PMR discussion.........

How long have you had PMR (or what ever).???.

Yep,,,good on you.........

Thank you for sharing.

I strongly believe that PMR and similar conditions are caused by an imbalance in our bodies and that cortisone treatments do nothing to remedy the problem, they just put a band aid over it.  Research shows that a very large persentage of western folk eating a 'refined' diet are sadly lacking in assential minerals.  Magnesium being one of the main ones.  The benefits of increasing magnesium intake are many but much better to take the right sort and there are many.   My friend with fibromyalgia has magnesium injections when her condition becomes too advanced and these reverse the condition quite quickly.   I hope in my case that I can eventually go off all my supplements and just maintain the right balance of everything with what I eat.  However Im not so good at sticking to diets and even though I eat fresh food, I suspect that sprays and chemical fertilisers have caused a lot of what we need for good health to be lost.  I also believe the above do help with our immune system (I take zinc to help with this) and stress is a major contributer of a depleted immune system.  Magnesium and zinc help here too.  If you continued with your diet and took extra magnesium, zinc and turmeric(for its anti inflamatory properties)  I suspect you may be able to cut down on the predinisone.  Just remember though they are not drugs so take longer to work.    P.S  I still eat meat and drink some home brewed beer.   It has made no difference 

best of luck........

I eat no processed foods and, like a lot of people with PMR eat a healthy diet and have taken supplements. I dealt with PMR for 5 years pre-pred - steroids may be the band-aid that keep me functioning but I'll take that after no change before. With no change in my diet and being PMR-realted well at 3.5mg, I had a flare last year. I couldn't walk into the viallge, about 200m up a very slight slope. I'm fine about needing pred to change that.

We know steroids do not cure the condition.  Like a hydrocortisone ointment for a skin problem, pred heals us to the point where we can function and the underlying cause is not doing more damage.  However, as with a skin problem, we then have to use our detective skills to figure out possible triggers.  Then we have to start working on ways to prevent a recurrence of the problem when the medication is reduced or discontinued.  PMR may go into remission on its own, or it may not.  I prefer to be functional on pred.  I certainly didn't suffer as long as Eileen, but over a year undiagnosed and towards the end in a very bad state I would never choose to go back there again.  BUT I have also been doing everything I can think of to make myself healthier (and I did live a pretty healthy life before, anyway).  So far my pred reduction is going well and after nearly two years on the medication I'm about halfway through a taper to 1.5 mg and really starting to feel myself again.  

I agree that diet can really help.  Avoiding foods that can contribute to inflammation (sugar, refined grains, red meat, possibly dairy although I suspect it's "industrial" dairy which is the problem) is always a step in the right direction.  I also try to avoid anything with artificial ingredients, and GMO.

I don't know what course it but the Pred relief the pain, buy side effects are bad. My daily supplement include, 1200 mg of both calcium and magnesium, 0.7 ml Cat's Claw, Zinc and Turmeric/Ginger. All organic fruits and vegetables, wild caught canned fish, Salmon, Sardines and Mackerel. So I think we are eating better than we were and we are both hope that this combination of foods and supplement will help attack the PMR as it did her migraines. Hope so!

And others say that some nutrients are not available to the body until the food is cooked! Can't win I suppose - but I don't cook many of the veg I eat, aubergines and sometimes courgettes. And frozen peas are part cooked anyway...

I think moderation in all things.  I like raw carrots, but cooked carrots make some of their nutrients more bioavailable.  Same with tomatoes.  Some things are inedible raw.  But a nice salad full of raw vegetables (not lettuce) really hits the spot!  We need to avoid foods which have been adulterated with chemicals or GMO, and to eat a balanced diet in order to get all the nutrients we need.  And I do tend to bang on about this, but fermented foods are very good for us, although if you are not used to them, or only used to yoghurt and none of the others, they do need to be introduced in very small quantities until the gut has adapted.

A couple of years eating very very healthily and now my craving is for fresh raw greens.  Who would have thought I'd crave kale more than chocolate?

Still smiling ☺