How does Kevzara help with PMR symptoms and pain? I am being weaned

@stonewheel

It helped me to separate what PMR was doing to me from what Prednisone was doing to me. I'm not sure what all PMR did to me except it caused me to have a lot of pain. From what I have read about PMR it isn't known to cause too much damage. PMR isn't supposed to last very long so I can't explain why my rheumatologist thought I had PMR for 12 years. I was more convinced that I still had PMR when Actemra worked so well for me. My rheumatologist still thinks I have PMR combined with a "full range" of other rheumatology problems. There isn't that much that is known about PMR alone except that it is very painful.

The effects of prednisone on the other hand have been well studied and the side effects have been known about for years. It was helpful to me when I decided that daily Prednisone was putting my body in a constant "fight or flight" response. The following is what artificial intelligence says about the body's fight or flight response.
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"Key Physiological Changes:
Heart & Lungs: Heart rate and blood pressure rise to pump blood faster, while breathing quickens to maximize oxygen intake.
Muscles: Muscles tense up, becoming prepared to react, fight, or flee, which can lead to trembling or shaking.
Energy Surge: The body releases glucose and cortisol, providing a burst of energy to deal with the threat.
Senses: Vision sharpens, and pupils dilate to allow more light in, leading to heightened alertness.
Suppressed Functions: Digestion shuts down, often causing "butterflies," nausea, or a dry mouth.

Signs of Fight or Flight:
Physical: Racing heart, sweating, shaking, shallow breathing, cold/clammy skin, and dilated pupils.
Behavioral: Impatience, anger, irritability, or panic, often accompanied by a feeling of being trapped or a sudden need to move.

Long-Term Impact: If constantly active, it can lead to exhaustion, high blood pressure, weakened immunity, and anxiety."
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Over the many years that I took Prednisone this was exactly what happened to me. To all of the above, I need to add that the blood clotting mechanism is enhanced in case we are injured during the emergency we face. The fight or flight response decreases the chance of bleeding to death in case we get injured.

@kjoed53 I'm not limiting my outcomes on a 0% or 100%. I am limiting my chances of getting something to that. Either you have it or you don't. Once you have it the outcome is entirely different. Outcomes are based on treatments, compliance and something I will call grace. To me grace is a compound component of willpower, belief system, support and body self healing. I primarily measure outcomes based on satisfaction of the patient.

@jabrown0407
My first degree was statistics with an interest in human medicine. I was "disenchanted" with statistics because I thought numbers contained the answer to every question.

After I got my statistics degree it occurred to me that I didn't know anything about human medicine. A nursing degree helped me gain some knowledge about the medical world. Nursing also provided me with "job security" because I didn't know what good I could do in the statistical world.

My career was one of going back and forth between the analytical side of medical research and the "real world" side of bedside nursing. Some people said I was conflicted about the analytical world of medical research and the real world of nursing. I described myself as analytical with a compassionate streak. I gravitated more to nursing which was where I learned the most.

It was difficult and nearly impossible to apply research data to the complexity of individual patient situations.

@stonewheel
My younger sister had PMR several years ago and she wouldn't take any prednisone, instead opting for 12 ibuprofen a day and trying to tough it out. It took a few years. I'm not sure why she thought 12 ibuprofen a day was better for her than prednisone, but that was her choice. I'm not supposed to take ibuprofen with my other meds, but I was taking 2 at bedtime before I was diagnosed and it did very little for me. I'll take the prednisone with all it's side effects for now. I've been pushing myself to do more and not just sit around waiting for it to go away. It might not help the physical aspect, but it keeps my mind occupied and I think that's a big part of coping.

@kjoed53 do what you feel you can do. I exercise daily and physically move a lot. I push myself (within reason) because I believe that if I can more rapidly get fresh blood (oxygenated and medicated) to every cell in my body, then every cell, tissue, organ and system will recover, heal, and regenerate, if necessary, better and faster. Along with that is 8 hours of sleep, starting before midnight, because that is when our bodies heal.
Best wishes.
Randy

@kjoed53

Stay patient until you can determine whether or not the medication works. It might take 3 months or longer to know if Kevzara works or not. It might be anywhere between 0% and 100% effective.😀

I was diagnosed with PMR about 17 years ago. I took prednisone for 13 out of those 17 years. My rheumatologist wanted me to try a biologic similar to Kevzara. My rheumatologist didn't want me to take prednisone for the rest of my life and described the biologic as my "best chance" of ever getting off prednisone.

The biologic came with "no guarantee" that it would work. My rheumatologist just felt it was "worth a try" and I wouldn't know if it would work unless I tried it.

The biologic offered to me was called Actemra. It shares the same classification as Kevzara. Both medications are IL-6 receptor blockers, IL-6 is the pro-inflammation cytokine implicated in both PMR and GCA. When IL-6 levels are too high we have too much of the inflammation that results in PMR and/or GCA.

Both Actemra and Kevzara are large molecules that attach to IL-6 receptor sites in cells instead of the IL-6 cytokine. Somehow that allows inflammation to decrease and we feel less pain. Nobody knows precisely how these medications work. Both Actemra and Kevzara should work in the same way. They don't work immediately like prednisone does but after 3 months or so you should start to feel the difference.

Actema is FDA approved for GCA.

Kezvara was recently FDA approved for PMR

Both biologics were approved for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis about 10 years ago but have since been approved to treat other types of autoimmune conditions.

Actemra worked for me. I was off prednisone a year after it was started. Technically, I still have PMR without the pain that PMR caused and the side effects that prednisone caused.

My rheumatologist thinks I'm better off being on Actemra instead of prednisone. I agree with my rheumatologist because I feel much better now than I ever did when I took prednisone for years and years.

I don't have any personal experience with Kevzara but it should work the same way that Actemra works.
https://www.actemra.com/gca/considerations/how-it-works.html.
I personally haven't had any serious side effects from Actemra. There are potential side effects. I think the side effect profile for both Kevzara and Actemra are similar.

My rheumatologist would say the risk of side effects from Actemra is less than the side effects from long term prednisone use. However, he also said that if I only needed a relatively small dose of prednisone for a relatively short period of time then prednisone might be better.

@dadcue What side effects did you experience?

@stonewheel
I haven't had 8 hours sleep in almost two weeks. I fall asleep quickly but I wake up during the night and have a hard time getting back to sleep. That's been the pattern since I've been on prednisone. I'm retired and my wife is still working, so I stay busy with the chores without overdoing it. We also have a 6 year old so she keeps me moving too.