Posted , 11 users are following.
Eileen, or anybody, has there been any connection between Lyme's Disease and PMR?
I was diagnosed with both at the same time, (but no one could say, how long I had the Lyme's, never noticed the tick bite). But, I'm wondering if there is something like Lyme's that could kick start PMR.
0 likes, 5 replies
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EileenH patricia43291
Posted
Lyme's symptoms themselves can be very similar to PMR - and if it likely to apply should really be a rule-out in diagnosis.
But it is an infection, it will stress the immune system and may well turn out to be the straw that broke the camel's back, sending the immune system into meltdown and giving rise to some form of autoimmune disorder.
TheRaven patricia43291
Posted
Lyme's is about as difficult to diagnose as PMR. There are tests for Lyme's but the rate of false positive tests is very high. Lyme's is very prevalent in my area of northern Minnesota but the doctors here rarely have patients tested for Lyme's because they don't trust the test results! Before I was finally diagnosed with PMR I was put on 3 weeks of antibiotics for treating Lyme's. Around here if it faintly smells like Lyme's the doctors will put you on the antibiotics. Because so many people get it here each year it does make sense though.
I doubt Lyme's would be the sole cause of PMR but it certainly could be one of many things to trigger PMR into action. In my case I think it was a heavy cold, a knee injury and being very extremely stressed that was the straw that broke the camels back.
EileenH TheRaven
Posted
You also have to bear in mind that PMR is not the disease itself - it is the name given to the symptoms of an underlying problem and there are quite a few, including Lyme's. All the other things need to be ruled out - and that leaves the symptoms being caused by an autoimmune problem: what we all lazily refer to as PMR.
faye05942 EileenH
Posted
Hi Eileen,
My husband has been saying for the last 5 months how did you catch it (PMR) then when I was diagnosed with RA he wanted to know how, your simple explaination 'PMR is not the disease, but a name for for the symptoms of an unlaying problem, - RA, I wonder if those few simple words will help him understand and stop asking me when IT will go away....
EileenH faye05942
Posted
Shame really - PMR is more likely to go away than RA but at least people do seem to get the message better if you say it is rheumatoid arthritis. Except then they tell you they have a bad knee so they know what it's like...