Great News and a question: I have always been good... - PMRGCAuk

PMRGCAuk

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Great News and a question

Dydee profile image
11 Replies

I have always been good at getting my yearly checkups. As I approached my 80s I figured I would eventually get test results below normal. At nearly 81 all my bloodwork came back normal again and A1c down to 5.4. Woo hoo. Not sure about my cortisol though at 3.8 mcg/dl from fasting blood draw at noon. Test normal values are for AM and PM, not noon.

Then yesterday I finally ended my 5 month wait to see the pulmonologist for my shortness of breath. (Not serious, mostly a nuisance). He viewed my lung CT scan over and over and said my lungs look great, no emphysema or lung disease. He thinks my shortness of breath may come from exposure to air pollution, second hand smoke (I never smoked) etc. over the years. But I told him I first noticed it in Feb. 2019 the year PMR came for a visit and drove me to my doc in Sept. I recently finished a taper to 5.5mg. and yesterday took 5mg for the first time. Plan to do that once a week for 2 weeks, then every 5 days for awhile, etc. The reason for sharing this is because my breathing seems to have improved a bit since on 5.5 full time. Could my shortness of breath be PMR related? I can't even use inhalers because they affect eye pressure and because of Pred. use already have a problem keeping mine down.

I have been blessed on my journey to taper and have always slept well and other than a return to shoulder and arm aches a couple times and having to up my dose for a short time, I don't seem to have side effects. My energy even seems to be getting better. I'm praying I can eventually stop taking it. The great information and encouragement on this site is what has been instrumental in my success. My docs literally know nothing.

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Dydee profile image
Dydee
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11 Replies
PMRpro profile image
PMRproAmbassador

Both PMR itself and pred can lead to shortness of breath - a paper was written in the Netherlands I think. But few doctors seem aware.

Dydee profile image
Dydee in reply toPMRpro

Will try to find more information on this. Thank you!

PMRpro profile image
PMRproAmbassador in reply toDydee

njmonline.nl/getpdf.php?id=...

is the paper I was thinking of

Dydee profile image
Dydee in reply toPMRpro

Wow, thank you so much!

Dydee profile image
Dydee in reply toPMRpro

I came across this great discussion on shortness of breath and PMR also that sheds some light on it.

patient.info/forums/discuss...

PMRpro profile image
PMRproAmbassador in reply toDydee

Gosh - was that only 5 years ago!! I see I mentioned my theory that there is an effect on the mitochondria (the powerhouses of the cells) and on Monday I was in a meeting with Prof Mackie from Leeds who admitted she has been reading stuff recently and has come to the conclusion I was right!! I need to remember that discussion.

MiniSpec profile image
MiniSpec in reply toPMRpro

Make sure to write it down, not just try to remember it.

PMRpro profile image
PMRproAmbassador in reply toMiniSpec

It comes up on google when I search

I just found this though as well

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

and this

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

It seems the effects of PMR are wider than most doctors think - and they are slowly getting round to realising it. At last ...

Dydee profile image
Dydee in reply toPMRpro

I hope my docs aren't offended when I share a print out of these articles. 😊

PMRpro profile image
PMRproAmbassador in reply toDydee

Preface it with "I know you are so busy and I wondered if you had missed seeing this ..."

Gossiplady profile image
Gossiplady in reply toPMRpro

wonderful , as ever! Thank you.

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