New Diagnosis of Polymyalgia Rheumatica (Husband)

Posted by Dee @danielad, Aug 8, 2018

Hello Justin and all!

I am new in this group and would appreciate your advices on the subject of Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR). My husband, John has FINALLY been diagnosed with this disease last week. I did research every respectable website and found a number of articles and past studies as well. Now I need "human interaction"; people who may have PMR and would like to discuss their experiences. I believe that will help us a great deal!

This is John's story: He is 76 and has Peripheral Neuropathy of the extremities -- Feet, legs up to the knees, and at a lesser level, hands and forearms. The cause was first thought to be "Charcot-Marie-Tooth, type 2A" (CMT2A), an hereditary neuropathy. Now (nearly 20 yrs later), they are not too sure. He has no neuropathic pain, but a severe loss of sensory perception. In spite of that, he has learned to walk and drive by "feeling" via the muscles in the thigh and his knees.

In any event, I believe this Neuropathy is an aggravating factor because, as I mentioned, John has a loss of sensory perception and he is unable to pinpoint the issues on the parts affected by the Neuropathy. So, when PMR started to interfere with his ability to walk and drive, he says he feels "weak and unsteady". Before starting on 20mg of Prednisone, last week, there were days when he was totally unable to walk; however, he doesn't know "what" is not working -- The muscles in the lower/upper legs? Knees? Feet? It certainly isn't easy!

His Sed rate is 36 and C-reactive Protein is 55.3. If these values don't go down, the Rheumatologist said she will need to increase the Prednisone.

Speaking of Prednisone -- It was a "MIRACLE" medicine (20mg per day) at first! ALL symptoms went away within 2 hrs of taking the first dose! But on the 3rd day, the pain, weakness, and unsteadiness started to come back every now and then. We are at the 6th day since the diagnosis and since John started on Prednisone. What do you think of that?

Thank you for "reading" this long post. I promise to keep the future ones much shorter! And thank you in advance for any feedback, advice, or information you may want to send my way!

Hugs to all!

D.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) Support Group.

@danielad

Hello all!

My husband John received the diagnosis of Polymyalgia Rheurmatica last week. I researched every respectable website and found a number of articles and past studies as well. Now I need "human interaction"; people who may have PMR and would like to discuss their experiences. I believe that will help us a great deal!

This is John's story: He is 76 and has Peripheral Neuropathy of the extremities — Feet, legs up to the knees, and at a lesser level, hands and forearms. The cause was first thought to be "Charcot-Marie-Tooth, type 2A" (CMT2A), an hereditary neuropathy. Now (nearly 20 yrs later), they are not too sure. He has no neuropathic pain, but a severe loss of periphery sensory perception. In spite of that, he has learned to walk and drive by "feeling" via the muscles in the thigh and his knees.

I believe this Neuropathy is an aggravating factor because, as I mentioned, John has a loss of sensory perception and he is unable to pinpoint the issues on/in the parts affected by the Neuropathy. So, when PMR started to interfere with his ability to walk and drive, he became very "weak and unsteady". Before starting on 20mg of Prednisone, last week, there were days when he was totally unable to walk; however, as I mentioned, he doesn't know "what" is not working -- Is it the muscles in the lower/upper legs? Knees? Feet? It certainly isn't easy!

His Sed rate is 36 and C-reactive Protein is 55.3. If these values don't go down, the Rheumatologist said she will need to increase the Prednisone.

Speaking of Prednisone — It was a "MIRACLE" medicine (20mg per day) at first! ALL symptoms went away within 2 hrs of taking the first dose! But on the 3rd day, the pain, weakness, and unsteadiness started to come back every now and then. We are at the 6th day since the diagnosis and since John started on Prednisone. What do you think of that?

Thank you for "reading" this long post. I promise to keep the future ones much shorter! And thank you in advance for any feedback, advice, or information you may want to send my way!

Hugs to all!

D.

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Daniela how is John doing ? Beryl

REPLY
@danielad

Hello all!

My husband John received the diagnosis of Polymyalgia Rheurmatica last week. I researched every respectable website and found a number of articles and past studies as well. Now I need "human interaction"; people who may have PMR and would like to discuss their experiences. I believe that will help us a great deal!

This is John's story: He is 76 and has Peripheral Neuropathy of the extremities — Feet, legs up to the knees, and at a lesser level, hands and forearms. The cause was first thought to be "Charcot-Marie-Tooth, type 2A" (CMT2A), an hereditary neuropathy. Now (nearly 20 yrs later), they are not too sure. He has no neuropathic pain, but a severe loss of periphery sensory perception. In spite of that, he has learned to walk and drive by "feeling" via the muscles in the thigh and his knees.

I believe this Neuropathy is an aggravating factor because, as I mentioned, John has a loss of sensory perception and he is unable to pinpoint the issues on/in the parts affected by the Neuropathy. So, when PMR started to interfere with his ability to walk and drive, he became very "weak and unsteady". Before starting on 20mg of Prednisone, last week, there were days when he was totally unable to walk; however, as I mentioned, he doesn't know "what" is not working -- Is it the muscles in the lower/upper legs? Knees? Feet? It certainly isn't easy!

His Sed rate is 36 and C-reactive Protein is 55.3. If these values don't go down, the Rheumatologist said she will need to increase the Prednisone.

Speaking of Prednisone — It was a "MIRACLE" medicine (20mg per day) at first! ALL symptoms went away within 2 hrs of taking the first dose! But on the 3rd day, the pain, weakness, and unsteadiness started to come back every now and then. We are at the 6th day since the diagnosis and since John started on Prednisone. What do you think of that?

Thank you for "reading" this long post. I promise to keep the future ones much shorter! And thank you in advance for any feedback, advice, or information you may want to send my way!

Hugs to all!

D.

Jump to this post

Hi Beryl,

I was just writing you and the entire thing went "PUFF" into space!!! Any idea as to how to "recover" what I was writing?

Thanks! Daniela

REPLY
@danielad

Hello all!

My husband John received the diagnosis of Polymyalgia Rheurmatica last week. I researched every respectable website and found a number of articles and past studies as well. Now I need "human interaction"; people who may have PMR and would like to discuss their experiences. I believe that will help us a great deal!

This is John's story: He is 76 and has Peripheral Neuropathy of the extremities — Feet, legs up to the knees, and at a lesser level, hands and forearms. The cause was first thought to be "Charcot-Marie-Tooth, type 2A" (CMT2A), an hereditary neuropathy. Now (nearly 20 yrs later), they are not too sure. He has no neuropathic pain, but a severe loss of periphery sensory perception. In spite of that, he has learned to walk and drive by "feeling" via the muscles in the thigh and his knees.

I believe this Neuropathy is an aggravating factor because, as I mentioned, John has a loss of sensory perception and he is unable to pinpoint the issues on/in the parts affected by the Neuropathy. So, when PMR started to interfere with his ability to walk and drive, he became very "weak and unsteady". Before starting on 20mg of Prednisone, last week, there were days when he was totally unable to walk; however, as I mentioned, he doesn't know "what" is not working -- Is it the muscles in the lower/upper legs? Knees? Feet? It certainly isn't easy!

His Sed rate is 36 and C-reactive Protein is 55.3. If these values don't go down, the Rheumatologist said she will need to increase the Prednisone.

Speaking of Prednisone — It was a "MIRACLE" medicine (20mg per day) at first! ALL symptoms went away within 2 hrs of taking the first dose! But on the 3rd day, the pain, weakness, and unsteadiness started to come back every now and then. We are at the 6th day since the diagnosis and since John started on Prednisone. What do you think of that?

Thank you for "reading" this long post. I promise to keep the future ones much shorter! And thank you in advance for any feedback, advice, or information you may want to send my way!

Hugs to all!

D.

Jump to this post

Oh how annoying , no I don't know how to get things back maybe someone else will tell us?

It was nice to her from you because I have been wondering..

One thing that occurred to me was.......I have a heat pad under the bottom sheet of my bed ....it is very comforting and helps my legs to relax ....if you think this would help John I will send you the details of the one I have as some of them are too hot and not good at all......regards Berylx

REPLY
@danielad

Hello all!

My husband John received the diagnosis of Polymyalgia Rheurmatica last week. I researched every respectable website and found a number of articles and past studies as well. Now I need "human interaction"; people who may have PMR and would like to discuss their experiences. I believe that will help us a great deal!

This is John's story: He is 76 and has Peripheral Neuropathy of the extremities — Feet, legs up to the knees, and at a lesser level, hands and forearms. The cause was first thought to be "Charcot-Marie-Tooth, type 2A" (CMT2A), an hereditary neuropathy. Now (nearly 20 yrs later), they are not too sure. He has no neuropathic pain, but a severe loss of periphery sensory perception. In spite of that, he has learned to walk and drive by "feeling" via the muscles in the thigh and his knees.

I believe this Neuropathy is an aggravating factor because, as I mentioned, John has a loss of sensory perception and he is unable to pinpoint the issues on/in the parts affected by the Neuropathy. So, when PMR started to interfere with his ability to walk and drive, he became very "weak and unsteady". Before starting on 20mg of Prednisone, last week, there were days when he was totally unable to walk; however, as I mentioned, he doesn't know "what" is not working -- Is it the muscles in the lower/upper legs? Knees? Feet? It certainly isn't easy!

His Sed rate is 36 and C-reactive Protein is 55.3. If these values don't go down, the Rheumatologist said she will need to increase the Prednisone.

Speaking of Prednisone — It was a "MIRACLE" medicine (20mg per day) at first! ALL symptoms went away within 2 hrs of taking the first dose! But on the 3rd day, the pain, weakness, and unsteadiness started to come back every now and then. We are at the 6th day since the diagnosis and since John started on Prednisone. What do you think of that?

Thank you for "reading" this long post. I promise to keep the future ones much shorter! And thank you in advance for any feedback, advice, or information you may want to send my way!

Hugs to all!

D.

Jump to this post

Argh! Hate it when that happens @danielad. I've had it happen a few times when I'm posting and type a lot of stuff then switch to another window or hit the wrong key and the information I typed is gone. Not too big of a deal if it's something short. Sometimes if I know I'm going to write a few paragraphs I will use notepad on the computer and then cut and paste from notepad into a post.

John

REPLY
@danielad

Hello all!

My husband John received the diagnosis of Polymyalgia Rheurmatica last week. I researched every respectable website and found a number of articles and past studies as well. Now I need "human interaction"; people who may have PMR and would like to discuss their experiences. I believe that will help us a great deal!

This is John's story: He is 76 and has Peripheral Neuropathy of the extremities — Feet, legs up to the knees, and at a lesser level, hands and forearms. The cause was first thought to be "Charcot-Marie-Tooth, type 2A" (CMT2A), an hereditary neuropathy. Now (nearly 20 yrs later), they are not too sure. He has no neuropathic pain, but a severe loss of periphery sensory perception. In spite of that, he has learned to walk and drive by "feeling" via the muscles in the thigh and his knees.

I believe this Neuropathy is an aggravating factor because, as I mentioned, John has a loss of sensory perception and he is unable to pinpoint the issues on/in the parts affected by the Neuropathy. So, when PMR started to interfere with his ability to walk and drive, he became very "weak and unsteady". Before starting on 20mg of Prednisone, last week, there were days when he was totally unable to walk; however, as I mentioned, he doesn't know "what" is not working -- Is it the muscles in the lower/upper legs? Knees? Feet? It certainly isn't easy!

His Sed rate is 36 and C-reactive Protein is 55.3. If these values don't go down, the Rheumatologist said she will need to increase the Prednisone.

Speaking of Prednisone — It was a "MIRACLE" medicine (20mg per day) at first! ALL symptoms went away within 2 hrs of taking the first dose! But on the 3rd day, the pain, weakness, and unsteadiness started to come back every now and then. We are at the 6th day since the diagnosis and since John started on Prednisone. What do you think of that?

Thank you for "reading" this long post. I promise to keep the future ones much shorter! And thank you in advance for any feedback, advice, or information you may want to send my way!

Hugs to all!

D.

Jump to this post

Hi Beryl - Yes, it is soooo annoying losing what you were writing! I discovered that if I am using the cellphone, as I am doing now, I can recover the "page" I was on and continue where I left off. However, I was on my laptop!

About the information on the heating pad -- Yes, please! I would welcome your information, it may help John to relax!

Thanks Beryl!
Daniela

REPLY
@danielad

Hello all!

My husband John received the diagnosis of Polymyalgia Rheurmatica last week. I researched every respectable website and found a number of articles and past studies as well. Now I need "human interaction"; people who may have PMR and would like to discuss their experiences. I believe that will help us a great deal!

This is John's story: He is 76 and has Peripheral Neuropathy of the extremities — Feet, legs up to the knees, and at a lesser level, hands and forearms. The cause was first thought to be "Charcot-Marie-Tooth, type 2A" (CMT2A), an hereditary neuropathy. Now (nearly 20 yrs later), they are not too sure. He has no neuropathic pain, but a severe loss of periphery sensory perception. In spite of that, he has learned to walk and drive by "feeling" via the muscles in the thigh and his knees.

I believe this Neuropathy is an aggravating factor because, as I mentioned, John has a loss of sensory perception and he is unable to pinpoint the issues on/in the parts affected by the Neuropathy. So, when PMR started to interfere with his ability to walk and drive, he became very "weak and unsteady". Before starting on 20mg of Prednisone, last week, there were days when he was totally unable to walk; however, as I mentioned, he doesn't know "what" is not working -- Is it the muscles in the lower/upper legs? Knees? Feet? It certainly isn't easy!

His Sed rate is 36 and C-reactive Protein is 55.3. If these values don't go down, the Rheumatologist said she will need to increase the Prednisone.

Speaking of Prednisone — It was a "MIRACLE" medicine (20mg per day) at first! ALL symptoms went away within 2 hrs of taking the first dose! But on the 3rd day, the pain, weakness, and unsteadiness started to come back every now and then. We are at the 6th day since the diagnosis and since John started on Prednisone. What do you think of that?

Thank you for "reading" this long post. I promise to keep the future ones much shorter! And thank you in advance for any feedback, advice, or information you may want to send my way!

Hugs to all!

D.

Jump to this post

Hi John -- I know, I know .... I hadn't initially planned on writing about John's lab results ... Then I did, and as soon as I finished, the entire page disappeared! What can you do? Now I know it may happen on this site!

Thanks for your suggestion! Actually, it would be much better if I wrote it in Words and Excel. This way I wouldn't lose anything and could continue to add the latest results to the Excel plot.

Thanks again John!

Daniela

REPLY

Daniela it is called .....Soft Heat.....Advanced Moist or Dry .....heating pad.....it is what they call a King size 12"x24".....it isant plastic covered as most of them seem to be but a soft material....quilted pad......there are four heat settings the first being just warm ....I usually have mine on the second setting.....it will switch off after an hour but seems to keep warm for ages.......I would imagine you will find one on the web.....good hunting and I hope it helps.....regards Berylx

REPLY
@beryl

Daniela it is called .....Soft Heat.....Advanced Moist or Dry .....heating pad.....it is what they call a King size 12"x24".....it isant plastic covered as most of them seem to be but a soft material....quilted pad......there are four heat settings the first being just warm ....I usually have mine on the second setting.....it will switch off after an hour but seems to keep warm for ages.......I would imagine you will find one on the web.....good hunting and I hope it helps.....regards Berylx

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Is this the one @beryl ? - I had one similar but it stopped working. I loved it under my feet at my computer in the winter time. I would use an old towel wrapped around it so I didn't get the pad dirty.

-- https://www.amazon.com/SoftHeat-MaxHeat-Washable-Heating-X-Large/dp/B01EOYEH0Q/ref=sr_1_6_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1534273345&sr=8-6&keywords=soft+heating+pad+with+auto+shut+off

REPLY
@danielad

Hello all!

My husband John received the diagnosis of Polymyalgia Rheurmatica last week. I researched every respectable website and found a number of articles and past studies as well. Now I need "human interaction"; people who may have PMR and would like to discuss their experiences. I believe that will help us a great deal!

This is John's story: He is 76 and has Peripheral Neuropathy of the extremities — Feet, legs up to the knees, and at a lesser level, hands and forearms. The cause was first thought to be "Charcot-Marie-Tooth, type 2A" (CMT2A), an hereditary neuropathy. Now (nearly 20 yrs later), they are not too sure. He has no neuropathic pain, but a severe loss of periphery sensory perception. In spite of that, he has learned to walk and drive by "feeling" via the muscles in the thigh and his knees.

I believe this Neuropathy is an aggravating factor because, as I mentioned, John has a loss of sensory perception and he is unable to pinpoint the issues on/in the parts affected by the Neuropathy. So, when PMR started to interfere with his ability to walk and drive, he became very "weak and unsteady". Before starting on 20mg of Prednisone, last week, there were days when he was totally unable to walk; however, as I mentioned, he doesn't know "what" is not working -- Is it the muscles in the lower/upper legs? Knees? Feet? It certainly isn't easy!

His Sed rate is 36 and C-reactive Protein is 55.3. If these values don't go down, the Rheumatologist said she will need to increase the Prednisone.

Speaking of Prednisone — It was a "MIRACLE" medicine (20mg per day) at first! ALL symptoms went away within 2 hrs of taking the first dose! But on the 3rd day, the pain, weakness, and unsteadiness started to come back every now and then. We are at the 6th day since the diagnosis and since John started on Prednisone. What do you think of that?

Thank you for "reading" this long post. I promise to keep the future ones much shorter! And thank you in advance for any feedback, advice, or information you may want to send my way!

Hugs to all!

D.

Jump to this post

I have had mine a long while so I spect it will look different .....I just don't have the max heat on mine.....looked on the box and the email is consumerrelations@kaz.com.......hope this helps Berylx

REPLY
@danielad

Hello all!

My husband John received the diagnosis of Polymyalgia Rheurmatica last week. I researched every respectable website and found a number of articles and past studies as well. Now I need "human interaction"; people who may have PMR and would like to discuss their experiences. I believe that will help us a great deal!

This is John's story: He is 76 and has Peripheral Neuropathy of the extremities — Feet, legs up to the knees, and at a lesser level, hands and forearms. The cause was first thought to be "Charcot-Marie-Tooth, type 2A" (CMT2A), an hereditary neuropathy. Now (nearly 20 yrs later), they are not too sure. He has no neuropathic pain, but a severe loss of periphery sensory perception. In spite of that, he has learned to walk and drive by "feeling" via the muscles in the thigh and his knees.

I believe this Neuropathy is an aggravating factor because, as I mentioned, John has a loss of sensory perception and he is unable to pinpoint the issues on/in the parts affected by the Neuropathy. So, when PMR started to interfere with his ability to walk and drive, he became very "weak and unsteady". Before starting on 20mg of Prednisone, last week, there were days when he was totally unable to walk; however, as I mentioned, he doesn't know "what" is not working -- Is it the muscles in the lower/upper legs? Knees? Feet? It certainly isn't easy!

His Sed rate is 36 and C-reactive Protein is 55.3. If these values don't go down, the Rheumatologist said she will need to increase the Prednisone.

Speaking of Prednisone — It was a "MIRACLE" medicine (20mg per day) at first! ALL symptoms went away within 2 hrs of taking the first dose! But on the 3rd day, the pain, weakness, and unsteadiness started to come back every now and then. We are at the 6th day since the diagnosis and since John started on Prednisone. What do you think of that?

Thank you for "reading" this long post. I promise to keep the future ones much shorter! And thank you in advance for any feedback, advice, or information you may want to send my way!

Hugs to all!

D.

Jump to this post

Thanks Beryl. I did find Kaz Heating Pad on Amazon! I will see if John wants to get it. Daniela

REPLY
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