Polymyalgia hit me out of nowhere......

Dear Lizzie Ellen, I am glad that PMR did not stop me from having a lovely time with part of my famyly (daughter's side...) and enjoyed a Christmas dinner, cooked by lovely Stephen, our son in law...he used to be a chef at a hotel here in Norwich, but then decided to take up the painting brush...and then studied to become one of the (few...) Millwrights...those who look after the windmills in Norfolk and the rest of the British Isles, and also abroad ? ! ? We named him, Don Quixote....and as he has a horse, Dolcinante...!....Grandson N.1, cooked the mince pies...He,was looking after all the computers for Norwich Union, and the Bank of Scotland etc. He was on call night and day...as the computers, as we know, keep getting their knickers in a twist, often....He could not stand it any longer. Packed it up and has now got beehives...and bees....and collects the honey !....We are going to have a beehive in our garden..?...and my husband is planting flowers for the bees ? !....we are all a bit off centre, here !...I think !....My PMR at the moment is behaving gently ...I am taking 7mgPred. I can get up, wash and dress without too much pain. If I feel like moaning, I think back at when this PMR hit me out of the blue, and the pain was so undescrivable, that I wished to die. I really wanted to, because I could not think how anyone could live in such pain ! And for me , that never even had a headache, and took no medications, it was a terible shock I seem to be able to put up with the niggly pains here and there ( I call them : Travelling pains...)and I wish I did not have to take Preds....I am nearly 11 stones !....(I am 5' 6\" tall..) and this weight is as much as I can drag around with me....any more I put on, I shall to start to go around on all four !......I must now write a letter to my sister in law in Italy. She is alone, after her husband passed away (my only brother...) Miss him. The weather seems to be on the turn now ? Let's hope 2011 will be kinder to us all. I am looking forward to the SPRING !... I am determined to get better ! and hope that all of us that write to each other, will GET BETTER ! Love and best wishes, Granny Moss.

Hi everyone Glad to hear you all had a good christmas. Roll on the new year and good things for us all

Hello. I have read postings. So glad that everyone seems to have had a fairly nice time over Christmas ! Family, friends, grandchildren...London shows ! Travel, etc etc. Yesterday I had a \"bad day...\" but this morning, I seem so much better. I feel I like to introduce something cheerful ? I hope it will do so....It made me smile... ..

The rabbit has a charming face;

Its private life is a disgrace.

I really dare not name to you

The awful things that rabbits do...

Best Whishes to you all, Granny Moss

Granny Moss you are a naughty old 87 year old but your fun attitude gives us all something to look forward to. ( not that long for me! )

Happy New Year to you all :magic: BettyE

Hello everyone on this site ! A VERY GOOD KIND NEW YEAR TO US ALL !

Let's hope that our pains will subside, and allow us to be able to do some of the things that give us pleasure and contentment....I am at this computer, and I have a CD on, playing Bethoven's Moonligh Sonata...and other soothing music...the sun is shining through the window....I am warm and had a nice bowl of cornflakes....I can walk up the stairs....wash myself and get dress without help....Trying desperately to think positive....trying to get rid of the bad thoughts that this PMR brings into my mind. Trying to pretend that my hands do not ache....Hoping that tomorrow morning I will awake and all these pains have vanished....But I know, from reading your postings, that there will be many more tomorrow mornings, before the \"miracle\" will happen !...This forum has given me so much more strenght and confidence, to take one day at a time, and take the opportunity of spoiling myself for as long as it takes....without feeling guilty ! The CD is now playing Mahler Adagietto from Symphony N. 5...and I sob my hearth out...it is so moving ! It was played as background score for the film \" Death in Venice \"....with Dick Borgard. I cry buckets....every time I watch it !.... On this post I am ignoring our afliction, because it is the beginning of a whole NEW YEAR, and I want to feel positive, and strong, so as to be able to cope with what lies ahead for me, and I hope and wish that all my friends in here will join me, in spite of all these *blooming pains*.....in the positive message that I am trying to send. So much love to you all. Granny Moss

I am not feeling well this morning, so, please forgive me for not been cheerful. I am on 7mg Pres and the pains down my arms and hads are not so good. I cannot wash or dress this morning. I am going back to bed. Hope by the afternoon I will feel much better. Looks as if I am stuck on 7mg for a while yet. Take care of yourselves ! Love. Granny Moss.

Hi Granny Moss....sorry to hear you are not feeling so good today & hope it is just a temporary glitch.

I dropped to 11mgs on 1st Jan and so far so good :wink: ...will give it another few days before I can relax and say for definate that I am OK on this dose :!:. that is the problem with this PMR...one day you feel great...as I do at the moment, then the next it comes back to remind you that it has not gone away just yet :?

What I have learnt over the last 8 months and being on this site is to take nothing for granted and enjoy the \"NORMAL\" days when they occur

Lets all hope that this year is a good one for everyone and that our combined efforts to lead a normal life are successful !!

Love to all, Pauline.

Hope tomorrow is a better day for you Granny Moss

Lizzie

Thank you Lizzie Ellen, Pauline, I have been much better today. Hope I will be OK tomorrow morning, as I have to go with my husband (89...) at the Local hospital for him to have a double lot of blood samples to be taken. He is coeliac, his eyesight is bad and he has had a stroke. Now, he seems to have a problem with waterworks...Worrying time, which having PMR seem do much more difficult (due also to age...) to cope with. My taking 7mg Pred, is a bit of a struggle, but I am determined to see if I can endure....Surgery 'phoned for me to take a blood SED ? but I read on this site, that it is better to have a blood taken ( ESR/CRP ? What does CRP mean, please ? ) before going down on the dosage of Preds ? So, do I take 7mg until I do not have pains, and then go and have a blood test, before going down to 6mg ? Also, have taken note of Yeo Valley live natural yoghurt to have with muesly at breakfast ? Will try. Will any honey do ? My grandson has beehives, and takes the honey. Will it do ? Of course now, the poor things are deeph a sleep....I am taking 15 mg Lansoprazole with my steroids. It was given to me at the hospital last July, when I was taking 20mg Pred. Now that I am decreasing the mgs should I have this checked by my doctor ? Could 15mg Lansopraz be too much ? Could that be making me so very wobbly for nearly half the day ? I shall be grateful of advise. Best wishes to all, again! Granny Moss

Hi Mariarita

I'm so pleased to hear that you are having a better day today. :D

The CRP blood test stands for C-reactive protein - the protein in the blood is raised if there is inflammation present in the body. The ESR blood test stands for Erithrocyte Sedimentation Rate (or SED rate) where they test the speed of the sediment falling to the bottom of the test tube which also shows if inflammation is present. And, yes, I think it would be a good idea to stick at 7mgs until you have the results of the blood test.

I'm sure you will find the live yoghurt of great benefit - I have taken it daily prior to my steroids to line my stomach as I was unable to tolerate either the Omnaprozol or the Lansoprazole, and it has served me well, so I hope it has the same benefit for you.

With regard to the honey, I and others, (including Betty, I know) swear by Manuka Honey - expensive but a cure for many ills and a great immune system booster (most important for us people on steroids which weaken our immune systems). It comes in different Factors (+5, +10, +15) and it is this Factor marked on the jar which guarantees the purity. I buy UMF (Unique Manuka Factor) +10.

I hope you will have another good day tomorrow and that your huband's visit to hospital goes well.

MrsO

Hi all!

I'm back from the deep south (of Italy that is) and have unlimited internet again! :lol: So now all I have to do is catch up!

You will all be relieved to know that Rimini no longer has snow. It was, however, barely above freezing when we left this morning.

Way back in this thread I read \"an ESR of 31 is good but 30 would be better\". PLEASE, would they try to put their brains in gear??????????? The level of the ESR is found by taking an amount of whole blood (both plasma, the clear liquid bit, and the red blood cells) and putting it into a long narrow glass tube. You then put it in a stand and wait to see how long it takes for the red cells to fall down to the bottom of the tube. It's absolutely daft to expect to be able to provide a figure that is much more accurate than to the nearest 5mm. The general and quite rough method of finding the level it should be is your age plus 10, all divided by 2 - which gives a figure of nearly 50 as normal for Granny Moss. In fairness, it is accepted that this is a bit on the general side. However, women have a higher level and it also increases with age. AND - it is only a rough guide. To worry about a difference of one is rubbish. SHEESSSSSSHHHHHHH!!!!!

Granny Moss - at 7mg a day you are taking the sort of dose your adrenals would be making for themselves if they were really healthy. At this stage it is very difficult for many people to reduce their dose as the glands are a bit reluctant to get going again - and as you are a few years ahead of the rest of us, your adrenal glands are probably thinking - hey, this is great, why should we bother! You have also not been on steroids as long as many of us - so relax and enjoy feeling better at 7 than at 6mg.

Don't worry about the stomach medicine - it will have helped avoid indigestion over Christmas! You are not taking a double dose of anything. The enteric coated tablets have a different outside on them which makes them resist the acid in your stomach and they move on through to a lower part of your digestive system before disintegrating for the steroid to be absorbed in a different part where you don't have acid to niggle at the gut lining and cause pain. Lots of people use similar stuff to the \"stomach protection medicine\" to avoid indigestion without any other reason as similar medicines can now be bought from the chemist without a prescription.

And, GM, Lizzie Ellen's comment prompts me to say - if I can still do what you do, be as competent on a computer and have as good a sense of humour in 30 years time I shall think I have done exceptionally well. :wink: As for men - shall we put yours and mine together in a bag and chuck them into the river??? After 37 years of marriage (yesterday) I'm reflecting on the fact that had I murdered him I'd have been released long ago :roll: :wink: :lol:

Happy New Year all, bit late but better late than never!

EileenH

Hello Everygirl ! So nice that you are all back now ! Sorry you had some sniffles etc. expecially on the planes. I wrap a scarf right over my nose...and suck Halls strong pastilles....and with my long winter coat and fur hat I look like something from another planet !....Anyhow, nice you are all back. I think this poem will bring some cheer....

Of every single garden pest, I think I hate the Green Fly best.

My hate for him is stern and strong; I've hated him both loud and long.

Since first I met him in the Spring, I've hated him like anything.

There was one Green Fly, I recall;I hated him the most of all.

He sat upon my finest rose, and put his finger to his nose.

Then sneered, and turned away his head, to bite my rose of royal red.

Next day I noticed, with alarm, That he had started out to charm

A lady fly, as green in hue, as all the grass that ever grew.

He wooed, he won; she named the night..And gave my rose another bite...

Ye gods, quoth I, if this goes on,Before another week has gone,

These two will propagate their kind, Until, one morning I shall find

A million Green Fly on my Roses, All with their fingers to their noses....

I made a fire, I stoked it Hot, with all the rubbish I had got;

I picked the rose of royal red, Which should have been their bridal bed;

And on the day they twain were mated, They also were incinerated.....

Anytime now, time to go and have a blood test....I have to be careful when I collect prescription from the Chemist, that they are the correct ones. At the chemist, staff are very temporary, keep changing a lot.

We had a big chenge in doctors, also. So, have to be able to keep them under control !...They are very good and willing to help. PMR is a THING that baffles everyone. So, it needs steady cooperation between patient and medics. It is useful to be able to ask and understand what is going on from visit to visit. From this forum I have gained lots of confidence in been able to ask the questions and listen to the answers. I am so glad you are here. Wishing you all to improve from day to day. Love. Granny Moss

Interesting ?... I have just come back from the chemist. When I was there, I was given an opened box of Prednisolone at 5mg, where only 10 tabs were inside, instead of 28....the others having been cut out...and even worse, the instruction label told me to take \" THREE once DAILY for three days and then Take TWO once DAILY \"....

Warning. Follow the printed instructions you have been given with this medicine. Take with or after food. There were no instructions in the box...And,as I am taking 7mg of PREDS daily..... That is why I am so, so very grateful for all the sensible advise from this site. It just shows the lack of care of some professionals. Also, I was told in my surgery, to check the medicines given by the chemist, because if they are the wrong ones, when you take them home, and have to take them back, the chemist must bin them ! !.....Why then do they give me partly opened boxes with instruction leaflet missing ? I am going to write about this to the chemist Head Office, and ask for an esplanation to this. A very stressed Granny Moss, and the weather is awful....and I am far too OLD to be going back and forth across a busy main road full of blooming traffic.......I am now going to have a nice glass of sherry, and a Chocolate muffin !...and put my poor old feet up....Love, Granny Moss. :roll:

Granny Moss - think your chemist needs a complaint made to their superiors! The prescription is supposed to be checked by a second person before being handed over so mistakes don't occur. That's part of the reason the pharmacist has to be present when you get your drugs. Unless the part pack was to make up the total amount your doctor had written on the prescription - most packs are of 28 tablets, one a day for a month. If you doc wrote a prescription for something different they give you a set of new complete packs up to the next lower multiple figure and then cut a card of tablets to make up the difference. And the leaving out of a pack insert infuriates me too!

I assume your GP does his prescriptions on a computer - handwriting used to be an excuse!

EileenH

Hello ! I have come home from the doctor's surgery. As I read the post on this site, I learn a lot about my PMR situation, and it is if great healp to me. So, I have been able to talk to my doctor from a different basis. She understands that I understand what is going on in my body....as Heileen H says....The dreaded lazy adrenals that need a kick in the.....to make them start to do their work..... I asked for a Blood test, as I was b eginning a drop in Preds from 7mg to 6mg. A blood test for diabetes, anemia,renal function, liver and thyroid. I got the form duly signed. I asked for I asked if I needed a test for GCA and she said that was done and I was OK. Now, I told her that I was on 7mg Preds and wanted to go : 7/7/7/6/7/7/7/6 and so on for a week or so, and then go: 6/6/6/7/6/6/6/7 for another week or so. She suggested that 7/6/7/6/7/6 and so on until I felt confident enough to go 6/6/6/6/ for a week or so. Then : 6/5/6/5/6/5 and so on if I felt OK. I pointed out that I am taking Lansoprazole gastro blocker with my Preds. And as Lanzoprazole is 15mg , as I was decreasing the mg dose of Preds, should I not get Lanso at a less value? She said that 15mg is the lowest, and that I should continue with it. Another item I pointed out was, that I experienced horrible leg cramps and I was in so much pain I had to get out of bed and walk around in the middle of the night...The athought came tome : SALT ! I became obsessed and scared of salt ! So, I was not salting any of the food !......I started using salt, sensibly, and ? No more leg cramps !....I hope it stays that way ! The item that makes my life a bit miserable, is the tiredness....and the wobbling....and the fog in my head .....I too had heart beeting so fast and called 999. I was told, PUT a brown paper bag over the head, stay calm and breathe slowly through the nose and exhale slowly out of the mouth. Repeat a few times and relax as much as you can. It worked. But as it is said : we are all different, and for each one there is a different way to cope. I had terrible pains in my chest, was rushed to A&E. Plugged in...for ECGswas given an injection to calm me down,.and then it all went away, and I returned home. In to bed and straight to sleep.....The body is quite scaring some time........I am quite tired now, so, a nice cup of tea....and then to bed....I am so glad we are all back to give each other such valuable support. Thank you. Granny Moss

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