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

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@slward1951

Thank you for sharing! Eleven years ago I woke to horrendous pain. Went to ER and my ESR &CRP were sky high. Put on 40mg prednisone and saw a rhyme dr the next day and up’d me to 60mg. Of course they tittered me down and added pain pills. Six months later U had to compression fractures back and pelvis. Three rhymes later I asked is it possible that I could have SERO NEGATINE RA? The dr says I was just going to talk with you about this, right!?! So now I’m on my 5th Rhuem and went on Remicade infusions. This worked well. Now I also had what was thought to be a bad case of Raynauds. Then the dr changed me to Rituxan Infusion as she thought I had CAD ( Cold agglutinate Disorder). Rituxan is the protocol for that. My research told me I don’t have all the factors for that. With my good insurance I was able to self refer to a Hematologist. After thousands of dollars & tons of tests, I now have type 1 Cryoglobulinemia. Treatment is the same- Rituxan.
What I have learned and My long point is….do your own research, question everything and be your own body’s own advocate!

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Replies to "Thank you for sharing! Eleven years ago I woke to horrendous pain. Went to ER and..."

@slward1951 Your story is just amazing ! Jaw Dropping really - Every recent manuscript I have looked at alludes to this type of nagging issue ( in the PCP or Rhematologist's mind) is that the Dx of PMR is incorrect ! This was one of first papers i looked at and thought the name "familial Mediterranean fever" was very tantalizing !! I also like this Figure 2 because it presents PMR on a SPECTRUM from auto-inflammatory to the (true) autoimmune RDs, with a list of other ailments. There is another reference i have with a Table of PMR- Mimicking-diseases - i can add that later if anyone would like to see .
Floris a, Piga M, Cauli a, et al. Polymyalgia rheumatica: an autoinflammatory
disorder?. RMD Open 2018;4:e000694. doi:10.1136/ rmdopen-2018-000694
What insurance -may I ask ? I posted recently that the financial burden in USA of PMR can be upwards of $20,000.
Thank you for reminding us of the type of diligence to apply to your health!

BTW - for everyone , RITUXAN is a CD20-directed cytolytic antibody ( so against B cells)

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editorial 2018 e000694 (editorial-2018-e000694.full_-1.pdf)