Hi john, thanks for reaching out to me. Yes, I was diagnosed officially this past November. I woke up one morning in October with this extreme pain in my lower back on both sides. I thought I was having sciatica issues like before but the pain was unfamiliar. This went on for a few weeks with the pain expanding to my shoulders, knees. Etc. I finally went to my primary for blood work. Weirdly for me, my panels were all negative for rheumatoid and other matters. My test result were fine, but, because my complaints were so familiar to my doctor, she pre diagnosed me with PMR and sent me to an RA specialist. My first visit with the RA was just a consult. She was hesitant to label my problem as PMR because I was too young as she said and don’t fit any of the demographics. See, I’m a 51 year old African American woman whose otherwise super healthy. They wanted me to take prednisone but I refused to do so until she officially diagnosed me. While waiting for my next appointment and results of additional blood work, I began to do more research on PMR and steroids and didn’t like what I saw. I don’t like the fact of getting my body conditioned to a drug like that. I have anxiety issues with steroids and just know it will require additional drugs and so forth. Anyway, I decided not to take the drugs and try other things for now. I have found that THC and CBD helps me a lot. I live in California where it’s legal so I’m able to try it without fear. I just wanted to connect with people like me because I don’t think outsiders truly understand. Not sure how long I will last without drugs but I’m willing to see. It’s super weird that I have it in the first place.
Thanks for listening.