I am a 57 year old previously healthy lady.
I have recently been diagnosed with PMR . Blood results normal but diagnosis from symptoms. I have bilateral shoulder pains on stretching and reaching. Burning and tightening of biceps . Elbow . pain. Neck pain and stiffness. Stiff thigh muscles etc etc.
I am waiting to see a rheumatologist but meanwhile Dr has put me on 20mg of prednisolone. I'm on day 3 and so far no reduction of symptoms. Fingers crossed i feel some improvement soon.🤞
I hope so, not everyone is cartwheeling within hours and you’re on a good start dose. Don’t undermine the good effects by clearing out the attic or anything strenuous. Pred will only deal with the inflammation, pain and stiffness, not the underlying disease.
Hi Lyndalou. I am the same age as you and was healthy too until I developed PMR. It took about a week before the Pred helped to ease the pain for me - it might be the same for you. Hang in there. ❤️ Xx
Hello, there are a fair few of us in the 50’s crowd with PMR or GCA. I was 54 and a general superwoman when it hit acutely over a couple of days, ignoring the vague unremarkable symptoms over months before. My bloods were all ok too though the ESR was raised for me but still in normal range. I was shoved on 60mg Pred on symptoms alone as per policy.
A couple of things to say at this very early stage.
1) Pred is not curing anything, it is removing the inflammatory effect for you while your immune system is going potty. Initially with the buildup so far it can take a week or two to get a hold of it. After that the reductions are hopefully slow enough to match your reducing disease activity over the next few years. Ideally most of that time is on a relatively low dose.
2) sorry to say this, you are sick. This is life changing. Reduction or loss of pain isn’t the cue to go back to normal. Your muscles are still struggling with poor blood flow, Pred makes muscles more susceptible to injury and autoimmune activity takes a lot of energy.
3) If you haven’t already read posts about low carb diet. Really important with Pred.
It isn’t all doom and gloom and this stage gets better as you work out your signs a symptoms.
It does sometime take up to a week or more - and YOU have to do your bit: rest!!
Thankyou for all your supportive replies. Just woke up with really sore arms still. Feeling quite low- i guess i was hoping for an instant miracle! Onwards and upwards though ! 😊
Hi,
I was started on 20mg for PMR some six years ago, and, after three days, the GP upped my dose to 30mg to clear up the inflammation. It seemed 20mg was not enough.
It still took a few days on 30mg to get some relief, and I stayed on 30mg for just over three weeks before tapering down to 25mg.
As SheffieldJane has said, not everyone experiences instant relief, so I guess you will need to be patient and hope things get better for you. If it does turn out to be PMR, then you will need lots and lots of patience and tlc!
PMR does what it wants - not necessarily what you want it to do.
Good luck.
Paddy
I am one of the 50s crowd. I was diagnosed (for the second time) in 2016. I needed 30mg of prednisolone to get 75% pain relief in about 3 days. I have never had 100% pain relief and this could be due to having other underlying conditions. For me I stay on 30mg for two weeks before reducing to 25mg and then by 5mg each week until I was at 15mg. It was too fast so had to go back to 30mg for another time. I am now down to 5mg a day which my Rheumatologist wants me to stay on for now. I think from what I have learnt and experienced there's no one for all dose to suit everyone. Everyone is different!
I'd ask for more scans on shoulders etc, these things are starting going again.
Another 50's victim ! 56 and diagnosed in August.
Definitely took a couple of weeks to feel vaguely normal on 15mg pred. Now on 12.5 mg.
Pain is now exclusively in my upper arms. Generally first thing in the morning and last thing at night. There seems to be a liveable 'corridor' between doing too much activity (bad) and not enough (not much better). Trial and error.
I have read a lot on this forum which is always informative. Although some of the info about how long this might drag on for is deeply troubling.
Occasionally a new theme emerges. Well new to me anyway. Low carb diet whilst on pred ? News to me. Where do i find out more about that ?
Best wishes to all
Thanks for your reply- same for me- painful arms on waking and late in the evening. Seeing slight improvement in all the array of other symptoms. Seems a little easier to dress myself but have to wait at least an hour after getting up!! Its a rubbish condition and one that I never knew existed until I got it- quite an eye opener how your life can change seemingly overnight. Good luck with everything
Pred changes the way the body processes carbs, causing the liver to release random spikes of glucose into the blood from the muscle stores of glycogen. This triggers a release of insulin to bring it down which is usually too much - the BS level overshoots and you crave carbs to get it back up and a rollercoaster starts up. There is excess insulin circulating - and that is part of the reason you end up with fat deposits on cheeks, back of the neck and around your middle. You cannot do anything about the liver effect - but you can balance it out a bit by reducing dietary carbs and that can be enough to reduce the risk of developing steroid-related diabetes as well as moderating weight gain - even allowing weight loss while on pred.
As good a place as any to start is with this website:
which provides all the info you need to make better choices and even has meal suggestions and recipes - all free, you do NOT need to join if you don't want to.
You will find loads of discussion on past threads about low carb - unfortunately this site's search function it utter rubbish so you may have to start a new thread to get other's views ...
Hi Lyndalou. Glad to hear that you are experiencing a little relief. Hopefully this will increase soon. I had never heard of this blasted illness either before I developed it. Sorry to say that it does change our lives - we need to learn to rest more, for one thing. But at least we have a drug that helps us get a semblance of normality back. Much as I dislike the side-effects of Pred I also love it for what it allows me to do (without overdoing it of course). We just have to believe that we shall get to remission one day and in the meantime support one another through this. It is difficult for those who don’t have PMR to understand it. Sending you love, strength and a virtual hug. ❤️💪🏼🤗 xx
Thanks for your lovely reply. I'm just taking a day at a time at the moment and hoping for a result with the pred. Sending a virtual hug right back atya🥰🤗
Good idea to take things one day at a time. I have everything crossed for you that you get a good result from the Pred soon. Thanks for the hug - we all need one these days! ❤️🤗 xx
Thanks SusyTe 😍
Hi Lyndalou
It’s a little frustrating if you are not one of those that experience the miraculous result almost over night but hang in there.
I had a frozen shoulder as well, when l started the Pred & it was a more slow relief but 3/4 days l could feel the difference, within a week the ‘frozen shoulder’ was released & by day10 l was back to my old self, wearing high heels & a bit of a whirling dervish to be honest.....
I was 57years old too when diagnosed, l’d advise taking it easy for the next couple of days & let the Pred do it’s magic, it will come but there may just be a lot of inflammation to ‘mop up’
Welcome & Hang in there 🌸
MrsN
Thanks MrsNails.
I am so grateful for everyone's advice on here. I genuinely cant believe how friendly and helpful every one is. Dont feel so alone with this dratted condition anymore. Only people with this shared experience get it.
Thanks again for your welcome😊
Pleasure, hang in there 🌸
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