Bloods pmr

[Eastender]

What is dd levels please, just been told mine are high, don't understand what this means or what it does to me, so can anyone tell me please

[PMRpro Ambassador]

I have no idea what dd levels are. Do you mean d-dimer levels? Do you have shortness of breath or any signs of a DVT?

[Eastender in reply to PMRpro]

Yes got both, doctor sending me for a scan tomorrow, had dvt two years ago in the calf of my leg, they blood tested me and said my d dimer was high but didn't explain what that was

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Eastender]

The d-dimer test is a test to rule the possibility of a DVT/pulmonary embolism in or out. It is a protein that is formed when a clot in the body is being broken down and then the level in the blood will rise - normally it is undetectable. The clot formed in a DVT can break down and the small bits of clot pass round the body in the blood. Sometimes they get stuck - in some ways that is one purpose of the lungs really - to catch such scraps before they get to the heart or the brain. But they need to be dealt with when they do happen.

If there is a suspicion of either then they do the d-dimer test - if it is raised they do a scan to find out what is happening and where. Doing the test means they can see if the scan is totally unnecessary. In your case, the raised d-dimer means they know you need the scan.

Does that help?

[Soraya_PMR]

D-dimer?

Vitamin D?

That’s all I can think of.

[Eastender]

Maybe, but I wish they had more time to explain things to us, I have had pmr for over three years now, and don't seem a lot better than I was when I started

[Soraya_PMR in reply to Eastender]

Oh bless you.

The D-dimer is a measurement of a bit of protein that is left hanging around in your blood from the clotting process. So a higher level indicates to your doc that the chances of a DVT are higher. So doc is doing the right thing by sending you for a scan.

[Eastender in reply to Soraya_PMR]

Head my scan but they said it was ok, because the day before doctor gave me blood thinning tablets, they said as I had taken the tablets I might have a false negative result so told to stop taking them and go back next Thursday, and do it all again, hospital is over an hour away, I have to rely on my neighbour to take me, as I live in a small Devon village, only one bus a week goes that way , pmr is nightmare, the medication is good and works, but the side effects are awful x

[Eastender in reply to Eastender]

Sorry that was meant to read had my scan, not head, lol

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Eastender]

Wonderful!!! NOT!

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Eastender]

PMR doesn't "get better" - it is a chronic condition that carried on for some years causing the symptoms we know as PMR. Then eventually it burns out - and the PMR disappears. But the average length of treament with pred is just under 6 years. It will go, but perhaps not as quickly as you - or any of the rest of us - would like.

[Eastender in reply to PMRpro]

Had pmr for four years so far, still on steroids which goes up and down depending how I am, I'm 72 and live alone, some days it's hard to get out of bed, because of the pains, but I try to keep going, am on tramadol too, not sure it helps as I have been on it so long, think my body has become immune to it

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Eastender]

It is very unusual for normal pain-killers to help with PMR - possibly NSAIDs but they shouldn't really be taken alongside pred. Even heavy duty opiods don't do anything.

[yogabonnie]

off topic..but did Eastenders like the TV show Eastenders?

[Eastender]

I do, I live in Devon, but was born in the east end of London

[yogabonnie in reply to Eastender]

Ha! I know Jake Maskall, the young man who played Danny Moon!! Now he's in the Royals) My claim to fame!