Acyclovir and PMR?

[Zoshie]

Hello fellow travellers, this is my first post. I have had PMR for almost 2years now and recently got a whacking dose of Shingles and was given Acyclovir tablets for a week, I soon experienced a complete absence of pain, and although very sore, an absence of fatigue. I reduced my prednisolone tablets by half a mg. Now that the Shingles have almost gone , the stiffness is coming back.I wonder if anyone else has had an experience like this.

[tina-shelley]

Hello zoshie, firstly never reduce no matter how well you feeling if you have another underlying medical condition. I would definately up my pred dose to what is was prior to your reduction.

I have not had shingles, well not whilst I've had PMR but I suffer terribly from cold sores on my face that when bad can almost cover my right side of my nose, jaw line and under eye area. As well as the normal acyclovir cream I also am prescribed the tablets, (then walk around with an alarm clock all day as I always forget to take the tablets). I have not noticed an improvement in my PMR symptoms. But I am one of the lucky ones and experience little PMR symptoms whilst on the correct dose of preds. All the best, tina

[Zoshie in reply to tina-shelley]

Thanks for your reply Tina, I also had to use an alarm clock, I hope your cold sores stay away!

[30048]

You are very astute....i also just finished a bout with shingles and my PMR pain was much better. the shingles pain dominated my life so completely that i never associated it with the anti -viral medicine. i was also on pain pills for the nerve pain. it is a interesting avenue to pursue however. the pmr pain has returned and i have had to up my prednisone.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

When we were at university we called it the transference of pain principle! Sometimes the body ignores the lesser of two evils entirely...

Not that that doesn't exclude the possibility that the anti-viral wasn't doing something. Some people have found improvement in symptoms when on antibiotics.

[Zoshie in reply to PMRpro]

Thank you for your reply. I have heard that the brain can only concentrate on one thing. I am lucky enough not to experience a lot of PMR pain I first noticed the difference by the wonderful ease with which I could leap up the stairs and also in spite of the shingles pain felt better and more energetic.

[30048]

Thanks for that insight. Never heard about the transference of pain but it does make perfect sense.