Pain relief

[Uglow]

Hi can anyone say what type of painkillers they use to help with polymyalgia. Thanks

[123-go]

Have a look in 'Related Posts' Uglow - to see a number of answers to your question.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Very few people find that ordinary painkillers help at all with PMR pain - even opiod painkiller have an effect. The pain is due to inflammation - and pred is the antiflammatory drug of choice.

It isn't advisable to take NSAIDs alongside pred on a regular basis but paracetamol and codeine/co-codamol can be used for other things.

[Uglow in reply to PMRpro]

I can’t stop crying maybe I’m depressed and don’t know it

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Uglow]

I think we had this conversation a bit back didn't we? Have you spoken to your GP?

[Uglow in reply to PMRpro]

The worse feeling is the constant fuzzy head.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Uglow]

That is pretty common with both autoimmune disease and with pred. It isn't really something I have had problems with since I went on pred so can't really help I'm afraid.

[SnazzyD]

Try this one from related postshealthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...

On the whole pain killers aren’t much use with PMR though some docs try non-steroidal anti inflammatories like Naproxen. They also have side effects of concern and aren’t as effective as Pred. I think one person in the link above says that it helped the pain but not the stiffness.

[SnazzyD in reply to SnazzyD]

…and as PMRPro says, you can’t take it with Pred.

[piglette]

At the end of the day the only thing that really help polymyalgia pain is steroids. Other painkillers from paracetamol to morphine based ones can be used for other things that may also affect you.

[Uglow in reply to piglette]

Morphine don’t work tramadol don’t work I can find nothing

[piglette in reply to Uglow]

If you are trying to find pain relief for PMR pretty well NOTHING works apart from steroids.

[Uglow in reply to piglette]

Thanks I just needed to hear again

[Peptink in reply to Uglow]

What is your current dosage of the pred? That’s the only thing that worked for me. I am still taking it after 2 years. Currently on 7 mg. I had gone down to 3 mg on my own, but pain greatly increased. My rheumatologist told me to go back up to 8 mg and SLOWLY reduce. Best of luck to you! 🌹

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Uglow]

That is exactly what we are trying to tell you - the only thing that relieves PMR pain is enough pred.

[Uglow in reply to PMRpro]

I get it thank you

[Avadip12]

Are you on steroids ?

[S4ndy]

I can speak from experience as the first time I had PMR I refused the steroids. No amount of other painkillers helped and I tried many! I put up with a lot of pain for a couple of years and thought my PMR had gone. It hadn't! Came back with a vengeance and in 2016 I was give 30mg prednisolone and within 24 hours was 75% better. I have not been completely pain free but I do have other joint issues and that pain is helped by other painkillers.

I am now on 5mg of prednisolone a day which keeps a lid on the PMR pain. I have various prescription drugs for the pain which is not PMR such as my arthritic knees, shoulders and the degenerative disc disease in my spine.

Even though I have several issues I can still tell if it's PMR that's flaring as nothing except steroids helps that pain.

[Nextoneplease in reply to S4ndy]

Me too S4andy 😊Except I’ve never refused steroids, and when I finally got them, they took 2-3 weeks to properly take effect. Looking back I think I was started on too low a dose (15mg). …a couple of months later I was on 40mg.

[Alebeau]

I used many pain killers at the start of ,my PMR journey, Tylenol 3, Tramadol and finally Dilaudid. I then found out through the many helpful people on this forum that using the right dose of Prednisone is the real solution. I now take no pain pills as I try to maintain the right dose.

I do this by doing a monthly blood test to verify that both ESR and CRP are at a good level and do not start increasing. That coupled with my general sense of Well being.

I have had maybe 3 episodes where the pain started all over again and my blood work coincided so I had to increase the Prednisone and start the slow reduction again. It is a real balancing act and patience is a must.

Good luck.

[Meg1711b]

Hi. Sorry you are in pain. Hope you can take some comfort in knowing that you are not alone. We have all been there. Hug. I had a lot of pain in my legs and pain meds did nothing. I agree, Prednisone is the only drug that works, but I did get temporary relief from taking hot baths, and when it was really bad I even laid on a bed a propped my legs up on a wall which also helped. I also think I did better once I accepted the condition and tried to calmly function within its constraints, instead of fighting against it. Hang in there!

[Uglow in reply to Meg1711b]

My pmr pain I’m handling it’s unrelated back pain. And no meds are touching. Iv tried a few but everything they give uou these days is addictive

[singingloud in reply to Uglow]

You’re original question was painkillers for Pmr. Now it sounds like it for back pain. You need to see a doctor.