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I’m some odd hybrid of PMR and RA. In 2011, I had acute onset of profound pain, numbness and weakness that within 3 days left me incapacitated- unable to open a bottle of water or a door, unable to walk in anything but sneakers, with greatest pain in hips, shoulders, knees, ankles. I was sero negative but found almost immediate relief from Humira. My symptoms settled into hands and feet predominantly. In 2019 I moved and a new doc retested Me and I’m now sero positive. I’m on Remicade infusions that are pretty effective. But when I flare it’s always to big joints like when it began. Hips, shoulders, knees, ankles.
Has anyone encountered this RA/PMR symptom mixture ?
BUT -‘to return to this topic - in a flare, I almost always have the pain march up from my fingers to my wrists to my elbows to my shoulders, where it settles in for a few days. Same Pattern for Foot Pain that migrates up to my hips. It’s not gruesome except at night. And the whole cycle lasts 7-10 days usually. So it’s not avoidance but it is a pattern. Gratefully not a frequent one
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Has anyone encountered this RA/PMR symptom mixture?
You aren't alone @pb50. I was diagnosed with a type of seronegative inflammatory arthritis in 1992 at the age of 38.. The diagnosis was called reactive arthritis (ReA). It gets the name from a reaction to an infection. My lumbar spine and large joints were under attack. ReA is associated with uveitis so my eye was under attack as well. I'm sure an enteric infection triggered ReA. A genetic test was done and I was found to be genetically susceptible. More often than not, whenever I had another infection another flare was triggered.
As if ReA and uveitis weren't enough, PMR was added to the mix in 2007 at the age of 52. I guess I was "old enough" to have PMR.
I usually say, "flares happen for no reason" because no one thing ever caused my flares. I can say a flu vaccine, a dental procedure, a flight to Europe, multiple infections, stress from almost anything have triggered flares. Of course, the things that preceded the flares may have been coincidental so I can't say with certainty any one thing triggered flares. My flares could happen rapidly and many times overnight. Maybe sleep triggered the flare.
I can say with some certainty, tapering my prednisone too quickly had nothing to do with causing a flare. I took prednisone for a very long time so the idea that I tapered too quickly is laughable. I couldn't get anywhere near 10 mg of prednisone for the first 10 years of PMR.
I will say my flares might have happened when my prednisone dose was inadequate for the circumstances. The circumstances were usually stressful in nature. My suspicion is the HPA axis and cortisol had something to do with it.
Not that I understand much of the content in the following link but I believe impairments in my HPA axis had something to do with my flares.
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/how-to-avoid-flares/?pg=1#comment-975618I know for a fact that my systemic inflammation wasn't being regulated very well.
Oops ,,, I copied and pasted the wrong link. I will try to find the one I intended to post.