Can we make PMR funny ? Can we fight the immune cells involved ?

My son is getting married early Sept. Right after diagnosed this spring we asked my brother-in
-law if he would keep an eye on a demanding cousin during the wedding. The only other person to help her would have been my husband, the father of the groom. His initial response was “No….I have to be free to meet the bride’s family.” He did come around however. He’s actually a great guy.

@sandiw77

Maybe that partially explains my PMR. I’m 27% European.

Hi @hunib33, I just found an interesting article,
https://www.uptodate.com/contents/clinical-manifestations-and-diagnosis-of-polymyalgia-rheumatica#!
"PMR is distinctly less common in Asian, African American, and Latin American populations, though all racial and ethnic groups can be affected."
I think of PMR and GCA as the beasts that were hidden, but lurking in my body, waiting for the right opportunity to pounce.
Was it difficult for you to get diagnosed, given that the occurrence of PMR/GCA in your race/ancestral group is relatively rare?

Hi Teri. I actually diagnosed myself! I was searching conditions online, e.g. MS, Lupus, osteoarthritis, etc. and nothing was matching my exact symptoms. So I put all my symptoms in the search bar: low grade fever, runny nose, stiff shoulder and leg muscles, weight loss, loss of appetite, fatigue and PAIN. The results returned PMR. I don’t have pain in my temples but all other symptoms mapped. My Internist ran tests for inflammation, and my numbers were off the charts. It was such a relief to have my condition confirmed and to start on a regimen of medication and begin on the road to recovery.

@hunib33 and sudden onset , you are > 50 yrs old, pain stiffness worse in the morning ?? Are you keeping a pain journal ? Did the internist also suspect PMR? Did you come across the sites pmrandyou.com ? And pmrandIL6 dot com -- the slide show is super informative . I like this figure the best to think about what is happening in PMR.

Do you have a funny story yet ; )

Hi @hunib33,
You were smart.
I suffered in silence for a year thinking I had fibromyalgia. Then I was so fatigued, lost a lot of weight, and got shingles on my face (despite having the Shingrex vaccine a year prior).
I thought I had Lupus. I confided in an infectious disease doctor friend who went over my bloodwork, found I was anemic, and told me what other tests to request my doctor to take. He was resentful and told me if I had GCA, I'd be blind. Long story short, my inflammation markers were off the charts and biopsy of the temporal artery was positive.
Are you the only person in your family that you know of who's been stricken? My maternal aunt had it, and my mother-in-law as well.
I was taking prednisone about a year and a half and have been off it about nine months, no flareups.
How are you doing now?
Did you have an illness or injury before the onset of symptoms that you think caused your immune system to go into overdrive?
Wishing you the best,
Teri

Yep, probably does. Too bad we didn’t get to pick the stuff we wanted to inherit, though. Pretty sure we could have gotten something a lot more fun than PMR. 😂🤣

My rheumatologist actually made my diagnosis but I honestly didn’t believe him despite my symptoms of sudden onset hip & shoulder pain with low grade temperatures and extreme fatigue. I was also anemic and my inflammatory markers were crazy high. I don’t have a positive family history for PMR but my 90+ year old Mom & Sister both have symptoms and are working with rheumatologist now so I will not be surprised with their diagnosis. My rheumatologist told me that he had never treated another African American patient that he had diagnosed with PMR. I wondered at the time how many diagnoses are missed because of race/ethnicity.

Thank you for the well wishes Teri! I wish you vibrant health and healing as well as we traverse this path.

I’m the sole survivor of my nuclear family but none of them experienced anything like this. I didn’t have an illness that preceded the onset, but I had high stress factors for years in various positions I held before I retired. I think my having PMR is just the luck of the draw. Almost everyone who lives to old age has to contend with something, and right now I’m dealing with this. I’m not sure I can control when it goes into remission. I follow all the positive recommendations to the best of my ability and think someday it may switch off as it switched on. I do practice deep breathing, and I relax more, and I sleep well now. I also take Zinc Picolinate and Vitamin C to give my immune system a boost. I’m trying to help my immune system heal.

I’m trying to think of something witty but it may take a few more days! I’m 78, and yes the stiffness is worse in the morning. I don’t keep a pain journal yet, but it’s an excellent idea, especially to track pain vs dosage of prednisone on a daily basis. My daughter gave me a journal as a gift recently so this is a perfect use for it. I also go to physical therapy as needed. There’s an excellent facility near me that offers muscle stimulation, heating pads with moisture, massage and exercises for each specific set of affected muscles. That has really helped the stiffness.