Diagnosis??? | Arthritis Information

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Has anyone here questioned their diagnosis?  I was diagnosed over a year ago with PMR.  However, I have never honestly felt that it was a perfect match.  Right now I am on 5 mg prednisone and 400 mg plaquenil.  I am overwhelmingly exhausted and my joints hurt and have some inflammation in them (knuckles, wrists, knees, feet, hips, spine.  My fingers are a little stiff along with my neck.  No muscles really bother me other than one near my neck that feels tired and a little sore at times (usually ok but sometimes when doing dishes or stretching out it will bother me).  The fatigue is awful.  Anyone else have this with your joints being the main issue and not muscle???  Thanks for your help.

My biggest complaint is the pain. The muscles in my upper arms, and muscles in my upper and outer thighs are very weak and sore. They also stiffen up after only minutes of sitting or standing still. My neck also bothers me, the muscles around it that support it. From what I have read a hallmark of pmr is not being able to lift your arms above your head. Literally, standing with my arms straight, I can only lift them up 12 inches away from my body (straight armed). And if someone has it affect their hips first, then its the same with the legs. Like to lift your leg up to put your pants on is nearly impossible. I just leave my pants on the ground and slide my toes into them. Also, at times only one arm or one leg is affected. Right now I am unlucky enough that all four appendages are strongly affected!! Darn it. I have also had a random hand or knee swell up and me horribly painful. I have heard others on this forum mention that symptom as well. My finger joints and wrist and knee have definitely been affected in the joint. But the shoulders and hips are in the surrounding muscles.
 
I also have the fatigue really bad. One of my docs said that whenever you have high inflammation you will naturally struggle with anemia which brings fatigue. I slept 10 hours last night (only because my kids were out of school) and here it is just two hours later and I could take a nap easily. (I do take LOTS of pain med, that could be making me tired.
 
 
Keep in mind I have not had a Doctor agree that I might have PMR, because of my young age. So take my words (and hundreds of hours of internet medical research) for what they are worth!! When 7 doctors in a row (over the course of 14 months) threw their arms in the air after doing every test possible and had no clue of what was wrong with me, I started doing everything in my power to figure out what it was.
 
I hope you get feeling better soon. I think you are smart to question your diagnosis. Nobody knows how we feel better than we do.
 
Take Care,
Donette
 
 
 
 
 
 

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