Hi ,I am new to this ,but I would like to ask if anyone has been diagnosed first with polymyalgia and then fybromyalgia?????? my doctor now thinks i have fybromyalgia as my sed rate is down but i am still in pain.He will not increase my 5mg daily dose of prednisolone and says i just have to live with it. i have been treated for polymyalgia since April 2005 and i was doing really well until this April .After returning from Florida. Anyone got any thoughts that might help me out
Bridee,I agree 100 percent with Reni!
My aunt has fibromyalgia...our symptoms and treatment are much different. If my aunt does not get enough sleep/rest, her fibro will flare....in my case, I could sleep 8-12 hours, and the pain would be the same...(this was pre prednisone treatment)
See a rheumatologist and be assertive and explain your symptons in detail...
Keep us posted.
Janet
If prednisone works, you do not have fibro. Get another doctor with ears... a rhuematologist for sure. I'm surprised he or she didn't know better. Prednisone works like a charm on PMR. Good luck. Hi EveryoneHI Birdie,
I, too, am so glad you will be seeing a rheumatologist very soon. I think you are much more inclined to get the answers you need from him/her than from the doctor you have been seeing. Hope you are feeling better real soon. Keep on posting. Let us know how you are getting along.
Keep your spirits up.
I am 47 years old and was diagnoised with pmr in November so I'm really new to it myself. My gp ran tons of blood tests, tried 15 different medications on me, including morphine (no relief) finally got into a Rheumatoligist (was carried in, couldn't walk, at all) & she had me diagnoised in 15 minutes. She started me on 20mg of pred and at my 1 month check-up increased it to 25mg a day (yuk, the side effects are horrid) I'm doing ok tho she says my progress in very slow tho but at least I can walk now, not great yet but... Still can't use my arms and I'm a professional house cleaner! Haven't been able to work for 3 months. Where did we get this nasty stuff from? I've never been in such pain in my life and I've given birth. I hate this so much!
My PCP prescribed prednisone to hopefully give me some relief (and I got instant relief) and sent me to a Rheumatologist. That man got a few responses from some of the Fibro pressure points. My SED rate was slightly elevated - but not super high. He decided that I had Fibromyalgia and took me off the prednisone. When I complained of pain, he said that was fibro for you. Come back in a month. What an idiot.
I did some online research and decided that I had PMR. I located a new rheumy and made an appointment. She had me diagnosed with PMR within 5 minutes. The biggest indicator is that if prednisone provides relief, it's not fibromyalgia - and she is also a fibro specialist, by the way.
Good luck with your new rheumy and ask lots and lots of questions. If you don't feel completely comfortable, keep searching. You need a good relationship with your doctor.
Yeah for you, Stitchy! I feel so sorry for the folks who can't get diagnosed and continure to suffer such pain needlessly...not to mention the frustration. Many of us have had to go to several doctors, even rheumatologists before getting relief.
Bottom line: If prednisone helps, its' PMR, if prednisone doesn't help, it could possibly be fibromyalgia, but it is not PMR.
My intern sent me to ruemy because of high sed rate and pain. He felt that I had PMR. Ruemy disagreed said I had Fibro and my SED rate was high due to age. My SED at the time was 58. I have had Fibro for years and O.A. I am a border diabetic and they are afraid to give me pred because it will raise my sugar. Although I did take Pred for asthma and felt better. I am tired of doctors 30 years of them. Each time your insurance changes or dr. dies or moves its back to square one again.|
hello to all of you fellow sufferers.....of PMR, FMS, O.A. and all that good stuff.....does this stuff hit men????I've been treated with all the above, latest diagnosis by Rhumy, low SED, no PmR......down to one mg. pred. a day all finished next week......am in soooo much pain....No more rhymys for me, back to GP on Jan. 2nd, starting allllll over again...so fed up, makes u depressed, hopeless, but damn it all I am not going to let it get me DOWN again, if I have to crawl....there must be some help somewhere in the medical field, I pray to St. Jude and he is for "desperate cases"......I just never want to feel so inadequate, stupid, ignorant and shocked as I was at my last rhumy visit......advised to go to CHIROPRACTOR.....well that may be the answer and I am willing to try only on my GP's advice.. I suggest those rhumatologists who are so unwilling to help go on some training courses on how to be human and how to deal with humans in pain..........Amen for now (wow what felt good),,,,my prayers for all of us pain.......................rose
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Rose
I pray that you will find some relief soon. Do you have a choice of rheumy? Can you get a second opinion? I have heard that you can have a low sed rate and still have PMR. My highest sed rate has only been 35 recently. It was on 27 at diagnosis. I would not recommend a chiropractor unless your doctor is confident in their ability. My husband has had nearly 4 months' treatment at an extortionate cost only to go back to the doctor today as he is in worse agony than before the treatment started.
No-one should be in pain they cannot handle. There are meds out there to suit and lots of different ones to try. I am on a cocktail of prednisolone, lodine (a NSAID), dosulepin (a low dose antidepressant which alleviates nerve pain) and dihydrocodiene. I just tick along OK but it has taken a long time to get to the stage where I have got a diagnosis and I am managing the pain (on good days).
I hope your doctor on 2nd January has something positive for you. Insist on a second opinion, which is within your rights, I believe. Here in the UK we are stuck with the rheumy that is in our region. If you live in a rural area like I do the hospital may not have many specialists like city hospitals and we cannot go out of our Trust area due to NHS funding issues.
I will keep you in my prayers and hope that tomorrow will be easier for you.
God Bless
Judi
| thanks Judi, prayers needed as I am so discouraged but with the help of the good Lord and his "helpers" things will brighten....will get back to you after the 2nd,,,,,God Bless & nbsp; rose |
Carol
I've found that taking chromium picolinate helps with the insulin efficiency when on prednisolone. I've been taking it for a few days now and I'm beginning to see the benefit as my vision is not so blurry. My diabetic husband is going to try it but as he is so well regulated that his average Hb1c is 6, that it might cause him to have more hypos - we shall see!
Love Judi
Rose
I am so sorry you are having trouble. Can you get second opinions?
I was able to fire my (incompetent, arrogant and WRONG) rheumy and found one that knows her stuff.
Ask your doctor why they are stopping prednisone if it provides relief. If you don't understand their answer, keep asking. Make them justify it. Not just say because they said so. See my comments about the above previous rheumy.
And can men get this stuff? Of course. It's just that generally there are more women affected.
Rose - where in Canada are you? Would it be possible for you to scrape up the money to see the Rheumy of your choice in the US? If you are near Vancouver, I can recommend an excellent one near Seattle. I know that is not optimal, but neither is being in pain.