PMR savvy doctors in Portland Oregon

Posted by saeternes @saeternes, Nov 10 6:15pm

I moved here from Eugene and am currently seeing a rheumatologist at Providence on NE Hoyt St. Although I was diagnosed with PRM in 2008, have never been able to get off prednisone, and constantly feel pain, she is asking me to taper (my earlier rheumie told me that my constant efforts to taper were doing me more harm than good and put me on daily 5mg, which makes the pain barely manageable), and told me that "there is no evidence you have pmr." She wants to see results in the blood tests before she will continue prednisone. I'm ready to find another rheumatologist and wondered if anyone could make a recommendation. Thank you.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) Support Group.

jfannarbor | @jfannarbor | Dec 2 2:16pm

He never said why, but I have to respect a 55 yo rheumatologist who spent an hour and 40 minutes one on one doing the most complete physical exam I have ever had. He was trying to rule out fibromyalgia, various types of arthritis and considered my history of early onset PMR. One of the things that took so long was his measuring the amount of rotation I had in every possible joint and checking pain at various pressure points which is done when trying to dx fibromyalgia.

DadCue | @dadcue | Dec 2 11:59pm

In reply to @glinda47 "Why did he not think you had PMR? And have you since been diagnosed with it..." + (show)

PMR is not supposed to last 30 years. It is only supposed to last 1 to 5 years at most for the vast majority of people. There are exceptions and it does last longer or at least people take Prednisone for longer than 5 years.

I started wondering if I still had PMR after 10 years but my rheumatologist said I did. My rheumatologist also said that I was "too young" and "too healthy" to take Prednisone for the rest of my life. Fortunately we found an alternative to prednisone that seems to work well.