PMR & cancer

[SanG55]

Morning all, find this site so helpful, thank you for all the shared knowledge. I was diagnosed with PMR in April this year and put on 40mg of Prednisolone (I am now on 37.5mg) which has the pain under control. I see lots of posts mentioning blood count figures etc and I wonder how to understand these(I haven't got any as yet). They have now found cancer in a stool sample and I am awaiting a colonoscopy to see where we're at with this and I wondered if anybody on here has experience of cancer alongside PMR? I had never heard of PMR before diagnosis and feel blessed that my GP recognised it and is supportive. Thanks in anticipation.

[SnazzyD]

Oh dear, what a worry. Just what you don’t need. When you say they found cancer in a stool sample, do you mean occult blood or actual cancer cells?

[SanG55 in reply to SnazzyD]

Cancer cells was what they said, but I'm hoping that's a mistake and they meant occult blood!

[SnazzyD in reply to SanG55]

There are others on the forum who have had both. I clicked on one of the related posts on the right as a start.

healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Talk about a double whammy - you won't know whether the cotton wool brain is the pred, the PMR or the rest of the situation! All the best ...

That is a very high dose to start you on for "just" PMR - do you have any GCA symptoms? PMR can be a symptom of and underlying cancer.

[SanG55 in reply to PMRpro]

No GCA as far as I am aware. I had no idea about anything on initial diagnosis, so went with the flow of medication.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to SanG55]

If you feel up to it you could probably reduce to 30mg fairly fast and see how you get on. 15-20mg is a normal starting dose, up to 25mg if necessary so you have a fair cushion there.

[SanG55 in reply to PMRpro]

Thank you

[MrsNails]

Hi SanG55

I’ve had Breast Cancer while I’ve had I had PMR l know it’s a very different type of Cancer but l’m around if you wish to talk either on here or by PM

Were you informed by letter or verbally? Did you have symptoms or was it following the Routine Bowel Cancer Screening?

Kind Regards

MrsN

[SanG55 in reply to MrsNails]

Thanks so much, that's kind of you. I have always had bowel 'problems' and requested some suppositories on my prescription which prompted the GP to request a FIT test which showed cancer. Further investigations on Monday, will keep your offer in mind. Enjoy your weekend.

Kind regards

SanG55

[MrsNails in reply to SanG55]

Good Luck for Monday 🍀 keep us in the loop & always here for a chat anytime.

MrsN

[SnazzyD in reply to SanG55]

Hello, the FIT test is still for Faecal occult blood but is more accurate, so not directly for cancer. Nobody can say, “you have cancer” from this test as it shows likelihood. Have a read of this and it explains it a bit more.

cambridgeshireandpeterborou...

[SanG55 in reply to SnazzyD]

Thank you for that. My head is all over the place at the moment - it's good to have grounding info!

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to SnazzyD]

Thanks Snazzy - I was thinking that and intending to look it up but haven't had time .