Strange symptoms a year after 3rd Pfizer shot

[HarmonyGranny]

I'm new to this site, so please excuse me if there are already similar questions to mine! I'm having PMR type symptoms and have today started a course of Prednisone. My problems began in February this year (2023). I just wonder whether it's possible they have anything to do with my booster shot in November 2021......a long time ago for such a health problem to develop?

[Koalajane]

hi and welcome.

I am wondering why you think it could be anything to do with your jab in November 21.

You don’t give any information in your profile so perhaps you could complete it.

There are some who feel the booster gave them PMR but it could be the final trigger for them. I wouldn’t think in your case it would be involved. A virus, stress can cause it but I don’t think something from so long ago could cause it.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Hi and welcome.

It is very unlikely it was in response to the booster of November 2021, A vaccine, and not just covid, can be the final straw that triggers PMR but it is always only one of many factors that have stressed the immune system over time and finally something is the straw that breaks the camel's back and the immune system goes haywire, is unable to recognise the body as self and attacks various tissues as if they were foreign. But it usually happens soon after whatever that final straw was and it isn't always easy to identify so it may look as if it was something longer ago.

These things are very varied - including illness, injury, emotional or mental stress, overwork, chemical or environmental factors - and no two people have the same background. It isn't always PMR or GCA that is caused, it can be any autoimmune disorder such as RA or lupus and a host of other relatively rare disorders. In fact, believe it or not, PMR is one of the better ones to have as in most cases it eventually burns out and goes into remission which few other autoimmune disorders do.

You say you are starting "a course" of steroids - I hope your doctor realises that a course of steroids isn't the way to manage PMR. It can last for some year, almost always more than a year and more often than not more than the 2 years they so cheerfully claim it is. You don;t take a course of steroids in the usual sense - you start at a dose more than you are likely to need and then taper it SLOWLY in small steps to identify the lowest effective dose that manages the symptoms as well as the starting dose did. Often this does get steadily lower over time but how quickly and over how long varies from person to person. It requires patience and some diligence.

But you are in the right place here - between us, there isn't much we don't know about living with PMR and pred!

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Hi

Quite a lot of people of people think a vaccine (of any description) triggered their PMR-but certainly not as long as 15 months afterwards. And some really have no idea why or where it has come from.

I think you need to look at the time since then, have you been under more stress than the usual -accident, surgery, personal upheaval, caring for loved one etc?

[HarmonyGranny]

Thank you all for replying so quickly. I've updated my profile, but should explain that I haven't had an official diagnosis of PMR yet. I've just had my first appointment (22 May) with a rheumatologist. He says it's difficult at this early stage to pin the problem down, but my symptoms could be indicative of PMR. He has put me on a very short 7 day trial of Prednisone sandwiched between two blood tests. I'll also be having X-rays of many parts of my body before seeing him again next month.

Your replies are very wise and have given me much food for thought. There's no doubt that in the year since that last injection I have been under considerable mental stress. Here's hoping that the specialist will be as full of valuable insights as you all are!