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Better to be in some pain or better to up the dose of prednisone?
Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) | Last Active: Aug 21 12:56pm | Replies (80)Comment receiving replies
Some pain may not be PMR pain, it might be osteoarthritis pain, degenerative disk stenosis pain or other type of normal aging pain. First, is the pain bilateral? PMR pain is known to be bilateral so if it is only in say one shoulder possibly it really is not PMR pain. Next is it a totally new pain, never having had it prior to PMR? It certainly is possible that you have a new aging pain post PMR, however it could be PMR. Are your inflammatory markers elevated? If they are not, then please consider that it could be a "normal" aging pain. Discuss this with your Rheumy and/or your PCP. I noticed that once off my prednisone for PRM my osteoarthritis reminds me that I am no longer a young lady but rather an older lady!
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"Some pain may not be PMR pain, it might be osteoarthritis pain, degenerative disk stenosis pain or other type of normal aging pain."
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This is true but the pain still hurts and is not normal because of age. My rheumatologist would suggest other interventions for documented osteoarthritis, degenerative disk disease and spinal stenosis. I felt that it was easier to take Prednisone for any and all kinds of pain.
My rheumatologist had a hard time convincing me that Prednisone wasn't appropriate for all pain. I finally agreed after I did surgery to correct a few problems. Prednisone only delayed more appropriate interventions and prolonged the pain.
The neurosurgeon who did surgery for trigeminal neuralgia was skeptical about how severe my pain was. He said people who have trigeminal neuralgia usually had a list of pain medications a mile long. He wondered what pain medication I took because he didn't see any pain medications listed. I said I only took Prednisone because everything else I tried didn't work well.
After my surgery, the neurosurgeon said my problem was one of the worst cases he ever saw. The surgery took much longer than he expected. He apologized and said he did the best he could under the circumstances.
I asked the neurosurgeon if prednisone helped the pain. He understood how prednisone probably helped the swelling and inflammation in the microscopic area near my brain stem but surgery was the better option.