bumps. I hope I helped you. Good luck, stay positive, think forward. Smiling. 🙂
brenda69464 Michdonn
Posted
Thanks.
I definately work to stay positive. I have tried to adopt the philosophy of not letting the illness define me .Yes ,the 15mg is controlling the pain.So I guess that is good.The prednisone seems to have me "pumped" all day; I get up in the morning and am ready to go!
Michdonn brenda69464
Posted
Good for you Brenda69464, we can live an almost normal life with the Pred, work as ski instructor last winter and plan to do the same this winter, it would not be possible without Pred. So I have a smile on my face. 🙂
brenda69464 Michdonn
Posted
Reading your e-mail has made me smile. I am looking forward to teaching my two youngest grandchildren to ski as well and now I believe I will be able to do so!
Thank-you
Michdonn brenda69464
Posted
brenda69464, that is the attitude stay positive, stay active and keep smiling. I really believe it helps. 🙂
sandy65909 Michdonn
Posted
Your daily, "keep smiling" advice helps me maintain a positive outlook! Thanks and have a wonderful day!
Michdonn sandy65909
Posted
sandy65909, I am a firm believer that attitude has a lot to do with getting better, therefore I try to stay positive. I know today will be a good day, it is my 80th birthday. Hard to believe! We will spend the day working on our daughter's house. With a smile on my face, happy to be able! 🙂
EileenH Michdonn
Posted
Silver49 Michdonn
Posted
Happy Birthday, Michdonn. I hope you have a great day and some nice treats as it's a special birthday.
Michdonn Silver49
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Thank you, Silver! Everyday a good day, some are just better than others! 🙂
Michdonn EileenH
Posted
Thank you, EileenH, Everyday a good day, some are just better than others! 🙂
brenda69464 Michdonn
Posted
Happy Birthday !
Don't work too hard!
Michdonn brenda69464
Posted
Thank you brenda69464, at this age I work smarter not harder, with a smile. 🙂
sandy65909 Michdonn
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Michdonn sandy65909
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Smiled all day, sandy65909, THANKS 🙂
brenda69464 Michdonn
Posted
Michdonn brenda69464
Posted
brenda69464, that a good thing, when I was down after my flare in the spring, it was EileenH and a couple more people who got me moving forward again. We have to help each other, we are all on the same journey, people who are not on this journey cannot understand what we go through. We all have to stay positive and keep smiling. 🙂 Glad to help!
brenda69464 Michdonn
Posted
Bless you and all the others who share their stories and inspiration!
You are right, if someone had tried to explain this illness to me a few months ago I might have laughed and thought they were imagining it !Now having been there done that,, whew...I will never question someone else's reality!
PMR is brutal.
Michdonn brenda69464
Posted
Yes, brenda69464, but we will get through it, think of what it must have been like before Prednisone. Brutal!
Thanks to Pred, we can smile! 🙂
EileenH brenda69464
Posted
Brutal perhaps - but there are far worse autoimmune disorders to have. RA and lupus for example start as early as in the teens or even younger - we at least have had most of our life before PMR turns up. They also both cause terrible long term damage, even with good management. PMR is a pain in the anatomy - but it doesn't kill or maim.
brenda69464 EileenH
Posted