Not posted before so here goes .Suffered with osteoarthritis in both hips for the last 7 years , had Left Hip THR last July . Recovered well but then started with severe pain and stiffness in left knee which then progressed to both knees , shoulders , hands , neck over a period of 4 weeks . Diagnosed with PMR after receiving Depo injection from a private rheumy , I have felt the benefit for 3 months but recently have started to feel aches in both shoulders and back of neck . I am not keen on taking Pred orally , seeing GP to get blood test to see where I am . Has anybody been able to manage PMR via regular Intramuscular injections rather than tablets .
Thanks
Mark
Written by
Spats15
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The problem with injections is that it wears off over time, as you have discovered. That means you aren’t receiving a standard dose on a daily basis which is what your PMR really requires so it may not be managed as well as it should, or needs to be.
The info that comes with them can be quite scary, but they are only "possible" side effects. You may get some or none of them and most can be managed with change in life style and diet. I've been "lucky" and on them for four years with no side effects. A little white pill that gave me my life back.
Prednisolone seems to get the blame for lots of things, but it’s not always to blame!
At least it gave me my life back when first diagnosed with pmr, and, for me, that was the most important aspect. As Bcol says, most side effects can be managed, and this Forum is brilliant in its advice.
I think if you are on very high doses then you can get side effects, but they most certainly subside and pred then becomes your friend in helping you get up and live your day comfortably... don't rule them out just yet.
I have depo medrone injections for other medical conditions Ihave, but they don’t control PMR for me like oral steroids do. I’ve suffered lots of side effects, but none sufficient to stop them. They enable me to live a life again, I suggest you try them. Most side effects disappear at lower doses, too, and you can still have steroid injections if needed(well, I do)!
It is possible to manage PMR with depot medrone injections and it was mentioned in the 2015 Recommendations but isn't commonly used. What is crucial is that it is done properly and the next injection given just as the previous one is running out of steam. Initially it is usually about once a month but there are some doctors who simply don't know how to use them and think that the same "not more than 3 per year" that applies for joint steroid injections also is relevant to the deep intramuscular injections. It isn't! If they try to do that you will just flare and it will become increasingly difficult to manage the symptoms. It seems to have become very difficult to schedule the regular injections that are essential at a GP practice and you don't have the flexibility of adjusting the dose that you do with oral pred,
I have been on oral pred for PMR for 15 years - I have no identifiable adverse effects at all. There are claimed to be fewer adverse effects with injections but several people who HAVE been on them discovered that they got problems after a time. Not entirely clear why though - other than the lack of fine tuning we manage to achieve using oral pred ideally.
Here is a link to a paper from Prof Dasgupta who did a small clinical study - he is big in the field so perhaps it is given more prominence than a single paper would normally merit. There is also a link to a series of posts made by someone on the forum who used them very successfully some years ago and wrote some detailed analyses of his experience. And an NHS Scotland link mentions them.
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