It’s back!

My first time lasted for 3 and half years and went into remission for 6 years. I'm currently in remission from the second round with PMR going on 6+ years and hoping it doesn't rear it's ugly head again. Best of luck on containing the beast!

@johnbishop
I’ve been in remission for four years, and before that, my first remission was six years. I live with the daily anxiety of wondering what I might be doing, eating, or drinking that will bring the PMR back. Too much exercise or too little, too much alcohol, bottled water or tap, too much sugar and so on. With the pains that come with old age, especially from RA, I worry all the time that the life choices I make might bring it back. I keep the worrying to myself, so my friends and family don’t think I’m neurotic, but it’s a heavy load to bear, and I never feel truly at peace. The truth is the monster lurks within and may resurface whenever it wants to.

@walterl
I've had some of those same thoughts since I have other conditions that give me grief from time to time. I also have degenerative disc disease and arthritis along with carpal tunnel in both hands. I had my right knee replaced due to bone on bone pain. My left knee is also bone on bone but I don't have any pain so am choosing to leave it be for now. I think all we can do is take things day by day and do the best we can along with eating healthy and staying active. I do try to limit inflammatory foods and sugar but I do have my days.
Hoping all of those in remission from this disease can stay that way.

By chance are you also on sny heart medication like Diovan (valsartan)?

@walterl By chance are you also on sny heart medication like Diovan (valsartan)?

@johnbishop

Are you sure PMR was all you had? I had advanced degenerative arthritis in my knees that was detected at a ripe age of 35. I had some sports injuries in high school that accounted for the arthritis in one knee but not both knees. I had to wait until I was at least 60 years old to get my knees replaced.

My spine was different. I didn't know that I had a "bad back" in the degenerative sense. I never had any trauma to my back. I had significant back pain which I attributed to autoimmune problems. Prednisone relieved my back pain quickly whenever the pain was severe. I didn't think any damage was done because I never experienced any "mechanical pain."

I still don't understand how all of my degenerative disc disease happened. I have severe spinal stenosis and I need a multi-level lumbar fusion. The surgeon says it is all "degenerative arthritis." However, over time, the damage caused by inflammatory arthritis from autoimmune disease starts to look the same as degenerative arthritis.

I haven't received any definitive answers but my understanding is that there is a late-stage convergence of inflammatory arthritis with degenerative arthritis. Over many years or decades, chronic inflammatory arthritis causes secondary joint destruction which looks nearly identical to primary degenerative arthritis on X-rays. I'm not sure how they know if the damage was caused by inflammation or if it was degenerative.

The treatment for both inflammatory and degenerative arthritis converges over time too. A total joint replacement is typically the gold standard solution regardless of how the damage started.

It has always intrigued me how people diagnosed with PMR find out later they have a lot of osteoarthritis. The osteoarthritis shows up when they try to taper off Prednisone.

@dadcue - Hi Mike, I'm not sure I had PMR but the 20mg prednisone starting dose for each occurrence did alleviate 90+ % of the pain. Thanks for sharing the details. The degenerative arthritis does give me a cause to be concerned about since my mother had RA and I remember the pain she was in.

I had the degenerative disc disease diagnosis prior to the first occurrence of PMR. My wife told me I walked like an old man when I was in my 50s (83 now). I also have had lower back pain but it was just achy and not sharp pain since my 50s. I've had MRIs which were used in my DDD diagnosis. I also have idiopathic small fiber peripheral neuropathy but no pain, just numbness which I think could be spine related.

I tore the meniscus in my right knee and had surgery to remove a piece of it back in the mid 70s. I had several cortisone shots over the years in the knee and finally had a TKR which got rid of the pain but made it difficult to do tasks requiring me to kneel down on my knees. My left knee is bone on bone but I don't have any pain yet so happy about that. My ongoing struggle is my ability to walk any distance due to my posture. I think I have bent spine syndrome (Camptocormia?) but I haven't done anything other than talking with my PCP and going to PT to learn some posture exercises. I've also have osteopenia but haven't had any treatments other than trying to intake more calcium.

Looking back into my days after I got out of the Navy and got a job with IBM as a customer engineer fixing data processing equipment. I spent 3 days in the hospital after lifting a cover off of an IBM machine and not being smart about how I did it. So I learned my lesson the hard way on the correct procedure for lifting heavy objects ☹️.

@johnbishop does this happen for most of us suffering from PMR, a remission? Does it just naturally happen?

@ga29 - I’m not an expert and have no medical background but given the correct diagnosis and treatment, I do think that most folks with PMR will be able to have it go into remission. I think the problem is that a lot of people with PMR have other underlying conditions that may make remission difficult.

@johnbishop

I'm not familiar with the Camptocormia terminology but I have definitely seen this condition. I learn something new all the time.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2989190/
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If it is any consolation, I walk the same way. My bent-over look is called "shopping cart syndrome." It is a hallmark of lumbar spinal stenosis and isn't caused by pushing a shopping cart. I can straighten out if I have to but it doesn't hurt so much when I'm bent over. I use a rollator when I need to walk any distance and have to sit down.
https://ispineclinics.com/shopping-cart-syndrome/