upper body pain
Posted , 15 users are following.
My friend who is on her 7th year of PMR and down to 5.5mg met someone today who was diagnosed with PMR 3 weeks ago and started on 8mg!! This sounds unbelievable to me. She is already down to 6mg and feels ok. How can this be? She said she had bad upper body pain and couldn't dress herself and lift her arms at the start. Is it possible to have a very mild attack and start off on 8mg??? I can't help feeling she will come a cropper if she is dropping this fast if it really is PMR. Would appreciate some thoughts out of interest...
1 like, 25 replies
Anhaga diana21296
Posted
I wonder how long she'd had the upper body disability before being treated?
diana21296 Anhaga
Posted
Not sure as she is friend of my friend. Chances of being diagnosed early is tricky. Mine started in the hips for a couple weeks so thought it was arthritis maybe. Saw 2 GP's in the practice TWICE who both said take paraceptamol and come back in 2/3 weeks if not improved. What a joke, it got worse and worse spreading to all the muscles. I then knew I had PMR as my friend already had it, so I told the GP. So close to Christmas, no bloods tests would have been back quickly, so went to A&E on 22d Dec. Had every test done and back it came - very high markers and PMR diagnosed. I had only had it for 3 weeks but had to start on 30mg. I think if they had started me on 8mg I would have died from the agony!! Thank goodness for Pred and even then I still had daily pain for whole of 2016 which eased in Jan 2017 by which time I was on 15.5. I find the different experiences really interesting but had never heard of a starting dose of 8mg. This is a fabulous site and very imformative.
Anhaga diana21296
Posted
My onset seemed rather gradual and for many months i thought it was osteoarthritis and my doctor, new to me as mine had retired, didn't consider anything else. I refused the dangerous painkillers she prescribed. After about fourteen months I was becoming somewhat disabled and desperate, and a new doctor spotted PMR symptoms almost immediately, just running some tests before prescribing 15 mg pred, which I found miraculous. But it took six months for me to get to 8 and nearly a year to reach 5. Far cry from three weeks! But PMR symptoms can be caused by a lot of things, and your friend of a friend may have had some sort of acute, short lived reaction to some sickness or other trigger. Not, then, what you and I have!
brenda69464 diana21296
Posted
I believe that everyone is an individual and as such, each journey will be different!
I was diagnosed in august and started with a 15 mg dosage of pred. The response was immediate (I felt physical changes within 6 hours of the first dosage) .I have made two reductions in the last month and am now taking 10 mg a day. I am planning another reduction ,this time by only 1 mg in two weeks( providing things continue as they are).
I am also an oddball (from what I understand )as I have become almost hyper since being on the pred. By the end of the day I am tired though and sleep pretty well for 7 hours
I am following my Doctor's recommendations and my latest SED rate was down to 13 !
So, I really think we are all unique and there are bound to be some unusual cases of PMR !
And , as Michdonn says keep smiling !
EileenH brenda69464
Posted
Don't think you are much of an oddball - loads of people complain of being hyper even on 15mg pred! I wish...
Michdonn brenda69464
Posted
brenda69464, we all are different. I was on 30 mg for 6 weeks, during which I was ready to fight at the drop of a hat, ready to jump out of my skin. My poor wife, as I taped down I calmed down. Before the 30 mg I was unable to walk, my wife had to move my right leg after I took the weight off using my cane. Pred is a wonder I can live with the side effects. I just keep thinking positive and keep smiling. 🙂
brenda69464 EileenH
Posted
I am not too sure about excessive hair growth, ha ha ha good thing there is such a thing as waxing ! laughing and smiling
EileenH brenda69464
Posted