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PMR Taper and pain

Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) | Last Active: May 30 12:19pm | Replies (63)

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@54pontiac

I have come to the conclusion that what matters is the pain/side effects, not what a doctor thinks is best or our age or what some numbers on a page seem to indicate. Living with pain is not living. If we have a way to control it that is not worse than the pain, we should use it. The only absolute is that everybody is different. My two cents.

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Replies to "I have come to the conclusion that what matters is the pain/side effects, not what a..."

54pontiac, you nailed it in a minimum number of words. The other absolute from everything I've seen and read is that prednisone is the only proven drug that can control PMR pain and inflammation. We all get to weigh the side effects versus pain. For me, the option of being an invalid instead of a hard working guy who loved his work wasn't an option. I've had to deal with some side effects from prednisone that aren't nice but I freely made that trade to end up with a decent quality of life over the 7 years I've had PMR. Nothing wrong with occasionally mourning the life we used to have before PMR, but I choose to focus on celebrating what I'm still able to do thanks to prednisone and in spite of PMR.