Been to see respiratory physician

[Bev61]

Well I attended my urgent appointment with chest consultant who advised me that at my last hospital admission I had pneumonia with pleurisy. I mentioned PMR to him , he was very doubtful, advised him about steroids and when I reduce pain comes back so he admitted he wasn’t an expert in this field and he would refer me to rheumatologist, however there may be a wait till I’m seen . So for now on my 15 mg , chest consultant advised me to reduce of these tablets ASAP ! As nasty drug , it’s okay him saying this but they do bring me relief. Chest consultant initially felt that pain was referred pain from lung . Just want it all to stop now !

[SnazzyD]

Well, they might be right but it’s not fair to cast you off into the sea of The Wait with words of doom about Pred without consultant support if you are to embark on a vaguely described quick reduction and potential adrenal insufficiency at the end and no idea yet if the lung issue is still active or even the cause. Good that they are referring you. It may be referred pain but also PMR can be triggered by infection.

Do you feel any better? Have the antibiotics stopped? How long have you been on 15/20mg for now?

[Bev61 in reply to SnazzyD]

I have been on 15mg for 14 days with improvement

[PMRpro Ambassador]

How long have you been on the 15mg?

He's darn right he isn't an expert in the field - if you can't get a very quick referral which your GP MIGHT manage to achieve or you would get privately then you need a long discussion with your GP. In the UK, PMR is mostly diagnosed and managed by GPs and a lot of patients never do see a rheumy. A good, well informed GP is often more use than a rheumy who thinks PMR is beneath them. Their main use is to deal with complicated or very atypical cases and to look for alternative reasons for the symptoms.

[piglette]

I have discovered a lot of consultants know virtually nothing about PMR and a lot are not that well up on steroids either. I have an orthopaedic surgeon friend who does not know the difference between fibromyalgia and PMR.

[Purplecrow]

Yikes! Spare us from the ignorant! I believe some of our forum long timers are the premier specialists on our PMR illnesses. I always check my rheumy advice with this forum before taking it to the bank🧐