I have not yet officially been diagnosed with polymyalgia rheumatica but will see a rheumatologist at the Mayo Clinic - Rochester upon referral on August 18th. My journey thus far is as follows: On February 27, 20320 I underwent a bilateral mastectomy for Ductal carcinoma in situ with clean lymph nodes. Mid-March I was seen by a medical oncologist who prescribed Anastrozole. He pointed out two things: that I would be taking this medication for 5 years and that one of the side effects is shoulder pain. I took the medication for 2 months and shoulder pain developed to the point that I could not raise my arms and had difficulty rising from a sitting position. I contacted the cancer center, learned that the prescribing oncologist was no longer there and was told that this medication SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN PRESCRIBED SINCE IT IS USED TO HELP PREVENT THE RECURRENCE OF CANCER IN BREAST TISSUE. The thing is, I have no breast tissue. I was told to stop the medication cold turkey which I did. The symptoms worsened, I was seen at urgent care and told that I was probably having side effects from medication withdrawal, went again because the symptoms were even worse and then was told that PMR was probably what I was dealing with. Prednisone at 10 mg, was prescribed (which helped) and I was referred.

About 3 months have now passed and I am dealing with the symptoms I am reading about and use a walking stick because my balance is poor
and my legs are weak. My questions are has anyone else experienced a PMR "trigger" due to a particular medication and what might I expect at my first visit.

Thank you.....

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