Does anyone know what percentage go to develop rhumatoid arthritis from pmr and wether 5 mg pred which i take causes artery furring or heart failure etc.
Augustas6: Does anyone know what percentage go to... - PMRGCAuk
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Probably none go on to develop PMR from RA - they are totally different diseases. PMR is a vasculitis (blood vessels), RA is an arthritis (joints).
What sometimes happens is that the symptoms of LORA (late onset RA) and PMR are very similar and the doctor plumps for the wrong one since both will respond to some degreee to pred. A slower and lesser response to pred may suggest it isn't PMR but that isn't reliable either. There are no tests that make it obvious or definite. About 1 in 5 patients with a PMR diagnosis later have the dx changed, usually to LORA if it isn't GCA.
Pred does not cause artery furring or heart failure. It may cause atrial fibrillation - but the autoimmune part of PMR can cause atrial fibrillation too. If I didn't know I had had a/f BEFORE I was put on pred, a doctor might have concluded my a/f was due to pred. I'm on anticoagulant therapy - to reduce the risk of stroke that goes with a/f, but it is nothing to do with pred.
This may help - a page recommended by a doctor:
cortisone-info.com/Side-Eff...
where they say heart failure is very rare and indicates that it is high doses that are implicated.
In fact, it is inflammation in the blood vessels that leads to problems - damaging the lining and making it more likely that clots will catch on their way past and lead to a stroke. There is a raised risk of cardiovascular disease with RA but there is no evidence this is the case for PMR.
Your dose of 5mg is very low and not one to be concerned about. Every day the body itself produces the equivalent of about 7.5mg of pred in the form of cortisol - it is essential to life and with not enough you can become very ill. The body doesn't care if it is natural or man-made corticosteroid so if there is pred present - the body makes less or no cortisol so there is no excess at this stage.
Dr Mattieson ( Leeds) has said that there is possible inflammation involving the Aorta and causing it to narrow, in me. Presumably from PMR, possibly from before it was diagnosed and treated. Is that not cardiovascular disease? Or is is PMR - possibly GCA effecting the blood vessels in the heart?
It's rare anyway.
Still banging away about something that may not turn out to be much to worry about - sorry.
Well, let's just say the PMR/GCA, and being treated for either or both, won't protect you from other things going wrong...
Thank you its a relief that 5 mg pred is ok what is arterial fibulation can it be cured? Im worried about inflammation tho damaging arteries pmr is also inflammation so why does that not inflame arteries too? I had pmr for years untreated until i developed ra 15 yrs ago ive been on pred for two years .
Thanku nathen.
The heart has 4 chambers, the upper ones are the atria, the lower ones the venticles. Fibrillation is when the electrical signal to the heart muscle is messed up for various reasons and the heart muscle doesn't contract and relax the way it should but flutter or fibrillates. There is no perfect cure but it can be managed fairly well.
PMR is an inflammation of very small arteries, not the large ones. GCA is the form with large vessel inflammation - and it does lead to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
