How about Homeopathy?

[km5yx7]

Are there any people out there who have chosen a Homeopathic treatment after

starting with Prednison to get rid of the pain first and foremost?

I am considering it after 3 month.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

There have been a few homeopathic practitioners on the forums in the past who also used pred for their PMR and GCA. They also said that in their considered opinion it would be negligent to suggest to anyone suspected of having GCA that they should NOT take pred. What they did say was they believed it was possible to use homeopathy to help with the add-ons we speak about and to mitigate the side effects of the pred.

I don't quite understand what your comment about using pred - it isn't just a painkiller, it manages the inflammation that is what causes the symptoms. And it isn't a one-off treatment. As long as the autoimmune disorder underlying PMR and GCA is active, inflammation will be created and cause swelling unless kept under control. It is that swelling that restricts the blood flow and gives rise to the risk of loss of vision, stroke and other similar issues in GCA. So there is a need for pred over the entire duration of the illness, the median duration of which has recently been established as 5.9 years.

We often have people joining who insist they will not use pred, it is an evil drug. The vast majority come back within months admitting they can't manage without it. I'm not saying don't try homeopathy - but don't build your hopes that you can manage PMR with that alone. If you do you will be a first as far as we know. And if you were to be unlucky enough to progress to GCA - you would be very very foolhardy to refuse pred.

[Hidden]

I use homeopathy for the sleep disturbances & 1001 other 'little problems' PMR throws up.

It helps

[Hidden]

Hi, I just wanted to say tbat pred not like an aspirin it doesn't take the pain away and it's gone. Everyday your body will dump inflammation in your body that restarts the cycle of pain. Pred just managed that inflammation not PMR itself.

[Soraya_PMR]

Are you saying you’ve been on pred for 3 months and still have PMR? If this is so, two things spring to mind, your dose is too low, or it may not be PMR.

Can we have more details of your pred dosing?

[km5yx7]

Thanks for the responses from all you lovely people out there. Yes, I know that pred is not like an aspirin. I think I just worded my question wrong. I started out 3 month ago on 20 mg.

Went down to 15mg four weeks later, now down to 12mg--- always in a split dose and pains in arms are back mostly in the morning. Back up to 14 mg.

I just wondered if a Homeopathic person might be able to address the root cause of the inflammation. I have heard some amazing stories from trusted close friends. I consulted with my Naturopathic Doctor and she had advise, but no real answers. I am always looking for alternative ways to deal with anything that life throws at me. My alternative lifestyle: as in Solar panels, rain water collection, composting toilet, growing a lot of your own food, self employment a.s.o.

I had struggled with extreme debilitating pains for weeks before being diagnosed with PMR by local Doctor. Took the 20 mg Prednison and the pain went away over night.

I researched the condition, read a lot and

went to a Rheumatologist. I realized they did not know a whole lot either and was told by them to get off Prednison in 3 month to get on another drug that they recommended, but it would be hard on my liver and I would have to take an additional drug.

Never went back, since my local Doctor is a better listener and does not take all day for me to travel there.

[Hidden in reply to km5yx7]

I found that I was answering 2 people so sorry my reply a bit abrupt! You know pred works and I presume you are taking calcium, d3, vitk2 for bone health? I think then the decision of what to add to the pot is based on researching drug/supplement/

homeopathic interactions and trial and error. I have tried tumeric and a few things for fibromylgia and PMR as a complement to pred and pain killers to no avail. The problem is that the faster you reduce the more likely a relapse is. So it's figuring that into the equation too.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to km5yx7]

I have no idea where that rheumy did their training but they know nothing about PMR. The mainstay of management for PMR is prednisone/prednisolone, nothing else works effectively.

I did wonder like Soraya but chose to think you meant you had sorted the pain after 3 months of pred.

The reason you still have pain is because you have been totally mismanaged and taking you down to 12mg in that way was always cruising for a bruising.

This is a link to a slowed down way of reducing:

healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...

and this is to a proven approach that reduces the flare rate from 3 in 5 to 1 in 5

rcpe.ac.uk/sites/default/fi...

It is still a bit on the fast side in my book and I would have said at least 2 weeks 20mg, 2 weeks 17,5mg and then a month on 15 at least. And then if that had all been OK I would have said 1mg per month reduction using the slow approach.

No-one knows what the root cause of the inflammation is - other than it is due to the production of an inflammatory substance called IL-6 but WHY the immune system goes haywire and does it is a mystery.

If 14mg does the job then stick there for a month and then try a slow 1mg reduction. If the 14mg isn't quite doing it - go back to 15mg until all is settled and start over.

And seek homeopathic advice if you want to - but don't replace the pred - use it to improve the pred effect. If the homeopathy helps you will be able to reduce the dose more easily - the same as using supplements. On their own they are unlikely to replace pred but they may well help. Lots of us find cutting carbs drastically has a good effect and we notice if we "sin" - but on its own, not so much. And it gives you a feeling of control - which also helps.

[km5yx7 in reply to PMRpro]

Thanks, very good advise. I will listen to my body and let it tell me how much to take and continue also with Turmeric and my other herbal stuff and cut the carbs.

We can do that!!

[kate24]

I have a friend with PMR, now down to 4, and wouldnt argue with any advice found

here in this wonderful forum, a goldmine of useful practical info. I checked out any alternatives myself, and concluded pred is really the only choice, if it is actually PMR.

All these autoimmune conditions seem difficult to diagnose, especially is accompanied by other health problems. However I already knew of one "maverick" doctor here after researching autoimmune hashimoto thyroid years ago, and so I checked her advice, and no its not the same tapering advice as you will read here, but yes it is pred, and I do think it is useful as additional information from someone known for taking an alternative approach when she thinks it is the right one. My friend is hoping to be over his in just under 2 years, each of us is unique, and we need to listen to our own body first and foremost.

drmyhill.co.uk/wiki/Polymya...

[Soraya_PMR in reply to kate24]

Her plan is a very fast reduction. If she planned a slower reduction, maybe she wouldn’t have to keep ‘jacking up’ the dose.

[piglette in reply to Soraya_PMR]

Oh for the gift of common sense!

[yogabonnie]

Good luck. It is all daunting. But the advice here is sound and if you feel down or wonder about anything at all just ask. Everyone here understands. It is an amazing forum!

[maria40]

At the very beginning of PMR (19 years ago) I was reluctant to take steroids and consulted a homeopathic specialist who said PMR was one of the very few illnesses she would not treat. So I bit the bullet and began the steroids.