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New Diagnosis of Polymyalgia Rheumatica (Husband)
Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) | Last Active: Feb 29 2:49pm | Replies (102)Comment receiving replies
I have had IBD (Crohn’s) for 14 years. It is challenging having more than one autoimmune disease. I am hoping to eventually find a drug or combination that can treat them both. I hope you get good info from the consultant.
Replies to "I have had IBD (Crohn’s) for 14 years. It is challenging having more than one autoimmune..."
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I was diagnosed with reactive arthritis with recurrent uveitis at least 20 years before PMR was diagnosed. All my rheumatologist could say at the time PMR was diagnosed was that it was "unfortunate" to have more than one autoimmune disorder.
It took me 12 years to get off prednisone. I was in the 30-40 mg range for the first 5 years. I managed to stay in the 20-30 mg range during the next 5 years.
After knee replacements and a few other corrective surgeries, I managed to stay in the 10-15 mg dose range of prednisone. It wasn't until a biologic called Actemra was tried when I was able to taper off prednisone.
It took less than a year for me to taper off prednisone the first time after Actemra was tried. Unfortunately Actemra injections didn't work well for uveitis. That was when my Actemra dose was increased and ultimately changed to a monthly infusion instead of weekly injections.
Believe it or not --- Crohn's is classified in the same realm as reactive arthritis. There is a whole family of autoimmune disorders that are called spondyloarthritis. Scroll down and the following link mentions Enteropathic Arthritis (EnA) Arthritis Associated With Inflammatory Bowel Disease
https://spondylitis.org/about-spondylitis/overview-of-spondyloarthritis/?returnurl=/types-of-spondylitis
I'm not saying it is impossible to have both PMR and Crohn's because it is possible. There aren't many options besides prednisone for PMR. However, there are quite a few biologic options for Crohn's.
https://www.webmd.com/ibd-crohns-disease/crohns-disease/crohns-biologics
Please ask your rheumatologist if one of these biolgics may be appropriate for both PMR and Crohn's. Don't settle for long term prednisone for PMR and neglect the Crohn's. Prednisone may exacerbate Crohn's if it is used long term. Don't let anyone convince you long term prednisone is the best option.
Trying to remain optimistic because being both hopeful and optimistic is very important too!
Actemra (tocilizumab) blocks the IL-6 cytokine that is implicated in both PMR and Crohn's. Unfortunately, Actemra has a tendency to cause bowel perforations in people with inflammatory bowel disease.
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2023.1295230/full