would like information please | Arthritis Information

My mother has been diagnose with PMR two months ago. She also has inactive RA and osteoarthritis. She is not computer savvy as I have joined this forum for myself (I have RA) I would appreciate any help with the following questions:

. does PMR damage the bones or muscles?

. she has been on prednisone x 15 mg per day and 7.5 mg methotrexate per week + 2 panadeine per day and was wondering how long it would take to control the Polymyalgia pain?

. is there any other treatments that my mother could search for that would help her cope?

She is fairly immobilised at the moment and isn't able to do much until late afternoon which is wearing her down even more. I would appreciate any help I can get on this.

Kandy,
It is great your mom has you to help her with support. Maybe you can
print her outsome of the relevant postings.

I do not know the exact anwer to your question, however...
1) My understanding is that there is no permanent damage to the boes or
muscles.

2) One of the diagnostic features of pmr is that prednisone provides very
quick relief from the pain. If you read through past postings you will see
many are amazed at the relief they feel within hours of taking the 1st
dose of pred. For me it was within 4 hours.

Good luck woth your research and I hope you mom is feeing beer soon!Hi Kandy, How's life across the ditch? We are having a hot summer in NZ, I guess it's even hotter for you over there. I have not read anything to say that PMR damages the bones or muscles. However, prednisone does damage the bones, as you probably already know. There is a lot of material on the net about this and other info about prednisone. PMR does not actually damage muscles, but the muscles affected by the inflammation can become weak from lack of use. How long has your mother been on prednisone? We all have had different starting dosages, my pain and stiffness completely disappeared on 10mg, others here have had to start on 20mg. Maybe your mother needs a slightly higher dose? Or is she already tapering down?

I hope she will be feeling better soon, give her our best wishes from the forum.

Hi Chico,

Thanks for your reply. It's been raining here for a couple of weeks. Can't say it's too hot but can get really muggy. It's flooding in quite a few parts here as well, but as we live on a hill, we are fine. Mum had started on hydrocortisone injections about 2 months ago in hospital which were pretty high dosages. The doctor said he couldn't keep her on that strength and she is now on 15 mg per day split up in two doses of prednisone. She has had blood clot and has a clotting gene so Dr is concerned to put her on too high a dose. She is also on mtx 7.5mg per week. I am concerned that the lack of movement is alot of the problem. As I said she was diagnosed with it about 2 months ago but this problem has gone on for years so maybe it will take alot longer than some to improve???

My mother is one who is fantastic at looking after others and will go all out but doesn't help herself one bit. She nursed my Dad, his parents and her parents through cancer and age related illnesses and has ignored her pain for years.

Mum had rheumatic fever at 3 years of age and from 17 years of age was diagnosed with RA. She has faced years and years of pain, even though they say the RA is inactive now she hasn't been able to walk properly for years. I guess from damage in the past.

They may have to increase the dosage though. I will give her your thoughts and I know she will appreciate them. Thank you