Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR): Meet others & Share Your Story

Thank you for your response. I am taking two Tylenol Athritis but I am not sure it is making any difference. Last night I wrapped my wrist with something warm and felt no pain during the night, but awoke with the usual pain and stiffness in the morning. I pray for better days.

My rheumatologist said that I could use Tylenol or an NSAID (Ibuprofen, etc,), just not on a regular basis. If I need some extra pain relief during the day I take Ibuprofen along with a meal or snack since you need to take it with food, If I wake up at night in pain I take Tylenol so I don't need to eat anything. It seems to me that Ibuprofen is more effective but the pain improvement is small. Since your pain is in just one hand it might not be caused by PMR since the disease generally causes pain on both sides. In that case the over the counter drugs may be more effective than if it was caused by PMR. I would check with your doctor in any case.

Theodore-I have posted this comment previously-try splitting your prednisone dosage. Half in the morning and the other early evening. Ever since splitting the dosage I no longer endure the 4/5 hour wait in the morning to be able to use my hands.
Frank

My rheumatologist told me because Prednisone is an anti inflammatory I could not use ibuprofen.

CBD cream is also effective.

My rheumatologist's nurse initially told me that I should not use ibuprofen with prednisone but the doctor himself said he didn't see a problem with limited use. He said that the main issue was that both drugs can be hard on your stomach and esophagus and should be taken with food. So far I have not seen anything online that convinces me that limited use of ibuprofen is bad but I'm open to new information.

NSAIDs in general are hard on the gut. How hard, really is very individual. I did read a study that showed that the gut flora changed after 2 weeks use of ibuprofen that made it ineffective so limited use would certainly be the key. Pain relief is a difficult subject to say the least.

My husband has been tentatively diagnosed with PMR by the
GP and we can't get an appt. with a rheumatologist til June 30th. He has been on 2 rounds of steroids which helped and 2 Rx's of Tramadol for pain. The GP does not feel comfortable with prescribing any more steroids or pain pills. He has terrible morning pain and has trouble with his ADL's, afternoons and evenings are better.
My questions are: has anyone tried massage? accupuncture? Chiropractic visits? Kratom?
We are looking for anything until we see the rheumatologist

Welcome @kbuzard, I don't have any medical background or training but I have had 2 occurrences of PMR and for both I was started on 20 mg of prednisone which I got full relief of the pain within an hour or so and stayed pain free until the following morning when it was time for my next daily dose. Here's some information on PMR and treatment options - Polymyalgia rheumatica: An updated review: https://www.ccjm.org/content/87/9/549

My own non medical opinion on massage, accupuncture, chiropractic visits and Kratom is that I don't think it will help. I do think that diet and lifestyle can make a difference but when it has flared and active I think it takes something more like prednisone which is the standard treatment.

You mentioned 2 rounds of steroids which helped and 2 Rx's of Tramadol for pain. Is the 2 rounds of steroids, 2 days worth of prednisone?

Hello @kbuzard. I would like to add my welcome along with @johnbishop. I am sorry to hear what your husband is experiencing and it is so good to have you here where members can provide support to you (both).

Because we have a very active discussion on PMR, you will notice that I have moved your post to allow you to more quickly connect with other members experiencing PMR or caring for someone with PMR.

I see @johnbishop has asked some questions to better understand your husband's experience so I will let you answer him.