PMR and travel

I traveled out of the country 3 times since getting PMR - twice to extended trips to India (3 months each time) and once to the US for a month. I was tapering all three times and all three times I stalled out at 7.5 mg. It had nothing to do with travel. It just seems to be where I hit the wall with adrenal glands/PMR.
I don’t suggest restricting your travel if you love to travel.

Thank you for this information. In addition to having PMR I also have D.I.S.H. disease. I’m having difficulty balancing the two due to pain. My concern is if I have a flare up and moving around on trains and walking a fair amount. I would bring my cane and I have very good shoes.

Have had PMR since early December. On Kevzara for 3 months and have decreased prednisone to 10 per day. Some stiffness and pain neck and shoulders morning and late evening but otherwise good

Doing a 35 day trip to Europe in early fall including transatlantic cruise as long as continue to have mild symptoms and as long as blood work okay. Docs say okay and " not getting any younger ". Hope to taper prednisone more between now and September. 🤓

Tip….i split my dose between morning and evening and had less stiffness in the morning. It worked well on our European e-bike trip last fall.

7.5 AM and 2.5 PM currently. 🤓

I am new to this forum. I was diagnosed with PMR on July 29th and started on 25 mg Prednisone. I also have post herpetic neuralgia and occipital neuralgia. CRP is down to normal and today GP reduced Pred to 20mg for 1 week then 15 mg until I see Rheumatologist in November. Starting Fosamax as well.

We’re supposed to leave in 2 weeks for my retirement trip. We have planned a slow trip around southern Spain and other than the overseas flight, the travel days are short train trips. We’re mid sixties and usually active hiking, biking, walking, gym etc. We’re undecided if we should travel or cancel. Out country medical insurance won’t cover anything related to PMR but dr,, pharmacist and RMT all said they would go on the trip. Dr qualified by saying if the trip would cause too much stress then not to go. I have another appointment with her on Friday and we have til 25th to decide.

Appreciate any additional advice to that already provided in earlier comments.

I am a 69 year-old male that has been fighting PMR for almost 5 years now. I have mostly been in “ remission“ for about a year and a half. That doesn’t mean it’s gone or that I don’t still feel pain and stiffness in the morning and have bouts of fatigue every day. However, all of those are less than they were. I was off prednisone for about 20 months.

I have found traveling difficult and to cause flareups in PMR. In fact recently, I did too much in the morning didn’t get enough, rest during the day or at night due to trying to do too many activities to satisfy family and friends. As a result, I had a hard flareup and had to go back on 20 mg of prednisone for five days which I’m in the middle of. It has absolutely well the symptoms. The big question now is once I go off in a few days which will return remission or the flare up?

My advice to you about traveling followers:
Try not to sit too long without getting up and moving at least once an hour,
Try to manage your schedule so you don’t have to do too much in the morning,
Try not to get too far off your normal schedule of sleep and rest,
Drink plenty of water,
Bring a portable fan with you in case buses, plains, trains or a hotel rooms are stuffy or have poor air circulation.
Keep moving, but not too much,
Try to maintain a healthy diet of plenty of protein, especially in the morning and not too much in the way of carbohydrates.

Good luck on your trip.

I was diagnosed with PMR two years ago. Started on 20 mg and finally I am down to 2 1/2 mg. I was very active before I developed this awful disease. We went to Scotland last May. My advice is to go on your trip and enjoy it. Take extra prednisone in case you need to up it due to pain. I talked to my dr and had upped my dosage before I left so I would be pretty much pain free to enjoy my trip. Then when I got home I started tapering again. Life is short. Take the trip and have fun.

I had planned a trip to Germany for several months. to visit my son, who lives there. I've been tapering prednisone from starting point of 50 mg for the past year, since my diagnosis in Aug 2024. I just turned 78 years old. I was doing okay with the tapering until I got down to 7 mg, and then started having pain in my hands and wrists, and then my shoulders. I was very concerned about the trip, so I called my rheumatologist and told him the problem, and he said to go back to 10 mg while I was on the trip, and then start tapering again once I got back. I just returned 3 days ago, and had a delightful time, sightseeing, shopping, etc. Almost no pain at all. But since I was with family, I had the advantage of being able to tell them when I needed to rest, so was able to manage my energy levels effectively. I hope you do take your trip, carefully prioritizing your activities, and I wish you God's blessings!

Great summary how to travel……I have been successful with same plan. Go everyone gooooo