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← Return to PMR Flair up From a Virus?
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Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) | Last Active: Nov 22 6:54am | Replies (60)
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This appeared to happen with my dad. He had an unspecified respiratory infection that required antibiotics and now it’s 5 weeks later, and his rheumatologist suspects a PMR flare. He was currently at 5 mg prednisone, and she increased him to 6 mg.
It doesn’t seem too out of the ordinary for this to happen because viral infections are known to trigger immune or autoimmune conditions, even if we don’t quite know how or why this happens?
Replies to "This appeared to happen with my dad. He had an unspecified respiratory infection that required antibiotics..."
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An autoimmune disorder that I am diagnosed with is called "reactive arthritis." The name is derived from a "reaction to an infection." Whenever I have certain types of infections, the "flare reaction" happens. A viral infection can cause a flare of reactive arthritis but it seems to depend on the type of virus.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/reactive-arthritis/symptoms-causes/syc-20354838
Sometimes I'm prescribed antibiotics with the hope that the antibiotic will help my pain. I can't say antibiotics ever helped but prednisone would stop the pain. Reactive arthritis responds to prednisone the same way PMR responds to prednisone. However, reactive arthritis isn't usually treated with long term prednisone.
I was told when I was first diagnosed that flares of reactive arthritis could happen in the following ways:
#1 It might only happen once and go away completely.
#2 It could start recurring.
#3 It could become chronic
From my experience with reactive arthritis ... It did all three.
Reactive arthritis is usually diagnosed at a younger age than PMR. Unfortunately, being diagnosed with reactive arthritis doesn't exempt you from being diagnosed with PMR when you are older.