Hi from the new girl in town!

[HeatherHoney]

Hi there everyone! Gee, I wish I had known about you when I was first diagnosed with PMR.

I had undergone a gastric sleeve operation in September 2011 to both try to lose the weight that I had been trying to get rid of for at least 20 years without success, and to "smash" my diabetes, as the surgeon put it.

I lost about 30kg, & I married my husband in May 2012. Despite being active, we continued with ballroom dancing classes after the wedding, by November, at 52, I was diagnosed as having PMR. Mum had also had it, but was 70 by the time she got it. I mention the op, as I have often wondered whether it may have caused some hormonal imbalance that may have triggered the PMR into action.

Anyway, after about 18 months, I was told I was in remission, and have really not been bothered by the PMR, but a couple of weeks ago had a chest infection & was on 50mg of Prednisone for 5 days, finishing the dose Sunday last week. Since then, I have felt absolutely dreadful, and whilst i initially had myself convinced that I was merely having withdrawals from the sudden knocking off, now wonder whether taking and knocking off such a large dose may possibly trigger another bout of PMR?

Would be interested to hear of other people's experience/knowledge of any potential link.

[SheffieldJane]

Hi HeatherHoney and welcome to the site! I wish I had chosen a nice name like SweetJane or something! 😊

Thank you for sharing your interesting story.

I have nothing really to add except guesswork and you are perfectly capable of that on your own.

I feel pretty sure that physical or mental trauma can be a trigger for PMR though. A gastric sleeve sounds pretty traumatic. I feel that there is a genetic link to autoimmune diseases. I wonder about my maternal granny now, always in pain and everything put down to Arthritis.

18 months is very early for PMR to go into remission. The average time is much, much longer. Doctor's can't really tell you, you would be the first to know. Blood tests do not tell the whole story but symptoms do. Were you otherwise a typical case for PMR?

I am puzzled about the aggressive treatment for your chest infection. Why did they treat it in this way?

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Think it is unlikley - but even a short spell of pred at that dose would leave many people feel fairly rotten! Nor do I really think a hormonal imbalance would have triggered PMR - although it CAN cause a post-menopausal disorder that has very similar symptoms and which can be sorted by replacement therapy - but it is very likely it was the final bit of stress that upset the immune system and sent it haywire.

Which, of course, COULD be the case now. Though are you sure the chest infection has really gone?

[katie-w53 in reply to PMRpro]

Hello PMRpro. I'm just curious about the post-menopausal disorder that has similar symptoms to PMR. Does it have a name that I can google? I've had one rheumy tell me that I definitely do have PMR, but another who thinks I'm "atypical" and has been trying to rule out other things - everything has come back negative so far.

Thanks, Kathryn

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to katie-w53]

Trouble is - what they think is "atypical" often accounts for about half of patients!

This post on another forum is from someone who I'm fairly sure was on the PMR forum before the NP recognised the symptoms:

patient.info/forums/discuss...

and other results call it "menopausal arthritis".

[Hindags]

I have heard many younger people complaining of lethargy after pneumonia. Some have taken more than a month to feel OK.

Weakness from antibiotics, if you were given them, is not uncommon, and the loss of supercharging Pred. could, I suppose, add to "awful"

Can you be more specific about the ways in which you are feeling awful?

PMRpro has wisely suggested that you try to make sure that the infection is gone. She is generally spot on.

[HeatherHoney]

Thanks so much for your replies. I come across things that I wonder if they are relevant to my situation, think that had I known this or that at a time when I was hitting my head against the wall trying to follow all the "correct" instructions, it might have explained alot.

[HeatherHoney]

Continuing on... the symptoms that I've been having are:

Nausea, off my food, even more worn out and weak than usual, body & joint aches & pains.

The joint pain is akin in type & severity to what I felt pre-prednisone, when I was first diagnosed.

I am quite a fan of Michael Mosley & his publications. If course, his main areas of concern are diabetes and weight control, but as you sift through the data, the way that new research turns previous medical "facts" on their heads. Again, I can read his books and think to myself, "you know what, that actually makes sense, & what I had been once followed religiously ended up contributing to the weight & worsening diabetes that I experienced over the years..

As you can see, short replies are unknown to me! 😆