PMR appears in people with Commonalities, by chance?

I am very certain my PMR was triggered by the first shot of the Shingrix vaccine. I am not an anti vaxxer but not all vaccines are equal. 5 days after it the pain descended upon me w a vengeance. 2 of my 3 Drs sheepishly concurred. To have had my life totally upended by something that people kept telling me I really should get is beyond ironic. It makes perfect sense that my immune system overreacted. I just want to find the balance again but in the meantime I got Lyme that went misdiagnosed for 9 months, Covid w hair loss and fell and fractured both feet ( my bone density is fine and I healed well) WTF was this year about?? Lol I’m starting DNA testing and will let you know if it unlocks any keys to healing. I’m grateful for prednisone but enough is enough!

I'm a retired highway patrol sergeant, 27 years of service. I have never smoked anything, but did drink alcohol on a regular basis. Three years ago we decided to move from one state to another. Escrow fell out twice and on the second time we were notified after our moving truck had just left with all of our belongings. After a stressful career and an even more stressful move I attribute my PMR to stress. I have been retired for 10 years, but still seem to find stress quite frequently.

I smoked cigarettes for 10 years when I was young. I also experimented with drugs and alcohol, since I came of age during the late 60s and early 70s. Eventually I stopped the bad habits and got into running. After some time I became a national class runner for a few years. I trained so hard at times that I couldn't sleep at night from the cortisol left over from my workout that day.

An additional possibility in my case is that I had a lot of trauma as a child. I've read that childhood trauma is associated with the later development of autoimmune disease. It makes sense to me. Trauma can rewire a child's brain, and cause the nervous system to become hypervigilant. If the nervous system is overly active, it seems reasonable that the immune system is also overly active.

I have gone silent for several weeks/months because I have had other priorities. This post made me post again - without question lifestyle choices will forever influence our challenges. This is not up for debate as much as it is a fact. Twenty years ago I was Dx with breast cancer and this became real to me. We are the result of what we expose our bodies to - eat, inhale, inject, absorb, etc. Emotional health is known to be reflected in our immune system. What is in the air we breath is reflected in the reactions our body has, simple case is seasonal allergies. Our bodies are a series of very complex subsystems that need certain things and are challenged by other things.

When I was first diagnosed with breast cancer 20 years ago I went on an all-out search for lifestyle changes I could make to reduce my chances of a recurrence. I discovered that food additives were biggies as were non-GMO, but so were environmental chemical both inside buildings and in the open air. I decided that if I wanted to maximize my lifestyle changes, I was going to need to move to an uninhibited isolated island and learn to live so far off the grid it was laughable.

Every decision we make to any form of bodily abuse will incur consequences. Over exercise is abuse but so is under exercise. Same can be said for eating, sleeping, and even life experiences. Living is a tradeoff of cost, benefits and risks. I refer to this as looking for the Goldilocks zone. I learned this at 50ish. Balance is key with keeping both long- and short-term goals in mind. No one promised us simple.

My PMR journey has been 6 years and I am still struggling to find the magic bullet to quell my "PMR" pains. I divide my life into two categories, pre-PMR and post-PMR because PMR has been that dramatic of a life changing challenge for sure.

I have some gut issues now, and I've had worse ones in the past. I don't know if they contributed to my GCA and PMR. I've had hypothyroidism for about 20 years. About 10 years ago, I developed SIBO, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. I think it developed due to low stomach acid caused by the hypothyroidism and also age. I was pretty miserable for a while. I never got medical treatment for it. I found the FODMAP information online, and used food elimination to eventually cure the SIBO. I still have IBS left over from that time. I can control it pretty well with diet.

PMR and GCA are probably due to different events that accumulate over time, and something eventually tips us over into sickness.

My flare came after a flu and a Covid shot (2 weeks apart). Could be that. But then again, I had a colonoscopy in that time period too. I’m a healthy critter all in all but I believe that was felt as an onslaught to my immune system. Too much in too short a time. Plus I was overworking myself, stressed and tired. Now I’m a year older and my arthritis is kicking in! I tell ya. We’re lucky, though. We’re alive. We have access to medicine that brings immediate relief. We don’t have a fatal disease to contend with. And I don’t know about you but I am mobile. I’m counting my blessings. PS Sorry you’ve been through the wringer! Heck of a thing.

The one “commonality” you are all experiencing may be because, if you are over the age of 60, all doctors prescribe STATINS like they are candy for the aged.
I firmly believe statins directly cause PMR.

I just watched Mel Robbins interview Dr. Gabor Maté talk about trauma & our bodies.
It was interesting on Utube. It was recommended by my therapist! I always take things w/a grain of salt but still I found it compelling.