Was I properly diagnosed with PMR?

Hello @tennis1234567, Welcome to Connect, an online community where patients share their experiences, find support and exchange information with others. My PMR is currently in remission but I was prescribed 20mg prednisone for both occurrences and it took care of the pain but was difficult to taper off due to some pain returning during the taping off process -- 3-1/2 years to taper off the first time, 1-1/2 years to taper off the second time. My thoughts as a patient are each of us are different when it comes to pain and tolerance and this is generally a disease that affects adults 50 or older. When it comes to diagnosing PMR, a rheumatologist is the best type of doctor to see.

"There's no specific test to diagnose polymyalgia rheumatica. Your doctor will make a diagnosis after listening to you talk about the history of your symptoms and by carrying out a physical examination. You'll also have blood tests to check for any inflammation in your body, and to rule out other conditions." -- Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) | Causes, symptoms, treatments: https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/conditions/polymyalgia-rheumatica-pmr/

If you still have some pain and you are on 40mg prednisone, you may want to ask your doctor or rheumatologist if there is something else going on. Have you discussed your thoughts with your doctor or thought about getting a second opinion?

Thank you John for your reply. I didn't give the entire story. I started at 40mgs then retested after 2 weeks and my sed rate dropped to 6 on a scale where less than 10 is good. They had me drop to 30mgs and again tested after 2 weeks and it went up to 9 but they dropped me again to 20mgs. As I have AFIB also, I contacted my doctor as my AFIB was going out of control we decided to drop down to 5mgs. It too me about 2 weeks to get to 5mgs and of course the pain came back with a vengeance and my sed rate went up to 24. By the way before I started taking Prednisone my Sed rate was 18. So now I am at 5mgs, I have a fair amount of pain in my hips and lower back sometimes but my pain is not like everyone else. My pain starts after I start moving around verses right away from getting up in the morning or sitting for a period of time. Also, my pain pretty much goes away when I sit down or lay down so I am really wondering if I have PMR. I did get an MRI of my back and although I do have some stenosis, scoliosis, and arthritis the Doctor did not feel it was the cause of my symptoms. I do have an appointment with a rheumatologist but is is not until October 7. Any other thoughts would be appreciated as I really don't know what to do as increasing Prednisone would probably make me feel better but it is masking something else. Thanks!

Thank you John for your reply. I didn't give the entire story. I started at 40mgs then retested after 2 weeks and my sed rate dropped to 6 on a scale where less than 10 is good. They had me drop to 30mgs and again tested after 2 weeks and it went up to 9 but they dropped me again to 20mgs. As I have AFIB also, I contacted my doctor as my AFIB was going out of control we decided to drop down to 5mgs. It too me about 2 weeks to get to 5mgs and of course the pain came back with a vengeance and my sed rate went up to 24. By the way before I started taking Prednisone my Sed rate was 18. So now I am at 5mgs, I have a fair amount of pain in my hips and lower back sometimes but my pain is not like everyone else. My pain starts after I start moving around verses right away from getting up in the morning or sitting for a period of time. Also, my pain pretty much goes away when I sit down or lay down so I am really wondering if I have PMR. I did get an MRI of my back and although I do have some stenosis, scoliosis, and arthritis the Doctor did not feel it was the cause of my symptoms. I do have an appointment with a rheumatologist but is is not until October 7. Any other thoughts would be appreciated as I really don't know what to do as increasing Prednisone would probably make me feel better but it is masking something else. Thanks!

Thank you John for your reply. I didn't give the entire story. I started at 40mgs then retested after 2 weeks and my sed rate dropped to 6 on a scale where less than 10 is good. They had me drop to 30mgs and again tested after 2 weeks and it went up to 9 but they dropped me again to 20mgs. As I have AFIB also, I contacted my doctor as my AFIB was going out of control we decided to drop down to 5mgs. It too me about 2 weeks to get to 5mgs and of course the pain came back with a vengeance and my sed rate went up to 24. By the way before I started taking Prednisone my Sed rate was 18. So now I am at 5mgs, I have a fair amount of pain in my hips and lower back sometimes but my pain is not like everyone else. My pain starts after I start moving around verses right away from getting up in the morning or sitting for a period of time. Also, my pain pretty much goes away when I sit down or lay down so I am really wondering if I have PMR. I did get an MRI of my back and although I do have some stenosis, scoliosis, and arthritis the Doctor did not feel it was the cause of my symptoms. I do have an appointment with a rheumatologist but is is not until October 7. Any other thoughts would be appreciated as I really don't know what to do as increasing Prednisone would probably make me feel better but it is masking something else. Thanks!

Hi tennis1234567, It's too bad you have to wait do long to see the Rheumatologist. I can communicate with mine via email in between appointments. Is that possible for you? A medical textbook I have says both PMR and GCA should respond dramatically to proper dosages of prednisone and if they don't, physician should pursue other diagnosis as infection, connective tissue disorder, malignancy, hypothyroidism. Terrible morning stiffness and pain is a classic PMR symptom. In my case, it persisted through movement and lasted most of the day. At night I felt a little better. Keep a record of your symptoms with dates so you have it to give the doctor. My aunt had GCA and was on high dosage of prednisone. It masked an abscess she had in her gastrointestinal tract, which was not discovered until very late in her treatment. Good luck.