I am on ACTEMRA for my giant Cell Arteritis but it seems like my PMR ?

Nobody ever knows how a medication might affect them. There is no way to "establish all the lasting effects" from any medication. There are only lists of "possible side effects."

Just because something is listed as a possible side effect doesn't mean everyone will have the side effect.

Just because a side effect is NOT listed as a possible side effect, doesn't mean a person won't have that side effect.

You are right and it all comes down to listening to your body. You know pretty quickly when something is OK or not.

I was listening to my body when prednisone was started. I knew almost immediately that something wasn't okay. My problem was that I was unable to taper off prednisone for more than 12 years.

I have now been on Actemra for more than five years. My body seems to say everything is okay.

I think it is a personal choice whether someone wishes to try a medication or not. I remember being told that prednisone was the devil I knew while Actemra was the devil I didn't know. The advice I received was to stay on prednisone.

My choice was to try Actemra anyway. For me, I now know that Actemra has been a gift from heaven for the last five years at least. I don't know what the future holds. Actemra allowed me to say goodbye to the devil I knew that was prednisone.

If going back on prednisone is the best thing for you, I want to support your decision. People say less than 5 mg of Prednisone is relatively safe.

After my experience with ACTERMA I would say stay on the Prednisone. It’s not that high a dose. ACTERMA has only been around since 2012? And I think it’s long enough to establish all the lasting side effects.

I was listening to my body when prednisone was started. I knew almost immediately that something wasn't okay. My problem was that I was unable to taper off prednisone for more than 12 years.

I have now been on Actemra for more than five years. My body seems to say everything is okay.

I think it is a personal choice whether someone wishes to try a medication or not. I remember being told that prednisone was the devil I knew while Actemra was the devil I didn't know. The advice I received was to stay on prednisone.

My choice was to try Actemra anyway. For me, I now know that Actemra has been a gift from heaven for the last five years at least. I don't know what the future holds. Actemra allowed me to say goodbye to the devil I knew that was prednisone.

If going back on prednisone is the best thing for you, I want to support your decision. People say less than 5 mg of Prednisone is relatively safe.

Your lucky. I was put on Actemra and had 2 GCA relapses. Then went to Kevzara Injections which is specifically for PMR which precipitates GCA.

I too was on actemra, had 19 infusions and also had 2 major relapses. I have gca and pmr. I decided that it wasn't worth it any more as it elevated my cholesterol and triglycerides and had fatigue. As we all no, everyone is different and what works for one doesnt for another.

I'm just on prednisone and we have slowed mybtaper to .5mg every 2 weeks once i fit 10 mg. This is where i run in to trouble both times. I'm at 8 mg but now i really have body aches and muscle soreness so i added another week at this dosage and i feel a little better. My rheumatologist has been pushing me to take methotrexate but I'm not very enthused about that. I'll be seeing him the v first week in December and I'm going to see if he will go ba long be with . 5mg every month. I don'tv know what he will think about that.. i just have to go slow my body just doesn't adjust very well i guess