Hello John it's Beryl......I am so sorry that you have another bout of PMR.....I hope on your behalf that it doesn't last too long.....as for me I just go on and on with this thing and it never seems to go altogether ....have an oppointment at the hospital next Monday ....I don't suppose my Doctor will change anything .....three Mgs a day .....been that way for along time now .....oh well worse trouble at sea as my Mum used to say.......keep smiling .....Beryl

Hello I’m 60, young for PMR…. But that’s not it! First diagnosed with PMR at 45… it started when I was 44. Of course all doctors said I was too young for PMR. It took 6 months of tests and excruciating pain to get the diagnoses. I have been living on and off with this disease for 15 years, and on and off prednisone (the miracle drug for PMR) for the same time frame. In fact, I just got another script for 400 pills.

I used to wait until I was in so much pain that I could not walk, or barely get out of bed, before I asked for meds. I know, after 15 years, that if I nip it in the bud early on with a low dose (5 mg or less) soon after the the pains begin, I can get it under control without having to start at a higher 20 or 15 mg dose.

What started my PMR 15 years ago???? I was in super physical condition. Running 20 miles a week and riding a bike at least 30 miles. Lifting free weights, feeling great! I got the flu vaccine and the next day I could not get out of bed. Could not walk up stairs, had to use a cane to walk into the doctors office. Docs all said that is not what caused it and that I was too young for PMR. Go see a chiropractor, a physical therapist, a masseuse. I finally saw a Rheumatologist at Kaiser that prescribed 20 mg of prednisone. The next day all my pain was gone. :). OMG. If you have PRM you know what that feeling is like!!!!!! Totally and truly gone! They still said that the flu vaccine could not have started the PMR.

So for years I believed the Kaiser docs and I continued to get flu vaccines. They push it on you. Get your flu shot! Get your shingles shot! Get you pneumonia shot!!!!

The last flu vaccine I had was in 2014…. I was feeling really good not on Prednisone and had been off it for over a year and thinking, finally… free of PMR. Then I had the shot, and went for a hike with a friend…. halfway into the hike, I could barely walk, I was out of breath, everything ached. I almost didn’t make it back to her house.

Went to Kaiser Rhumy - he said no this is not PMR… everything ached. Neck, wrists, chest, hips, pelvis, legs, knees, ankles! Blood pressure was through the roof. What the heck! No one believed me when I said it started the day I got the vaccine!

Since then, I have never had a vaccine. As I look back over the years, sometimes the vaccines hit me right away… some times it took a few months for the symptoms to slowly creep up and start the PMR. But always, it was the culprit. I think the inconsistency of the symptoms is what made me confused as to what started the relapses.

Now… something else to ponder. My younger sister has the same thing. Flu vaccine and vaccines to go to Africa, sent her into PMR. My mother bless her, no longer with us, had pain for 27 years, and could not figure out what it was. Her first pain started with flu vaccine at age 50! ( that’s when you started getting flu vaccines back in the 80's) Without ever being diagnosed or taking any prednisone, she’d get a little better during the year then she would get the flu vaccine in the Fall and it would start all over again.

Many people get PMR for various reasons. In my family vaccines (or whatever is in the cocktail) is what starts the disease.

The last flu shot I received in 2014 was the worst. I’m still trying to get it under control. I can get off the prednisone for awhile, but if I have something that causes a lot of inflammation/pain in my body for a period of time the PMR kicks in too. It seems like my adrenals cannot keep up with the cortisol that’s needed to control the inflammation in my body. I have pain in the kidney area too, mostly the left side. Adrenals are located on top of the kidney so that may be it?? Docs also thought I was crazy saying my kidneys hurt.

Since August I’ve had a lot of pain in my wrists. It’s De Quervain's Tenosynovitis and the first time I got it was with the last flu shot. And, because I’m dealing with that pain the PMR has relapsed again and I’m back on prednisone. 🙁

I’m rambling because “IT’S BAAAACK” … I haven’t posted to any board in quite a while about PMR… this thread is so new/current I just wanted to shout out!.. Watch out for vaccines!