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What is the goal when first diagnosed with PMR?

Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) | Last Active: May 25, 2022 | Replies (18)
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@johnbishop

Hi @sloped483, In my non medical opinion based on my 2 occurrences of PMR, the goal when diagnosed is to treat the PMR "pain" with prednisone or whatever medication is being used and taper off as soon as the pain is no longer an issue when you are off of the medication. The CRP and ESR are just indicators and do not necessarily mean you can't taper off of the drugs (just my opinion) but it would be a good question for your rheumatologist. Here are a couple of references on the topic:

-- Polymyalgia rheumatica with normal values of both erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein concentration at the time of diagnosis: a four-point guidance: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5911650/
-- Polymyalgia rheumatica with normal values of both erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein concentration at the time of diagnosis: https://academic.oup.com/rheumatology/article/58/5/921/5285558

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Replies to "Hi @sloped483, In my non medical opinion based on my 2 occurrences of PMR, the goal..."
sloped483 | @sloped483 | May 21, 2022

Thanks for the reply.

My CRP and ESR were both high at time of diagnosis along with crippling aches and pains where I had extreme difficulty walking, moving my arms and neck, and blew up my elbow where I have osteoarthritis. But it seems my inflammatory markers are fluctuating and am not sure if this is normal.

So I guess the goal is to be pain free irrespective of CRP and ESR levels? Yes, no?

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