Possible PMR for dad?

[JulieAnnT]

Hello fellow PMR sojourners, I live in California and have had PMR for about a year. On 9 mg of Pred right now and slowly tapering. My question is actually about my father who lives in Texas. He has been in such severe pain for a couple of years in his shoulders and hips and thighs that he is now wheelchair-bound. It just occurred to me that he probably has PMR. My question is to any of you that have congestive heart failure. It’s going to be difficult to get him to see all the doctors he needs to to confirm PMR but I would like to have him try 15 mg of Pred for a couple of days just to see if there is a massive improvement, then we will continue with all of the doctors. Have any of you taken prednisone with CHF? Thank you so much

[Anniegal]

I have cardiac disease that requires an anticoagulant and take prednisone.

[Hidden]

My dad had asthma, COPD and congestive heart failure. He regularly took pred in small doses of 7,6,5,4,3,2,1in a week to cover chest infections. It's worthwhile speaking to a Dr about it check. The heart failure did make him very weak but I suspect he may have had PMR as he said Dr said he was right to visit him with bad shoulders as it could turn into something that would make him blind....but it never clicked as I didn't know about PMR then. I never saw him take steroids everyday when I stayed.

[JulieAnnT in reply to Hidden]

Thank you so much. Do you think the risk would be high to just have him try a few days of 15 mg to see if it makes a difference? Just don’t know if he’s up to all these doctors visits.

[Hidden in reply to JulieAnnT]

I wouldn't risk it without checking with a Dr. You could start by checking with the main heart charity and see what they say. One of the issues my dad had was weakness and fluid retention, I mean real retention. They drained a pint or two from his lungs,/chest cavity due to CHF. The fluid retention caused low sodium which made him weaker. With heart failure there are a lot of things going on. Perhaps if he is so ill he needs to have full checks at hospital, my dad was in and out of hospital for several months. I hope you get to the bottom of it. Please keep.in touch and look out for yourself too.🌻

[JulieAnnT in reply to Hidden]

Thank you so very much

[YuliK in reply to JulieAnnT]

Julie Hi there

I would let your Dad's doctor prescribe Prednisone medication for him. If anything went wrong and something happened to your Dad, you could land in serious trouble if you took the distribution to Dad by yourself.

Try and have a word with your Dad's GP. Fax, email, or telephone. Ask him to give it a try.

YuliK.

Has Dad had any recent blood tests ?

[JulieAnnT in reply to YuliK]

His last bloodwork was a yr ago. Needs to be done. Thank you for your response. 🌺

[YuliK in reply to JulieAnnT]

Too risky for you to give medication to someone else.

[JulieAnnT in reply to YuliK]

You’re so right. I’m just desperate to help relieve his pain, but I need to start with the doctor.

[YuliK in reply to JulieAnnT]

Most definitely dear. I can truly understand your desperation for you to help your Father, but you may not be helping yourself legally ,especially if things

go belly up.

Take care of yourself, and as I earlier suggested, get in touch with your Dad's GP regarding medication. He should be able to give you directions.

In the meanwhile, we are all here to help you.

YuliK 🌹

[gifford7]

For starters I suggest ask his doctor to include tests for ESA & CRP for suspected PMR. see:

nhs.uk/conditions/polymyalg...

Diagnosing polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) can often be quite a lengthy process involving several different tests...................Two blood tests – erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) – can be used to check the levels of inflammation in your body." Proceed from there per the link.

[JulieAnnT in reply to gifford7]

Thank you so much. This will be very helpful when I take him to the dr. 🌺

[YuliK in reply to gifford7]

Gifford Hi there

ESA and CPR don't always give correct results. But you are definitely correct to advise Julie Anne to ask her Fathers GP for fresh bloods.

Cheers

YuliK