PMR and colds
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I've just joined the forum so forgive me if I'm bringing up a topic that's been well covered. Twice this winter I have come down with a cold. Both times it seems like the PMR has given advance notice of the cold by acting like a flare up - hurting very badly and very stiff knees/shoulders until the next dose of prednisone when all gradually becomes okay again. Each time, about 6-8 hours after the pain starts, I've become aware of a sore throat or runny nose which each time has progressed into a normal cold. Is this a normal thing for a person with PMR? I was quite surprised how hard it knocked me down each time.
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Guest TheRaven
Posted
MrsO-UK_Surrey TheRaven
Posted
Being on steroids can reduce our immune systems and some of us find that we can succumb to more infections than usual. If we have an underlying condtion going on then the symptoms of that condition can be aggravated/magnified by infections/viruses or the like arriving on the scene. However, this last winter has been a particularly bad one especially with a certain cough virus going around here in the UK. I rarely have colds but have had 3 chest infections since December.
Have you had a Vit D blood test? Any deficiency can lead to lower immunity, and if severely deficient that can lead to pain not dissimilar to that of PMR. I take Vit D3 for 3 months during winter under the advice of a renal consultant. This year, I was very late starting it and a subsequent blood test showed that I was indeed deficient, even after 5 weeks on the supplement. After 12 weeks Vit D my levels have returned to within normal. Do get that Vit D blood test done if you haven't already had it.
Meanwhile, ensure that you are eating plenty of fresh veggies and fruit to boost your Vit C levels. Manuka honey, although expensive, is also believed to help boost our immune system naturally - like other things, it probably works for some but not for others.
Importantly, whilst on steroids, never attempt a reduction whilst any infection/virus is hanging around.
TheRaven MrsO-UK_Surrey
Posted
Yes, the rheumy specialist has had me on 1000 i.u. of vitamin D3 a day. I forgot to mention the interesting thing which is that I get the big flare of pain before the cold symptoms show up, but after a day the pain is gone and everything is back to "normal" except I now have a cold. No need to change in prednisone dose of course. Plus, I'd never reduce my prednisone unless it was time on the schedule to do so. I'd think that's just asking for trouble. I just find it interesting that the 24 hours of intense pain almost act like an early warning that there's something coming - in my case it's a cold.
EileenH TheRaven
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TheRaven EileenH
Posted
Eileen, the cold and coughing finally ended about 10-11 days ago but the flareups continued about 3/4 of the time since. I commented elsewhere here that I wondered if it had to do with working, the cold, etc. Well, I went to by Rheumy specialist appointment today and he felt that it was the pmr flaring up because of the cold virus and then not settling down again but he wondered if I was still carrying an infection possibly and ordered a complete blood count with differential. Some of the results were interesting I thought. The ESR was 31 which is a bit down from 38 in October. C-Reactive Protein was a wild 89.5 which is wayyyyyyy up from 3.1 in November. WBC was at 16.7, up from 8.3 in September. I'll be interested to hear how the doctor interprets all this.
I was scheduled to drop the pred dosage for the day down to 12.5 tomorrow but the Dr instead wants me to jump up to 30 mg/day for 5 days, then drop to 20 mg/day for 10 days. That's when my next appointment will be. Here's to praying for a pain free weekend!
EileenH TheRaven
Posted
Interesting to see what the flash dose boost will do...
TheRaven EileenH
Posted
The day I understand all this I should get a Nobel Peace Prize - well, I'd settle for a pizza too.
Friday, Saturday and Sunday I went up from 15 to 30 mg of pred as directed and it was purely wonderful! Pain vanished the first day and stayed away. Inflammation of hands and feet dropped 50% first day, 90% second day and was totally gone Sunday. Success!
Guess again. Woke up at 4:00 this morning and felt the familiar aches and pains with the accompanying inflammation in the usual places. Took the 30 mg of Pred at 6:00 but in the meantime everything flared up as severely as I've ever had. I could barely stand up. Prednisone started kicking in about 9:30-10:00 and now at noon I'm somewhat functional abeit weak as a wet rag. I'm sure by the end of the day I'll be close to "great" again at this rate. I'll be curious to see if this repeats tomorrow morning or not. After tomorrow I drop to 20 mg for 10 days before seeing the rheumy again. I figure these 2 weeks are a good time to really follow his directions and document everything and anything. I bet after seeing him I'll be splitting doses again but at what level who knows at this point. I think that getting my pred level decreased should be the least of my worries for the summer!
Michdonn TheRaven
Posted
Funny, I am new to this forum and PMR seem to start after I had a stomach bug did not know about PMR, just woke one morning and couldn't move. Took some time for the doctor to figure it out. But once on 20 mg Phedinsone I started to feel better, tapered down to 7 mg got head cold. PMR flared up. But this time had to go to 30 mg to knock it down. Will start to taper down this week, hope it stays under control.