Is it possible to have pmr without pain and stiffness?

[Paperroses]

I can almost see your faces on this one.

I know what I have been going through, I just talked with someone that told me they were diagnosed with pmr, given their fisrt prednisone and never felt anymore pain and after 4 months on prednisone never had any of the usual symtoms of pmr.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Given morning stiffness lasting however long is usually a criterion for diagnosis...

Bit like saying I had appendicitis without stomach pain ... Although, to be fair, I am pretty pain-free when on enough pred. But 4 months suggests to me it wasn;t the PMR we talk about ...

[Paperroses in reply to PMRpro]

I keep thinking she is mis diagnosed and taking all that pred needlessly.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Paperroses]

Maybe she was - but you can only go by the symptoms the patient reports. But if she had symptoms that responded to pred, she had something. And she went to the GP because she had symptoms.

[SnazzyD]

Interesting, why were they given Pred then? Perhaps the Pred they are taking is hitting the spot perfectly?

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Presumably they had pain before diagnosis? If so, then yes it may well be possible to go through PMR when on Pred without pain.

I never had any pain from my GCA once the initial hearty dose of GCA kicked in…..

[Mary63]

I have been pain free since starting on 20mg prednisolone in Jan 2016. BUT I get pain when my dose is too low. Now on 4.5mg….trying to get lower

[Cosmos22Marigold]

Think I'm a bit like that Started on 20 mgs in Nov last as I had flu like symptoms with extreme pain in shoulders and legs more than hips. Pain dissappeared after 2 days. I am down to 8 mgs now but the steroids give me such bad side effects in my head and the shakes plus sweats. I am now waiting for a brain scan thanks to my rheumatologist. No pain in my hips or shoulders. Does make you wonder doesn't it. Not rushing things though. I want to get off of them.

[Chopin002 in reply to Cosmos22Marigold]

Wish I knew the bad side effects in your head. That is what I get. Believe it’s the pred not the GCA.

[Cosmos22Marigold in reply to Chopin002]

Hi. Bad heads relate to right side feels like a block then gjddyness then eye sight blurred. Can't till head back incase. I fall over and once I sit down for about an hour it all starts easing off. Doesn't go entirely but enough for me to get going again for a while. When I wake up after a good night - about 4 hours is a good night - I have no sign of it till I take the preds. Can't do much while it's bad. Is this anything like yours

[Chopin002 in reply to Cosmos22Marigold]

I am down to 6 mg. From30. I have trouble with my head. Get stabs in various places , but it’s the left side for me. Had a blocked ear for over a year. Now the left feels tight like it’s blocked or in a vice. Some days worse than others. It is tolerable, but distressing. Left feels some numbness as well. Sometimes feels like muscle spasm. Hoping that less pred will ease it up. Doesn’t seem like GCA symptoms. Best wishes!

[HeronNS]

Do you know what the dose is and anything about the tapering speed?

It took a couple of days and then, from the pred, I was painfree until I tapered a little too fast, so for two months I'd been pain free. Pain free from 15 mg to 10 mg. After that it became a question of recognising pred withdrawal (pain like PMR although by no means ever as severe) and after a few more months the gradual return of OA pain (again, nothing like undiagnosed PMR). The whole point of pred, surely, is to control the pain so on the correct dose a good percentage of patients probably don't have pain.

[Rugger]

I imagine it would be perfectly possible to be pain-free on pred. Four months in, they would still be on a relatively high dose and maybe not have experienced the breakthrough pains of a first flare.

[Hidden]

I have Stills RA and have not had a pain free day since it attacked me aged 17. I’m now 59 and I grade the pain level upon wakening, most days it’s a general 2 (10) being highest but an individual joint flare may add a point. When it reaches 5 I allow myself pain relief. The most difficult thing coping with pain is that it’s tiring and very wearing. Pain free days would be wonderful.

[Constance13 in reply to Hidden]

Last sentence - how I long for such a day!! Seronegative Polyarthritis and long term PMR. But the sun is shining!😎💥

[Bcol]

From being pretty much carried into A&E in agony I have, in reality, been pain free from PMR since the Pred kicked in. I do get some pain from other things like OA when it feels like having a grumpy day and presently Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, which may or may not be PMR related.