Atypical PMG and Depo-Medrol

[Donaloge]

My rheumatologist says that I possibly have atypical PMG. My symptoms at their worst have been relatively minor.

In mid-March I had a 120 mg shot of Depo-Medrol. It reduced my symptoms to almost nothing. They have since returned to a slight extent but are very tolerable.

The rheumatologist has ordered a PET scan to see if there may be another cause for my symptoms.

I wonder whether anyone else has had a similar experience.

I have seen conflicting information about how long a shot of Depo-Medrol is usually effective for. Can anyone help on that? I don’t know whether 120 ml could have brought about such a great reduction in symptoms for so long.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

That is certainly a long period for a depot medrone jab to continue working - somewhere from 1 to 2 months is more usual.

PMR is not the disease though - it is a set of symptoms and there are several possible underlying causes. It may have been another problem so it fair enough to try a PET scan although if there is still any activity from the depot jab it may suppress the signals in the scan and give a false negative.

[Donaloge in reply to PMRpro]

Thank you.