The Mess is back, with diabetes now

Hi Debbie. I think I remember you have a very unhelpful doctor. Did you ever get any proper advice and care other than being told you have to cut down on pred? Did he send you to a dietitian, for example, to help you manage weight gain and blood sugar levels? Did he put you in touch with some one who could help you start to regain your strength and fitness? Probably not. Is there any one you know who could act as an advocate for you and get you the care you need? If you have PMR you need pred. That's where the doctor needs to start. Then he needs to think to himself, how can I help this patient do well with the pred so that she doesn't become more sick? So that she becomes well. But apparently he isn't doing this. He seems to be blaming you for something which is beyond control - your need for pred to manage your illness. And he should be helping you, or sending you to someone who can help you, find ways to manage the pred so that it does you good.

It's 3:30 in the morning here, so I'm signing off to try to get more sleep 😴 Best wishes, I hope things improve for you soon.<3

Debbie, I don't know the answers but I do know how you feel, I have been there. But what i can do, and i will do it now, is pray for you. Hang in there, don't give in to this crazy PMR. God bless you.

The first thing to remember is that doctors are human. They are not GOD!!! A lot of them don't like to help with things that they can't comprehend. It is almost like their weird defense mechanism. (If they've never treated it before, then it can't exist!)

There are plenty of others out there that can help you! You are in charge. Don't let them boss you around!

i went to my husband's appointment armed with about 30 articles on my phone about PMR and presented these to the doc. I have done this before so he knows that i don't just take his word. So we did tests and we came to the diagnosis and treatment together.

Find your evidence and present it to a new doc and go from there. A doctor is really just your employee. Someone you hire to listen to you and treat you.

Keep your chin up and go one day at a time if they don't listen or help.....FIRE THEM!!!

Debbie, my heart goes out to you and I do hope you feel a bit better having talked to us. I know how low energy levels get and the thought of dealing with doctors can add to feeling unutterably depressed! However I agree with the others. You need a change of doctor. I don't know where you are based but in the Uk we have several doctors to a practice so you can have an appointment with a different doctor very easily. If that's not the case for you perhaps you could draw support from friends and family and get their help to get another doctor. It's so important to have a sympathetic doctor who knows what he or she is talking about It will feel such a huge effort as you are feeling now but would be really worth it. Also I know a number of people who've been diagnosed with pre diabetes who have managed to get back with diet. Even my 18 stone step- mother!

The very best of luck and big hugs xx

Hi Debbie, I am so sorry about your problems. If your doctor wants you to cut down on the pred what is he suggesting you do to stop the pain or is he suggesting you just suffer in agony?

I think you need a new rheumy with enough common gumption to realise that this may not be "just" PMR or GCA but something else that doesn't respond to pred in the same way and needs to be investigated. Asking anyone to use such different doses on alternate days is a sign of a poor doctor and if 30mg isn't sorting the pain, it very likely is not PMR or you are not absorbing/metabolising the pred (this does happen).

You can help the weight gain and the pre-diabetes by cutting carbs drastically, especially white and processed carbs. Fundamentally, blood tests should be taken fasting, there are a lot that are affected by food and your postprandial BS level is not a good guide as pred causes the liver to release spikes of glucose and if that happens at the same time as your body is processing carbs it will be abnormally high. The Hba1c test is a far better reflection of what is going on - it reflects the average BS levels over the previous 3 months and should have been monitored while you have been on pred.

But you need to be proactive and seek the tests you need - and then work on it. It is perfectly possible to get back to low pre-diabetes levels by cutting carbs consistently. Finding a better rheumy depends on your system - where are you?

Awhile back I asked my general dr to refer a different rheumatologist, but she defended the dr, so I am still with her. I will ask again, and try to change, just for a new look. This rheumy is nice in person, but as we email on My Chart, she picks on me, continuing to say reduce pred, but not telling me how,why, etc. Her advice on the info about diabetes, she simply said, "Reduce prednisone." I know I have to reduce pred! Anhaga, that is the kind of dr I want! This dr has spent a lot of time trying to find something else wrong with me besides PolyMy. I appreciate that. I wish she would consider that it might still be PMR, though. She is very stubborn that my problems are pred associated, not PMR. Maybe she is right, but everytime I try to reduce, I get terrible pain in all the usual places, and the pred. helps that pain. You see I am a Mess.

Eileen, I am in the US, Reno, Nv. I looked in the internet and saw about ten other rheum. I'll have to get a referall from my reg dr., though. I wish you were my dr and could tell me what to do.....