New to Forum

[floral]

Hello all, I am new to this forum. Diagnosed in 2011 with PMR. I was started on 40mg pred and I am down to 11mg and go to 10mg tomorrow. All was well until Feb this year and a lot of pain in buttocks and legs. So I was up & down on the pred dosage. 3 GP's sent me for 3 tests. ESR, Claudication and MRI on the lumbar region. The only test that showed problems was the MRI. I Saw GP on Friday and the MRI shows a prolapsed disc, which is causing the pain, so I have been instructed to reduce pred by 2mg after 4 weeks, I will let you all know the outcome. Regarding how I have felt I am 72, very active swim three times a week, do my own lawn and gardening and walk my 2 dogs every day. I do take breaks . I get very tired but try to listen to my body. I have ocular hypertension steroid induced and am on eye drops. I have gained 4lbs in 2 years . Don't sleep too well, but understand that is a side effect of pred. My hair started to thin, so I take folic acid, which was OK'd by GP. This is my story so far. I know PMR is a real pain, but without pred and support groups what would we do? Look forward to any comments and advice. Regards Floral.

[floral]

I am so pleased I have found a place to share PMR

[polkadotcom]

Welcome to the forum, Floral. You are very lucky that your weight gain is so small, a good many of us will envy that. I don't think many of us could manage your exercise programme either, we might begin asking what your secret is!

Be a little cautious regarding that 2mg drop from 10mg. It is double the amount usually suggested for that dose and both the 10mg and the 5mg markers are so often sticking points. He has suggested you stay on the 10mg dose for a month, so that is a good mark for him. I would suggest that if you are going to follow instructions then do so when you are able to have a very quiet week following. Your adrenal gland, which has been inactive for so long, sometimes refuses to play the game and you could feel a little unwell at that point.

[floral]

Hi Polkadotcom. Nice to hear from you. Regarding my weight, I don't eat sweets or choc, when I was diagnosed , I was told about pred causing weight gain, so I made a point of not eating the wrong food, also I used and still use a small plate for my evening meal. Thanks for reminding me of the reduction in pred. I agree with you, so I am not going to reduce 2 mg, Yesterday I just reduced .05mg and will alternate this week between 1mg and .05mg and go on the lower dose at the end of the week 10mg. Then every four weeks reduce 1mg. Hopefully this will work for me.

Regarding exercise, I have been going swimming for 4 years, and believe me while swimming, is the only time I am completely pain free. Unfortunately, due to the disc problem I have to stop swimming and go to a aqua exercise class as advised by GP. Gardening I only spend an hour or two a day, my dogs are small yorkies so they only need a 20 minute walk each day.

Until I looked on forums for PMR sufferers. I was totally in the dark about this illness. Now thanks to reading all the stories on the site, I feel that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Keep well, regards Floral