I saw the rheumatologist this morning and I liked her a lot. She diagnosed shoulder impingement with a possibility of PMR. She has asked for further tests and ultrasound scans to get a full picture. She also asked me to do quite a rapid taper for 3 weeks off P before blood tests as she wants to see how my results were initially before I was possibly misdiagnosed and put on P. Then she can advise the way forward with a full picture and correct treatment plan.I do not hold any resentment towards the GP registrar who diagnosed me without checking with her overseeing GP. What's done is done. Fortunately there is a plan in place now to get to the bottom of it.
Many many thanks to everyone who has been helpful and supportive over the last 3 months
I hope you do get to the bottom of it. Bear in mind you have been on Pred long enough for your adrenal gland activity to have been suppressed. If yours don’t switch on as quickly as you reduce Pred you may get crushing fatigue, nausea and weakness. If this happens, do seek medical advice. If you do get this you may be forced to slow the taper down. The GP should be aware of this potential but some forget this part isn’t easy for everyone. It would be worth reading about adrenal function in the FAQ’s. Good luck!
Guess most of us are guilty of that sometimes in our lives ,especially in early days when one has no support to help us through things.Maybe some of us are just born worriers eh?😜🤔🌼
Yep... I know quite a few... past and present. and we all do at times, justifiably in certain circumstances. But too much and it has a detrimental effect on your whole life. I fully appreciate that if you have that personality you cannot help it.
Absolutely ,of course it can have a detrimental effect long term,a case of trying to make oneself realise that one has a problem and try and address it if possible.Life has thrown another curved ball at me regarding OH and a lot of my positivity is being pushed backwards but have to realise that myself and others are going through these curved balls,have to try and find the positivity again for the sake of him and my own well being.As I said in a previous post,Xmas is coming ,joy of great grandson and the thought that there are a lot of peolpe worse off than me!😜x
Progress, hopefully. Will the Rheumatologist refer you back to the NHS for all these tests or do you have to fund them yourself? I fear the near future will be a rocky road for you as you taper off prednisolone in order to bring back the inflammation which led to the diagnosis of PMR. Do keep us in the loop Jane, and fingers crossed you get through this period with a happier outcome and a future you can look forward to.
Just a thought, we are not promised a rose garden and I know there will be a few stinging nettles to negotiate along the way, but we have family members dealing with much worse things than this. This, too, shall pass.Thanks to everyone for all the help and support offered.
sorry you have had a rough journey to diagnosis. Of course it may be both impingement and PMR as it was in my case. The shoulder pain was excruciating but I had surgery on 20 mg of Prednisolone. The relief was immediate and apart from the old familiar PMR shoulder aching, which is a different pain, I have had no more problems in 9 years. I hope you get it resolved soon.
Thank you for your kind comment. I had a shoulder injury 25 years ago and have seen a couple of chiropractors over the years. The last one I saw was not good and I think that's when the trouble started. The rheumatologist has not yet ruled out PMR, that's why she wants blood tests with me off the steroids. An over enthusiastic GP registrar was too quick to diagnose and put me on them back in August without referring to my usual GP.
sounds like also a problem of too many different doctors involved at the start .... i was put on pred in June, also by a trainee GP, but told it was part of diagnosis after lots of blood tests ruling out some other possibilities. PMR more likely if response to pred was good, which it was. Immediate. If not, it was early enough to stop pred completely and rethink. But she stressed there is no definite test for pmr and its always a working diagnosis. I hope you get to the bottom of it and feel better soon.
When she moved on, as trainees do, i asked who was taking over her patients and they said it doesnt matter, they can all see your records, which I wasnt too happy with, its not great to wonder who you'll randomly see and will they be on top of things or make random changes, especially with a longer term condition. One thing I liked about her was she'd text a week after a pred reduction to check I was Ok, thats not happening any more, and another was she saved time by taking blood herself not making a separate appointment, and texted when results were in, so everything was quick.
Am I wrong there though, is there now an imaging test that works?
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I had an appointment a few weeks ago with a rheumatologist, who I was referred to . Will I see or hear from her again ? 
Is this right??
Alendronic acid
