... this condition to talk to about their experiences?
Polymyalgia Rheumatica - I have been recently diagnosed with PMR. I'm looking for others with...
Question posted by Debbie Lou on 13 March 2017
Last updated on 5 December 2023
Answers Page 2
Hi Debbie, In 2011 at the age of 69 I came down with PMR. It came in four stages and responded to Prednisone within an hour. The first stage was both my leg muscles, knee to ankle. I woke up at 4:00 am with about 7 or 8 out of 10 pain which went away during the day and was gone by 9:00 pm. The cycle started the next morning at the same time. My doctor thought it was due to my statin and changed it which didn't help. After a month or so it went away. The next stage about a month later was whole body pain from my feet to my hands on both sides, same time cycle and same intensity. The doctor recognized it and put me on Prednisone which took the pain away in an hour. I needed to take the minimum dose to be free of pain and not cause cataracts, a possible side effect. Over the next months this stage went away and the 3rd stage came which was shoulders, arms, and hands. After that the 4th stage was the outer 1 inch strip and outer two fingers of both hands. It hasn't come back but I eventually got cataracts, got artificial lenses and don't need glasses anymore. I hope this info helps. Best of luck, Dave Young
Thanks fir input. I am now on prednisone. Rheumatologist is starting to reduce dosage. I still have some pain and stiffness but I can live with it. I am worried about my eyes. I am being checked every 6 months. Dr said he hopes to put me in remission with drugs. But it could take awhile. I am hopeful I'll be able to function without pain eventually. Glad to hear you are doing ok.
Debbie, I got cataracts at about the same time my wife did, some time after the PMR was long gone. It wasn't necessarily due to the PMR. Cataract surgery is simple and you don't have to wear glasses anymore except for reading glasses.
Davphd: I read your response with interest as I was diagnosed with PMR in Feb of this year 2018. I discovered the cause of my excruciating shoulder and hip pain by accident. I saw someone say on a forum "I have PMR" while reading a forum very similar to this one. I had to google what PMR was and realized "oh my goodness this is exactly what i have!" I then found a rheumatologist that diagnosed me in the first 3 minutes of my first visit. I am taking prednisone and have been reducing the amount I am taking however I am currently at 10mg per day and can not get below this dose without the pain coming back. My interest though, stems from your comment about the outer two fingers on your hands. What happened to them? Mine have gone numb on both hands and the only thing my general doctor (I have not been back to my rheumatologist since March)comes up with is that somehow I have inflamed the ulnar nerve running down into my hands.
My question to him though is, that the numbness and tingling is in "both" hands (even sometimes in my toes)... how would I have done something to both elbows? I am surprised to see it mentioned as a symptom of PMR. I did not associate the two things to each other. I thank you for mentioning this as this info will be put to my rheumatologist at my next visit. Thank you, Amy
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polymyalgia rheumatica, diagnosis
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