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

Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) | Last Active: Nov 18 7:12pm | Replies (1907)
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@tsc

My ESR was 120 and CRP was also elevated after I had PMR close to a year and had Giant Cell Arteritis. I also had anemia (anemia of chronic inflammation ) and was anorexic - I lost about 15 lbs - was down to 93 lbs. I also got a mild case of shingles, despite having had the Shingrex vaccine a year prior.

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Replies to "My ESR was 120 and CRP was also elevated after I had PMR close to a..."
redboat | @redboat | Feb 18, 2023

That sounds bad, @tsc. Sorry to hear it.

I also lost 8 lbs in the 3 weeks before I was diagnosed, and went down to 129 lbs (I am 5'10.5" so now very thin). My ESR was "only" 92 mm/hr, so yours was even higher! It's my CRP that reached very extreme levels, about 70x above the upper limit for normal of 5 mg/L. The pain was unbearable. So far, it seems I don't have GCA.

I really hope I don't get shingles!! That is supposed to be awful! I've also had the Shingrex vaccine.

With GCA, you must have had much higher doses of prednisone and had a different treatment than I am expecting. When were you diagnosed?

After more that 2 weeks, the 20 mg/day prednisone I'm taking still leaves me with significant pain throughout the day. It's worse in the morning. I was hoping for a better result, and the idea of "tapering" at this point is terrifying.

PS I'm a 63 year old male with a northern European background.

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