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Skin infections while on Prednisone
Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) | Last Active: Sep 22, 2017 | Replies (71)Comment receiving replies
John, the reason I asked that question is that my husband went through 4 Rheumatologists of which none of them diagnosed PMR. In fact, none of them diagnosed my husband with anything. The 5th Rheumatologist (the one he currently sees) diagnosed him on the first visit. The main reason I am concerned is that my husband's mother had some type of muscle disease which we do not know what it was. We have mentioned this to all the Rheumatologists he saw and none of the first four seemed interested in diagnosing him period. His current doctor seemed really anxious to diagnose him with PMR (an easy way not to have to delve or look further into symptoms perhaps). The prednisone does help him, he is on 5 mg. qd, which is not a lot. I guess the only way we will be able to find out what his mother had is to petition the court and obtain her medical records. I am so happy Mayo provides this and so many other forums. I enjoy being a part of them and enjoy all the feedback. Thanks to all who contribute!!
Replies to "John, the reason I asked that question is that my husband went through 4 Rheumatologists of..."
My husband has doctors at both Emory and Vanderbilt, who also use a team approach, and we are happy with the results. The doctors at Emory saved his life several years ago. We only use "local" doctors for primary care, but that, too, is about to be "supplemented" with a primary care doctor from Emory. My husband's CPK level is never in the normal range, although it's not extremely high. The rheumatologist is never concerned, but his dermatologist IS concerned about it. In fact, the dermatologist was the doctor that said to him, "I'm afraid there is an underlying muscle disease that is going to rear its ugly head", and referred him to his current rheumatologist. He had an MRI or CT scan and rheumatologist advised nothing out of the ordinary was seen. This, I feel, was the reason for the PMR diagnosis.......
It sounds like your husband has a good doctor team and it's good that he will also get some extra help when the primary care doctor from Emory joins the local doctor staffing. I'm sure that will bring some continuity of care from Emory into the local primary health care. It's kind of puzzling that the rheumatologist is never concerned and the dermatologist is concerned. It would be nice if you could get them to talk to each other about why the dermatologist is concerned. Thank you for sharing the story. I'm hoping they are able to get to the bottom of it if it's not just PMR.
John
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I'm not sure if it's an option for your husband but Mayo Clinic is really good at diagnosing hard to diagnose health issues. They use a team approach and have a lot of specialists and testing to get to the bottom of your health issue. If you would like to seek help from Mayo Clinic, please call one of our appointment offices. The contact information for Minnesota, Arizona and Florida can be found here:
http://mayocl.in/1mtmR63
This video might be helpful to you - What happens when you have a disease doctors can't diagnose TED talk by TED Fellow Jennifer Brea who became progressively ill with myalgic encephalomyelitis, commonly known as chronic fatigue syndrome:
https://www.ted.com/talks/jen_brea_what_happens_when_you_have_a_disease_doctors_can_t_diagnose?utm_source=tedcomshare&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tedspread
John