Covid and pmr

Welcome @mishra1423, Sorry to hear you came down with Covid at the same time your PMR is active. I'm not a doctor but think you can get Covid with or without a suppressed immune system. Being you have Covid now, I think the standard practice is to self isolate along with other precautions to avoid passing Covid onto anyone else.

You might want to scan through the following discussions to learn the experiences of other members.
-- COVID-19 What do people with immune deficiency need to do?:
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/covid19-primary-and-common-immune-deficiency/
-- Covid and PMR surprise:
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/covid-and-pmr-surprise/
Do you have family or friends that can help or provide support for you while you have Covid?

I’m sorry you got COVID. That is not fun at all. My family is trying to avoid COVID at all costs.

It would be hard to tell now if it was from being immunocompromised or not. COVID cases are the highest they’ve been all year, so I’ve been hearing of a lot of people getting it, especially people who’ve been traveling this summer and not wearing a mask.

I actually never stopped wearing a mask, because it’s important to me not to get COVID and I have Long COVID. My dad has PMR.

Back in 2022 (he still had PMR then), one month after he started PT but was otherwise mostly at home, my whole family got COVID and it was horrible because my mom and I are immunocompromised, even though we took Paxlovid. The funny thing is my dad fared the best, but we suspect it’s because he was getting the most rest. He’s a stroke survivor and my mom are caregivers, so we couldn’t rest.

There aren’t as many people wearing masks, but I live in the Chicago area and one thing I appreciate is that it’s also not strange for me to go out in a mask or see others in masks. I feel if it’s important for someone, whatever the reason to not get COVID and/or other respiratory illnesses, then it totally makes sense to mask up. People have differing and sometimes strong positions on vaccines but of course, that’s an option too though it won’t necessarily prevent infection whereas a mask could. Still, at the point my family was infected, if not for being vaccinated or if it were earlier in the pandemic, we all probably would have landed in the hospital because my mom has a kidney transplant, and my dad had a stroke. Only my mom was hospitalized and that was still frightening. Most of the hospitalizations right now are older and/or immunocompromised people who aren’t up to date on vaccines. Sigh. But as they say, “It’s about your comfort so with individual risk.”

I am so sorry to hear you now have Covid on top of your PMR!
It is all is so hard to figure out! I have had all my required shots and boosters for Covid. I was diagnosed with PMR in May and have been reducing my prednisone from 30mg. I am at 17.5 mg at the moment and doing ok. 3 weeks ago we had friends stay with us for 5 days. We spent much time together in the car with windows up and the AC on, showing them the sights. My friend had been very congested and thought it was allergies. The day they left as she felt worse she tested for Covid and was positive. I fully expected to get it as we spent so much time in close proximity, but here we are 17 days later and I still have no symptoms and testing negative. It's so hard to know what goes on in our bodies! Sometimes it just does not make sense! 🤷
I hope your Covid resolves itself quickly and that your PMR goes into remission very soon. Best wishes. 🤞

Thankyou for writing back, so kind of you! Your immune system must be great if you avoided it after all of that!
Good luck to you also.

Thankyou for your reply. I wish nothing but good health for you and your family. Health is ever! I am caught up on all vaccines but will also get flu shot.

Thanks for your kind response. Yes I am blessed with a wonderful support system, can’t imagine doing all of this alone. Scary stuff! I’m going to take some of your advice and take all necessary Covid precautions. Much thanks!

I still wear a mask in public places and don't go out unless I have to, and have avoided Covid. The exception was that I got bronchitis last year - first time ever not wearing a mask at a small country funeral and thought I was safe, kissed a bereaved relative who later coughed uncontrollably through the funeral.

My doctor said to pause prednisone reductions till after the bronchitis was gone. Has your doctor told you the same? There are "sick rules" for steroids. Some doctors say to take a small increase while you're sick, others say stop reductions till you are well.

Adding insult to injury - sorry you got Covid.

I think you should stay home and get well. Do mask up, no one wants to be exposed to Covid.

Feel better soon.