Pmr and no drugs

The only relief I got was Celebrex 100 mg twice a day. My pmr worsened quickly and I am on prednisone now. I wish you the best

Talk to your dr about using Actemra. I’ve been on it for a month now for GCA and have not had any flare ups, temporary blindness. I also take prednisone for my PMR but hope to eventually get off of it all together. I give myself an Actemra injection weekly and have not experienced any side effects. According to my dr Actemra is my best bet to save my eyes. Glaucoma may require something different but I do know that both diseases affect the blood flow into the optic nerve. Please call your dr tomorrow and start the conversation! Take care.

@teresag1 Prednisone is not just for pain management, it is used to reduce/eliminate the inflammation. Over time the inflammation can and will most likely do its own damage to your vascular system.
I can fully grasp your wish to make decisions with vision/eye damage being out front.
Possibly you can request a consultation appointment with your rheumatologist to discuss treatments that would have lowest risk to your eyes. Tell them why you are requesting the appointment so your doctor is prepared. Then, take this information to your eye doctor and again request a consultation appointment. Discuss the options and see how you feel moving forward with any drug. Consultation appointments are longer than normal appointments.
PMR has put your body into an inflammatory cycle, which is why you need to calm it down.
You can also eliminate refined sugar, which is simply food for inflammation. They have full anti-inflammatory diets you can research as well.

@suetex I have an appointment in Oct with an allergist who specializes in drug sensitivities. New field, only a few hundred in the US doing it. It sounds like you might me sensitive to a inactive ingredient in the drug they gave you. Might be worth investigating.

Very interesting.....

@kjoed53 I find this interesting, because I have spent 7 months working with my primary care doc trying to figure out why I had this "inflammatory response" that ONLY ibuprofen would help, I managed to not take it every day, but had constant lab tests to be sure my liver and kidneys are ok. I worked with a nutritionist and my inflammation markers are down, but the pain persists. Finally I was diagnosed with PMR by a rheumatologist. I'm on 10 mg predinose but am rather horrified at the side effects. I have glaucoma which is managed, but I don't want it to increase. I also have osteopenia, so the bone loss is disturbing. I just wrote to a homeopath to get her info.... I was glad to hear that you sisters PMR pain DID go away!

Does anyone have info about NOT using prednisone and using ibuprofen, diet exercise, meditation etc instead? I don't want to continue with prednisone... feels like I'm trading one disease for another!!

@wendypics
She was miserable for a long time and most days her husband had to help her to get dressed. For myself, it took 25mg prednisone to relieve my hip girdle pain and mostly but not completely relieve my shoulder pain. I couldn't sleep and could barely walk with the pain so I didn't have the option of not taking prednisone. For me, prednisone relieved more than just PMR. For the first time in many years my knees and ankles didn't hurt from arthritis.

@kjoed53 thank you for your insights... I'm staying on the prednisone until I do further research. I'm glad to hear it helped you.... it's so hard living with pain.

@wendypics
10mg prednisone is on the low end. If that works for you, you are very lucky.