DRUGS BEFORE PMR

[Flutterbies57]

Do we dare ask what drugs people were taking before we got PMR ?

I looked for an article on here , but could not find one .

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Don’t see why not…. but to what end specifically?

[Flutterbies57 in reply to DorsetLady]

Just wondering if we had anything in common at all before we suffered from PMR . 4 good answers so far from people who were not taking anything at all . Sometimes it takes years to discover some side effects , some drugs have on people . I was only on 1 and wondered if anyone else had been taking it .

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to Flutterbies57]

Guessed something like that…

I was on BP meds -had been for about 15years….as were/are many of my family -but I was the only to have GCA. So not sure I can put the blame on them.

[piglette in reply to Flutterbies57]

I was not taking any drugs, I had junior aspirin when a child and have never bought anything over the counter or been prescribed any drugs since until I had steroids. Never had anti-biotics, indigestion tablets, pain killers etc etc. I do wonder if that is the reason I had so many side effects from the steroids.

[Wallysma in reply to piglette]

You are one lucky piglette, Piglette! I was on so many meds no way could I tell you. I am sorry your med-free roll had to change.....you certainly went for the complicated one. Right now I feel like I have no clue what my pain is from and still on 28 pred and still in crazy pain.....ugh. anyway..sorry for the whine. Take care.

[piglette in reply to Wallysma]

The only problem is I have made up for it since I got PMR. A lifetime of drugs in six years!! Two hip replacements as the steroids ate away the cartilage. Atrial fibrillation and cataract caused by the steroids, plus around fourteen other side effects. Thin skin which has caused an horrendous mess to my legs needing loads of dressings and an op for debridement. They suspected necrotising fasciitis at one point. The wounds looked like something out of a horror movie.

[Wallysma in reply to piglette]

Well I heard you were an overachiever! Making up for lost time. Yes what is it with the skin stuff.....dressings are expensive! And no designer labels.....I have spent hundreds and hundreds. I am sorry you are going through all of that. What was with your leg...glad it was not what they thought...OMG! I would have freaked.

[piglette in reply to Wallysma]

I hate to think what my dressings cost the good old taxpayer, the NHS paid for mine. I had a “box” in the sitting room filled with goodies from the district nurse including silver and Manuka honey things. When I was OK they refused to take any of it back. There must have been well over one hundred pounds worth of bandages, silver etc. They had a pack containing scissors, apron, dressing changing mat, saline etc etc. it was a once off and all thrown away after the visit. No wonder the NHS costs so much if they spend that on a wound on my leg.

[Wallysma in reply to piglette]

Yes I have found that a lot of the administrative procedures do not make sense to me. Which is hard to accept with healthcare costs being so high regardless of where it comes from gov't or private. When I worked in HIV/AIDS the clients shared their stuff with each other on their own. Not always possible or easy to do.

[piglette in reply to Wallysma]

The good news was that an elderly neighbour fell over so we were able to do first aid from my box!! Everyone was very impressed with the contents so I am now a wound product supplier!

[Wallysma in reply to piglette]

👸.....queen of the hood. If you are feeling a bit tipsy...make sure you fall near Piglette's way.....I love it.

[piglette in reply to Wallysma]

One day I may even learn first aid, so I know what I am doing with my box full of tricks!

[Wallysma in reply to piglette]

👩‍⚕️😇

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to piglette]

Here the community nurses happily took anything we offered them! And while you can't return medications to the pharmacy, doctors will take them if unopened to hand out to patients. I had a load of Pradaxa anticoagulant at 150mg and was switched to 110mg doses so I gave them to the cardiologist and she used them for patients being started on it. Since you are looking at in excess of 100 euros a month - well worth recycling and they are in airtight aluminium bubbles so you can see if they have been tampered with.

[piglette in reply to PMRpro]

We are told to hand our tablets back to the pharmacy opened or unopened and I understand they destroy all of them. We do seem to waste money in the UK.

[darkred in reply to piglette]

After reading your reply, piglette, there are no words to adequately express my empathy for what you have been through.

[Highlandtiger]

Me - none at all.

[123-go]

None.

[Seacat30]

Nothing. I was someone who took paracetamol about twice a year if at all.

[Bluey-1]

None before GCA diagnosed

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Me? None. I had taken HRT until several months previously when I stopped after yet another scare story which later turned out to be just that, scare-mongering. There have been several on the forums with similar experiences.

[Koalajane]

None

[Purpleazalia]

Interesting question to ask. What meds were you on?

I took (and still take) BP and asthma meds - no side effects from either.

[PaulineSlow]

Good question. I was diagnosed with GCA Nov 2021 and took antibiotics a couple of times in the previous 10 years. No other prescription medicine before my diagnosis.

[Miserere]

None at all

[DeepThought2]

None at all before my GCA/LVV diagnosis

[nallufl24]

none before GCA.

[Longtimer]

None....

[SheffieldJane]

Levothyroxine for Graves Disease - another autoimmune condition.

[Bcol]

Nothing very exciting, Co-Codamol 30/500 for about 35 + years, Naproxen and Omeprazole for a good few years, very low dose BP and Statin for a good few years.

[scrambledegg]

None

[Sharitone]

None, though I had had a couple of months on morphine several months earlier, after an accident.

[SnazzyD]

None before GCA. Chemo and hormone treatments that caused phlebitis 13 years previously.

[Temeraire]

None

[Pixix]

Tramadol, statin, high blood pressure tablet, Vit C (obviously not a drug!) amitryptylline, paracetamol (prescribed), omeprazole (but now changed to lansoprazole), magnesium, azithromycin (4 - 6 months each year)…I had had 3 car crashes by then (residual issues), already had fibromyalgia, familial high cholesterol, and lung problems.

[Hidden]

Was on Lyrica for peripheral neuropathy (idiopathic - which means to me the pathetic idiots have no idea why you have it) for about six years but when I read that a couple of the side-effects were loss of balance (no need for any help with that) and peripheral neuropathy I tapered myself off it. When I told my neurologist, who'd prescribed it, what I'd done and asked if he thought it was a good idea, he said something like "it's always a good idea to get off drugs if you can." Made absolutely no difference to the neuropathy - huge difference to my wallet and weight! I got off it about 5 years before being diagnosed with PMR. Prior to being diagnosed with PMR I had a case of what an urgi-care doc thought was systemic poison ivy: it just didn't seem to go away and popped up in places that hadn't been anywhere near the PI (and yes, I'd washed everything, etc.) and was put on a course of prednisone for it. Got rid of the poison ivy but developed aching shoulders in the meantime, for which I had cortisone shots and tried physical therapy, neither of which worked. This was all in August of 2020 - in Sept. of that year I was diagnosed with PMR, given 15 mg a day and am currently on 6 mg a day.

[Nextoneplease]

Well, I’m amazed at how many of you were on no medication before PMR/GCA. I’ve been on fairly heavy prescription meds since very early adulthood, for a whole range of things from osteoarthritis to heart problems to myasthenia gravis (another autoimmune condition). Just goes to show, as we always say: we’re all different!! x

[Newcomer22]

Covid shots!!

[MiloCollie]

I was on a few diabetic meds and an antidepressant and contraceptive pill.