PMR symptoms are similar to my Statin allergic reactions.

This is from the Mayo Clinic at URL: 

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-cholesterol/in-depth/statin-side-effects/art-20046013

What are statin side effects?

Muscle pain and damage

The most common statin side effect is muscle pain. You may feel this pain as a soreness, tiredness or weakness in your muscles. The pain can be a mild discomfort, or it can be severe enough to make your daily activities difficult. For example, you might find climbing stairs or walking to be uncomfortable or tiring.

Very rarely, statins can cause life-threatening muscle damage called rhabdomyolysis (rab-doe-mi-OL-ih-sis). Rhabdomyolysis can cause severe muscle pain, liver damage, kidney failure and death. Rhabdomyolysis can occur when you take statins in combination with certain drugs or if you take a high dose of statins.

A few experts suspect that the statin action can be the final trigger to develop PMR - the triggers are multiple and probably different in different people and it is a case of the straw that broke the camel's back! And see also my response to cc23145.

Just because something doesn't start immediately doesn't mean it isn't the medication, though if it starts immediately it is almost certainly the drug (whatever doctors may try to say). Combining pred with certain antibiotics can also cause similar problems (and especially achilles problems) and this is a risk that remains for some considerable time after stopping taking either.

Very interesting! At my yearly checkup a month prior to my Australia trip, I discussed my statin history with my Dr. and the adverse reaction I had with Symvastin. He recommended Pravastatin which I then started taking. 6 weeks later on a cruise ship I could not stand, I had to roll over and crawl up the wall to get out of bed. I stopped the Pravastatin! My problem is GCA! The year prior to my checkup I had already started having temple pains. I guess we need to see if there are any problems associated with abruptly stopping statins. It might be something some of the readers might want to try for a month or two.

 

It might be premature to say I do not have PMR as well as GCA because I have not been below 15mg of pred.

Eileen, tell me about the Achilles problems.  I have recently developed a problem with the Achilles tendon on my one foot

Certain antibiotics, quinolones, can cause achilles inflammation. In combination with corticosteroids that risk is inccreased. In combination with Medrol in particular the risk is even higher. 

I was given a quinolone antibiotic and within a few weeks the achilles problems started. I was on crutches for 9 months.

My Cousin had a stroke about 6 years ago and the Stroke clinic advised a bowl of porridge every morning to help lower the cholesterol level.  She was also advised to eat a whole orange a day.

( why the orange, we have never found out).  However, it worked the cholesterol level dropped to an acceptable level.

The porridge does not have to be made from scratch,  Oats-so simple does it.

At the same time a teaspoonful of manuka honey per day helps to boost your immune system and has anti-biotic properties (it must be marked UMF on the label and +5, 10,,12, 15 or 20 (whichever you can afford as its not cheap but well worth it).

 

The orange is because, like oats, it has a type of fibre that is called soluble fibre. Basically, it binds cholesterol in the gut so it never gets into the blood stream.

And for the overweight (the lady concerned is absolutely not by the way!) - watch out with oats-so-simple and other "instant" porridges! There is a lot of sugar in them - making your own from scratch but using instant oats rather than oatmeal is just as possible in the microwave. Loads of instructions on the internet.

CHLO   TRIG.   HDL    LDLCALC    LDLDIR

150.        54.       50.          89.               92

These are my Lipid numbers on 8/28/2013. They are all down ~30 from my check ups one year earlier 8/8/2012. A year earlier on 8/2011 the values approximately matched the 2013 numbers. The major difference was caused by an injury which prevented me from putting on my average 2500 cycling miles/year.  The 2012 values started me on Atkins. In the year before the 2013 checkup I didn't exercise and I still lost 25 lbs and lowered my cholesterol. 

My recommendation, read "Why We Get Fat : And What To Do About It". It is not a diet book!

Thanks Eileen,  wish I had asked you before about the orange grrr.

Proper porridge is best, but getting my Cousin to eat is is just a no-no.  And you know how skinny she is so Oat-so-simple does the trick for her.

I can't stand the stuff, is proper porridge or nothing for me.

Yes, there are loads of people who complain about the side effects of statins, but never fill in the yellow forms.   The next battle to take on is that NICHE has just recommended that everyone over the age of 50 takes a statin everyday.  So far some Medics are battling against that decision let us hope they win.

I sometimes wonder if big pharma have a role to play in pushing stuff down people that we just don't need.   Yes if you have a problem, no if you don't.

I always fill in the yellow forms!!

[And I eat proper porridge without sugar or salt but with a banana because I can't eat cirtus fruit]