PMR under 50 years old?

Yes there has. The youngest on record was a man of 24 years of age. It is rare in under age 50, but there are some.

I would provide a link to the story but this post would disappear for a long time.

Just Google "24-year-old man PMR" and it should be the first link offered.

Yes there are other people under 50. OK, everyone says it is rare under 60, but do not believe all you are told. The age profile seems to be dropping every year.

As long as your diagnosis has been done correctly, following the BSR guidelines and everything else has been excluded and then you are put on either 15m or 20mg steroids and the pains seem to disappear overnight, then it is PMR.

Hi Rick,

I posted similarly on another thread but until we get the requested changes can I suggest if you want to post links that you post your reply then post another straight after with just the link(s) in. This means your original comment won't be hidden until I approve and also it is quicker having the message alerted than me coming across messages like this. I also have problems finding all new posts although I now have a program to do it so should be able to keep a better eye on things.

If you post a link in the evening (UK time) it will be ok'd the following morning.

As a PS if you Google as you suggest your post above is now top of the list :-).

I had a look and the top results were PubMed which I'm not sure if everyone can access so is this the article you mean?

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0689/is_n1_v47/ai_20944006/

Thanks,

Alan

"A 24-year-old man with symptoms and signs of polymyalgia rheumatica

Journal of Family Practice, July, 1998 by Paul E. Whittaker, Michael G. Fitzsimmons"

This is the reference you need to read the paper. It is in a Journal which is freely available for reading online. Often, even if you you find a listed paper through Pub Med, if you then google the title you will find a way of reading at least the abstract "free to air" so to speak and sometimes you can find the entire paper. Some journals will allow you to read older articles, published before a specified date.

On both this forum and the other UK PMR/GCA forum there are a lot of participants who have been diagnosed in their early 50s. I was about 53 when the first symptoms were really obvious and were typical (difficulty getting up from a chair, couldn't lift my arms above shoulder level, morning stiffness, depressive mood and so on) but it wasn't diagnosed because my bloods were normal and I was "too young". I had had some of the signs and symptoms for a few years before that though so who knows when it started! One lady has reported that she has a family member/neighbour (can't remember which)whose son was diagnosed with GCA as a teenager.

I am convinced that there are plenty of people under 50 out there with PMR but it is misdiagnosed as somatic expression of depression, fibromyalgia and a range of other things. When the GP makes it obvious that they are not going to get an answer by their attitude and failure to offer a trial of pred to see if the symptoms respond the patients give up - and disappear off the radar. The guidelines from the British Association of Rheumatologists has been revised to say it should be considered in patients over the age of 50 presenting typically whereas it used to be over 55. The average age at diagnosis is about 73 - and that is where many doctors make their mistake: the average age is influenced by how many there are at any given age. By about 80, one in every two patients probably has PMR to some degree so there is a loading of older patients. It isn't common in your 50s and younger - but that doesn't stop it happening.

Hope this helps,

EileenH

Hi - I'm 43 and was diagnosed with PMR six months ago. It started six months after I had a complete hysterectomy including my ovaries. I wondered if my total lack of oestrogen puts my 'age' over 50, but my GP doesn't think lack of hormones causes PMR.

GP might not think that, but one thing you do need is Premarin (HRT) but this one is the best as it is as near as natural as possible. I had a bi-lateral total hysterectomy at 32, I am now 74 and still take 0.625mg a day.

Bone density is 97%. And pred night sweats were stopped in their tracks.

cminv

Has your GP read the British Society of Rheumatologists Guidelines on the Diagnosis and Treatment of PMR. You can download them, read them and see if he has followed the diagnostic procedure.

Hi Alan,

You wrote...

______

"As a PS if you Google as you suggest your post above is now top of the list :-).

I had a look and the top results were PubMed which I'm not sure if everyone can access so is this the article you mean?

Thanks,"

_________

Ha, Ha. If this post or thread is the top result for Google, then there aren't many looking for this sugj as Google goes on number of hits to shop popular.

Yes, that's the link. Thanks again.

RickF

Thanks to everyone for their responses. I have been on a very long (nearly 2 years) and painful road. In August last year I was diagnosed as having Psoriatic Arthritis, even though I explained to the Rheumatologist that I wasn't having pains in my joints, I was actually having pains in my muscles, but was told they were just "referred pains".

I have hit so many brick walls and felt that no medical professional was listening to me. It's been very frustrating and upsetting.

Yesterday I researched all of my blood test results from June 2011 and during the research I found this condition called PMR. Every symptom matches mine and my blood test results all point to PMR.

I have now made an appointment to see my GP to discuss this further. Perhaps a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.

Kazz (aged 48 when I started ..... lol)

Kazz

MrsK has pointed another poster above to the British Society of Rheumatologists Guidelines for the diagnosis, management and treatment of PMR - it may be a good idea for you also to download this and take it to your GP. Hope the appointment goes well.

MrsO

I am 49 but 50 next month. When I got cancer I was told it was a old mans cancer. I was 33. Never believe a word any doctor says, most of them are lost in space. LOL!

We've been here before - quite a few of us had doctors determined to make classical PMR that responds to pred (only PMR responds in hours) into psoriatic arthritis. They ARE similar in the way they present but the reponse to pred is the distinguishing mark.

How much damage is a few weeks of pred at 15 to 20mg a day going to do? Needs an open mind on the part of the doc though - I responded typically and the rheumy STILL denied it. Might have been because he wasn't listening of course ;-)

Eileen

Kazz,

If you haven't already found it, here's the link to the BSR guidlines for PMR. It's a Word document so you can print it out and take it to your Dr. or consultant.

http://www.pmr-gca-northeast.org.uk/assets/pmr_resource_9.doc

My GP listened :-)

I saw him on 28th Feb and he agreed that everything pointed to PMR. He prescribed 20mg of Prednisolone a day for a week and to go back and see him. After 2 days of taking it I had absolutely no pain. After 5 days I could get out of bed without rocking like a see-saw. I could walk in the mornings instead of shuffling about like an extra from Planet of the Apes. I could sit down and get back up again without it hurting.

When I went back to my GP he said the difference in me was remarkable. I'm now on 15mg for two weeks then 10mg. Blood test the end of the month.

I'm apprehensive about taking the medication, but I honestly couldn't have carried on with the pain much longer.

I'm taking each day as it comes, and take delight in little things like holding a mug of tea in the mornings with one hand!

I know it's going to take a little while to get back to "normal", but everything is looking positive so far.

Thanks to everyone for their advice, it's all been very helpful.

Kazz

I'm so pleased that you have finally got a diagnosis (even if you did originally diagnose yourself!!).

"I'm now on 15mg for two weeks then 10mg. Blood test the end of the month."

Beware of dropping from 15mg to 10mg - that's far too steep a drop and the pains will come back to bite you. You could try 12.5 but even that is too steep for some people, who have to do it in 1mg drops.

MrsO