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[yogabonnie]

HI. I'm 71 years old. Fairly fit before this and a little frightened. Thank you for this forum. Had a bike/ car accident, badly banged ribs then 2 days later trip to Sweden then 24 hour flu 2 days later and then it began. Pain in legs and arms which I treated with ibuprofen. Home 3 weeks later to Minnesota. Diagnosed with PMR started 20mg prednisone. This forum is wonderful. I thought I'd beat this in a couple months. ...alas..learning more and will try and be patient.Thanks especially to Dorset Lady. 1 week on prednisone has made me feel MUCH better all the way around. Dread the honeymoon coming to an end. Have gone off sugar and salt. Advised to take Fosomax which I am resisting. Although do already have osteoporosis. Any advice? Worried about side-effects.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Hi yogabonnie,

Welcome, glad to hear you got relief so quickly and effectively.

Love the t-shirt! Think it would resonate with lots on here.

The honeymoon needn’t necessarily end, provided your doctor allows you taper in a sensible manner (problems usually occur if they push too much to decrease Pred, and you push your body too much because you feel better!)

Of course it won’t all be roses, the Pred does have some disturbing side effects, but not everybody gets all, or even any of them (apart from the hamster cheeks which seem obligatory) and they can all be managed.

Yes it is frightening at the start, but learn as much as you can about your illness, then you can learn to live with it and control it, rather than the other way around.

Have a look at this for starters -

healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...

If you look at my profile- just tap on my picture and you’ll see other posts I’ve written which may not mean a lot to you now, but will give you an insight of what’s to come, and how others cope.

Depending on how serious your osteoporosis is (have you had a DEXA scan recently, or at all) the jury is out on Fosamax (UK version is Alendronic Acid) - some find that the VitD&Calcium supplement which should have been prescribed is enough. I took AA for 4 years with no problem (also susceptible to osteoporosis) but it does create problems for some. So I would say don’t take it unless it’s absolutely necessary and then for the shortest time you can. You probably need to read up a bit more on it and weigh up the pros/cons for you.

Good luck.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

You may find this conversation of interest re the osteoporosis - read the links, especially the ones towards the end:

healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...

If you are patient and aware the honeymoon may not come to an end. Even after nearly 14 years of PMR and over 8 and counting of pred it doesn't stop me. I have no PMR pain at all - and I comfort myself that by now I'd have given up some of the activities anyway. You have to hold on to the positive - it doesn't kill, even if it is a pain in the anatomy! There are far worse things to have...

[yogabonnie in reply to PMRpro]

thank you so much.