I am a 73 year old male. My PMR started 3 days from getting my flu and covid vaccines. I naturally wondered if there was a connection so I simply searched on-line opinions. I found this on an American site, Arthritis Foundation, "Some factors believed to trigger PMR include a reaction to the seasonal flu vaccine".
Two questions;
Has anyone on here had a similar experience?
What organisation in the UK should I report it to who might collate information to support research in to the matter?
Yes, I'm In Australia but was hit with PMR following the flu vaccination in July 2023. It was a sudden massive increase in inflammation as measured by a dramatically rise in CRP (and a lot of pain of course). The onset was 2-3 days after the shot - so similar time frame to yourself. The specialist I saw advised me that in his opinion it was the flu vaccine that was the trigger for the sudden onset of PMR. He did say that a a few pre-existing conditions such as age, genetics and recurring sinus infections had predisposed me for PMR, but the flu vaccine was the trigger. The relationship between PMR and flu vaccine has been explored in several research papers. If you google "PMR and flu vaccine" you should find links for those available online.
ANY vaccine can trigger PMR - but so can the illnesses they are designed to protect you from. As AmbientB says, there is a set of factors that predispose you to developing PMR/GCA. age and a genetic background that includes Scandinavian genes are the main ones, but unless something triggers it you will sail along in blissful ignorance and healthy. Many different things can put stress on the immune system through life, and eventually something is the straw that breaks the camel's back and the immune system goes haywire - and you develop an autoimmune disorder of some sort. It may be PMR but there are hundreds of other things it might be. And for some, Long Covid seems to have a lot of similarities to various autoimmune disorders - but PMR was around long before Covid.
Some people say it was the flu jab, others Covid - or flu, or Covid, or stress of some sort, illness, trauma, emotional or physical stress. No 2 stories are the same. PMR was first described in 1880 - long before these vaccines existed so they couldn't be blamed. I had never had an adult vaccine in the 10 years or so before PMR appeared on the scene.
Adverse drug reactions are reported using the Yellow Card system in the UK:
I most definitely developed my PMR a few days after my annual flu vaccination in 2020. My GP agreed that this must have been the case. I think he reported it to the relevant authority. So sorry - hope it resolves soon. I developed PMR at the age of 78.
In the UK you can fill in a Yellow card to report possible vaccine side effects. I consider that the last trigger for my illness (which had probably been building up) was the Moderna vaccine 2 years ago. I filled in a yellow card.
Different disease, but my husband was diagnosed with autoimmune encephalitis very shortly after his seasonal flu vaccine (over-65s one). I often wonder about the seeming explosion of autoimmune diseases in recent years and whether the vaccines have anything to do with it.
Vaccines may have something to do with it - but far more likely is the explosion of plastics and other contaminants in the environment that all put stress on the immune system as described in the Abstract here
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articl....
Mankind's actions have messed up our nest - now we are reaping the storm.
Hi, PMRpro,
Thanks for posting the link to that very interesting paper.
While I am certain that my PMR was triggered by a covid vaccination, I cannot argue with the idea that there may have been a build-up of underlying causes - and the increase in pollution is a very plausible explanation. I suspect that micro- and nanoparticulates (such as plastic and rubber particles from tyres) could be very important, as they seem to pervade everything - including us. And once they are in various tissues, they are going to be difficult to remove - no matter how hard the the immune system tries.
Nevertheless, I would not expect any remedial action any time soon. There is too much money vested in cars and road traffic, and in pharmaceuticals to treat the various diseases.
No, me neither. And in the meantime they will complain about the burden of medicalcare for the diseases it all leads to ...
I've never had any issues from flu vaccines. However this year I was given the Adjuvanted Quadrivalent Influenza Vaccine. After a few days I woke in the middle of the night with intense itching on the upper body and could see the hives and redness on my arms in vein areas. I do take regular medicine for somatic pain but don't usually overnight. The itching was gone the next day. Put that down to a one off. The next night it happened again so I concluded my usual medication (Tramadol) might have damped it down. I did some research and figured it might have been a histamine flare-up of some kind. Took Benadryl and Tramadol in the early hours and watched the hives and redness fade away in 20 mins. Very odd. Everything has settled down now but I am certainly suspicious that the flu vaccine this year was a trigger.
I too 2 days after the 2nd covid vacine April 2021 went down with PMR which left me very weak to this day , My Muscles and Tendons shattered ! So many things I cant do now owing to not being able to stand for long ...
It can work the other way too. I was stuck for many months on 11mg. Then I caught Covid and for a few days I was able to leap of bed in the morning - just like the old days! I then found I was able to start tapering again. I believe someone else on this forum had a similar experience after the shingles vaccine.
Oh-my.
How very interesting! I wonder if many other people have had that sort of experience? Did the illness reset your immune system in some way? Perhaps the covid 'gave it some proper work to do'?
Do you know what triggered your (autoimmune) illness? Mine was almost certainly a covid vaccination (i.e. the PMR came on a few days after the 2nd dose, with no other obvious triggers in sight.
I did not have exactly the same experience as you - i.e. I was not stuck during my taper. But I caught covid while I was on 10 mg/day and it felt just like a very mild cold. (No positive test result; my wife diagnosed 'man-flu' until she became symptomatic 3 days later.) It did nothing to impede me continuing to taper.
HeronNS is the person who tapered after the shingles jab. Some people have found their symptoms went during another illness when the immune system was otherwise occupied but it didn't last!
As far as I know there was nothing that made my PMR begin. And as PMRpro mentioned, my break from PMR during a very mild bout of Covid didn’t last . It was great while it lasted. But it did reset my immune system, I believe, because after months of periodically trying to taper I was suddenly able to. It’s been a slow journey down since but at least a journey and not stuck so I’m not complaining. However, for all that, I’m hoping not to get Covid again this Christmas like last year.
It is a pity your break from PMR was not more permanent, but I am glad you are able to taper again. Hopefully, you will get to zero eventually - although do not rush it faster than your PMR will allow. It took me about 13 months to go from 10 mg/day (when I had my 'man-flu') to arrive at zero.
And, hopefully, your Christmas will not be ruined by covid again this year.
Re Shingrix vac result: It wasn't really straightforward. I'd tapered to zero in early 2020, but had to restart after 6 weeks. For the next several months I tried to stay at former lowest best dose (around 2) but this was unsuccessful and in the end I was deeply in a flare and increased to 10, early 2021, then able to drop to about 8, but stuck there. After a few more months I had a Shingrix vaccine (this in the midst of covid vaccines, but got this one well away from those) and after that for some reason found I could taper again.. It still took a long time, mostly because I was a bit gun shy after the unsuccessful 2020 attempt and its aftermath, and I came off pred completely at the beginning of February 2024. I reacted very strongly to Shingrix, mostly extraordinary fatigue - felt like a limp dishrag for about 24 hours!
Pred journey started mid 2015.
Hi, HeronNS.
Thanks for that information. Congratulations on getting off pred. I hope it lasts.
It does seem interesting that one challenge to the immune system can sometimes offset another. But I doubt it will surprise anyone on here how complex the immune system is.
Medicine and physiology are not exactly in my area of expertise but, I guess like a lot of people on here, I would like to learn more.
I got ill on the evening of my Covid booster and I just kept getting more and more ill until I was hospitalised 7-8 days later with a CRP just around 400. Out of the blue. No infections.
No doubt in my mind it was triggered by the vaccine, which of course does not exclude stress, extreme workload, genetic dispositions etc of being a factor(s). But still triggered.
I was convinced that it was the flu jab that did for me but when I looked back I started to see more and more warning signs: slight stiffness in the mornings, slight achiness in the middle of the night, sometimes having to come downstairs with both hands on the hand rail. The flu jab was probably the “straw that broke the camel's back”, combined with work stress, but those symptoms had been building up for at least six months.
PMR after Flu Vaccination
PMR and flu injection
Flu jab
