Corticosteroid injections for polymyalgia rheumatica

You feed back is a lot more than I have had in a long time.
I really appreciate it .
My health care group is a crumbling mess.
That said I am also crumbling and no one is putting the pieces to get her. That equates to early death, homelessness, demoralizing be for death. Like I am a degenerate.
I am so tired now, but in the am I will try again, I have an appointment with my Rheumatologist, he is so over worked, he gets confused who I am. 😫 Ugg

I had an injection in my right hip after months of being able to sleep only 2-3 hours a night due to pain. The effect was amazing, pain free for a couple of months. Thanks for sharing the abstract.

I had an injection in my right hip after months of being able to sleep only 2-3 hours a night due to pain. The effect was amazing, pain free for a couple of months. Thanks for sharing the abstract.

My first rheumatologist that never gave me a diagnosis (4 yrs) tried this at my first visit. Yet the fact that I had a systemic response to my symptoms was ignored. Seemed important to me. (I didn't know about PMR yet.) Lasted about 2 weeks. I wonder if it has to be given in a joint or can be intramuscular. However, it would be a lot of shots over time. Seems prohibitive.

So far, the injection in my left hip has reduced the pain a lot.
We never considered injections until only my hip was inflamed.
I had two choices; take more prednisone or try the injection. The injection was only 20 mg.

@redboat Have you ever been diagnosed with anything more specific or is it still "presumptive" PMR and/or GCA and/or something else?

Have you encountered any problems with adrenal suppression because of being on prednisone? I had to remain on 3 mg of prednisone for an extended period of time. It was difficult to maintain that 3 mg dose but it allowed time for my adrenals to start producing more cortisol. I had to get past adrenal insufficiency before I could taper off prednisone. Getting off prednisone was a true miracle.

After I got off prednisone while still doing Actemra injections, I had a massive flare-up of uveitis. I needed 60 mg of prednisone again. My ophthalmologist said Actemra wasn't optimal treatment for uveitis and switched me to Humira which is a TNF inhibitor.

Uveitis quieted down quickly on Humira but when I tapered back down to 15 mg of prednisone, the pain throughout my entire body returned. We were calling this pain PMR but my rheumatologist also said I had a "full range of rheumatology problems."

I was given the option of either Actemra or Humira but I couldn't take both. Another option was a "shot gun approach" with prednisone aimed at multiple autoimmune problems.

I didn't like the idea of taking prednisone again and especially not on a long term basis. I chose Actemra with the understanding that I could always take prednisone again on a short term basis if I ever needed it.

I no longer think having a single diagnosis is that important. I believe targeting the cause of the chronic inflammation is more important. In my case, inhibiting IL-6 seems to do the most good.

Prednisone doesn't have to be long term. It can be used short term and intermittently which was what I did for 20 years before PMR was diagnosed. I had several "supplemental" steroid knee injections during this period of time too.

I didn't have the additional problems caused by long term prednisone use when I used prednisone sparingly and short term. Liberal use of prednisone and long term wasn't good.

<p>Injected Prednisone</p><p>My doctor in Costa Rica recommended this. It worked well for me 5 years ago when I had a major "attack" and ended up in a hospital. How can I find a U.S. hospital that will accept an international prescription? Apparently it can only be administered inpatient.<br />Thanks</p>