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I have PMR and I am doing pretty good. I started Methylprednisolone in early December at 16mg/day (4 mg of Methypred = 5 mg prednisone). After 30 days my dose tappered to 12mg Methylpred. It is now about 3 weeks since I am on the lower dose and I am still doing pretty good but when I wake up in the AM, I can feel PMR symptoms, mostly in the upper arms, shoulders & neck. The symptoms go away completely within a couple of hours.
I have a trip booked for Switzerland on May 28th. I buy travel insurance but it will not cover PMR if I have a problem before or on this trip. PMR is now a pre-existing condition for me. My full payment is due Feb 27th. I cancelled a trip I planned last December because that is when the PMR developed. I received a full refund. That would not be the case if I get any bad surprises like GCA before or during my May trip to Switzerland. Has anybody travelled while medicating for PMR?
Replies to "I have PMR and I am doing pretty good. I started Methylprednisolone in early December at..."
Hello @aisp3b,
I combined your discussion with an existing discussion of the same title:
"Traveling with PMR"
- https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/traveling-with-pmr/
Here you will meet members @dadcue, @kmb181, @johnbishop and @kmeikle1 who may be able to share their more recent travel experiences with you.
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"Has anybody travelled while medicating for PMR?"
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Yes ... I took a trip to Europe but I took along plenty of extra prednisone. It was my excuse to take more prednisone and my rheumatologist agreed. I was a bit melodramatic and told my rheumatologist that they would have to carry me off the plane. I was convinced that I would be very stiff and in excruciating pain after the 8 hour flight to Europe.
I don't know if PMR was the problem or adrenal insufficiency. I find trips of this nature to be very stressful. I took extra prednisone and did fine on my trip.
I'm doing a month long trip away from home right now. Technically I still have PMR except it isn't treated with prednisone anymore. My rheumatologist writes a prescription for prednisone as needed when I do these trips in January. I go somewhere warm which has some benefits for me.