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How often does PMR progress to GCA?
Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) | Last Active: Mar 29 2:47pm | Replies (115)Comment receiving replies
Charlotte. I had PMR somewhere back around 2011 when I finally got off prednisone 2014 I developed GCA. Rheumatologist that took care of me here in Florida. Never mentioned GCA during my treatment. He too knew very little about PMR and kept reducing my prednisone too quickly so I constantly relapsed. I am afraid that unless you are in the Mayo clinic area most rheumatologist do not know much about GCA. I finally found one here in Florida. However, I am still on prednisone and Actemra. Having the knowledge that one can lead to another which in my case only took six months you are one step ahead of the game. A trip to Mayo does help quite a bit. I did get to Minnesota probably around 2015. They are the best.
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Marilynredder2367 - Sorry to hear you ended up with GCA after your PMR...that seems to happen a lot to people, and I absolutely dread it. I'm glad you found a good rheumatologist. As as you pointed out, at least I'm aware of GCA and can be alert for any developing symptoms. My doctor is also trying to taper me off the prednisone too quickly. He thinks I should be down to 10 mg a day now and I'm still at 15 mg because even tapering down by 1 mg at a time is too much. This has been going on for four months now. I live in Canada, so am nowhere near the Mayo clinic. I also don't have a rheumatologist, and am just working with my GP and my naturopath. Unfortunately, most of the naturopath's suggestions I have tried so far don't seem to be helping much. I was taking a curcumin supplement, but had to stop due to digestive upset. I'm now trying MSM, as per her recommendation, along with a homeopathic remedy called Rhus Tox, and am hoping that taking those will help me taper off the prednisone more successfully...but I'm not holding my breath. I'm finding to my great disappointment that the "natural" route doesn't really work for PMR. Maybe it does for some people, but not for me. I'm also making some careful changes to my diet and am currently working at cutting out sugar. Red meat and processed/junk foods are already eliminated. I have to go slowly, as I have a sensitive digestive system (I also have SIBO as well as PMR) so any abrupt changes can result in problems. I'm ready to trade my body in for a new model - lol.