Do any of you have a family history of arthritic processes? I keep asking my doctor about a possible connection but he is non-commital. My poor father had such severe rheumatoid and gouty arthritis that he was photographed for medical journals. He had tophies everywhere the size of tangerines and spent most of his life suffering terribly. They tried alot of experimental treatments with him, but to no avail. Twenty years ago I had severe pain in my writsts and the doctor at that time thought it was rheumatoid. I remember my ANA was positive and a "speckled pattern" indicitve of one of many possible collagen vascular diseases. No one ever figured it out, though, and now I have a negative ANA. My rheumatoid factor is 6, which my doctor tells me is negative. Maybe we can come up with some sort of connecting factors to this crazy affliction.
Also, is there a time of day that anyone notices the steroids wearing off? I have found that if I take my dose in the early evening, I can get through an entire work day with pretty fair functioning. The down side to this is the evenings. By early evening I stiffen up like a painful statue. Time released steroids would be good. Does this Vicon medication for pain also have an anti-inflammatory effect? It sounds like a good medicine to fill the gaps with.
Thank you all again and again. I am forever grateful for all of you being there. I have a wonderful and kind family, but as yet, have met no one anywhere, except for you guys, who share this ailment. It is so comforting to talk to you all. I wish you all a wonderful and pain- free day! Susan M.
Susan,Hi, Susan -
I read that it was recommended to take the prednisone in the a.m. to mimic the body's own rhythm, so that's what I do. I take it when I first get up with half a banana and a glass of skim milk, then usually go out to the barn to feed the horses, take the dog for a walk, then come back to the house for my morning coffee and breakfast, and to get ready for work. I also read that you develop less of a dependency (keep your adrenals working to some extent) if you take one dose a day, rather than taking some in the a.m. and some in the p.m. At first, that's what I did. When I was at 15 mg, I took 10 in the a.m. and 5 in the p.m. Worked fine, but when I started reducing, the p.m. dose was the first to go.
I'm sometimes stiffer in the morning, sometimes much the same all day, depends on the day.
Morning Folks, Susan, that's so sad about your father. My dad had gout really bad which incapacitated him from time to time.
Right now, I'm not doing well. Takes till about 11:00 to loosen up as much as I'm going to for the day. Then about 3, I start to stiffen up again. I have always done much better, but am having a bad time now with the low 5 and 6 mg dosages. I do not want to go back to a higher dosage, so I'm giving my body every chance to catch up.
Have a great day everyone. It's gorgeous here in east Texas.
I found this site when I was first diagnosed with PMR. It mentioned that it might be inherited.
http://www.medic8.com/healthguide/articles/polymyalgiarheuma tica.html
Boy Ruth wish I could go out and feed the horses in beautiful British Columia.