remission

[RedRum1968]

following on from a post yesterday about remission. How long without prednisone would you be confidently be able to say someone is in remission? I’ve only be off 4 weeks so far but am feeling really good with no symptoms at all.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

That’s another ‘how long is a piece of string’ question really. As we know PMR is a self limiting disease, so it’s variable, but we usually say around 6 months… but it’s difficult to know exactly.

My theory is that IF you knew how long it took the original inflammation to build up that might be a clue if it’s going to do it again. But that might be complete rubbish - who knows.

You have to think/hope it’s gone into remission, get on with life, but just to be aware of any familiar signs [but not paranoid about any little niggle] and take the necessary action.

Fingers crossed for you.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Yes - as DL says, How long is a piece of string. The inflammation due to a very low disease activity can take months to build up, I've seen as much as 6 months and more. It is of course also possible it was gone and came back but even 1/2mg of pred can be plenty to keep it under wraps.

[piglette]

I think I would go more towards the year, as the adrenals can also take that long to get back to normal for some people. It does seem the first three months are the more worrying time though. The thing is PMR never goes away as such it is just dormant in the body.