PMR without ever taking prednisone

@cyndiefromnc
True words. Have you tried OTC Tylenol for Arthritis occasionally for relief? Works for me on strenuous days…hike, bike golf.
Keep up the great work.

Im seeing the doctor this morning. I’ve had many of the terrible pain associated with PMR for 6 weeks. No hip or leg pain, extreme pain in my hands, I do have osteoarthritis but never pain like this.
My blood tests are normal.
Last night I slept like a baby and no pain this morning.
Im thinking of starting prednisone for fear of giant cell arteritis which killed him after a very long illness.

According to my PCP, some cases of PMR simply do not show up in the blood work. When that is the case, the diagnosis is made by eliminating other possible conditions and by noting the patient's reaction to prednisone. If prednisone brings almost immediate relief that can be a diagnostic for PMR, even if your bloodwork does not show PMR>

@cwbf There is not a blood test that "shows PMR". PMR is a default Dx, meaning that if it is not anything they can test for and the tests and/or pains are consistent with PMR then a Dx is considered appropriate and treatment for PMR is initiated. Inflammatory markers are very, very general tests - they do not pinpoint any problem that causes inflammation, they simply say that inflammation of some type is active in your body. In reality PMR could be one disease or many, the medical world really does not know what it is or if it is just one problem.

Please let me know if I am wrong. I thought that PMR was related to IL6 sensitivty?

@jabrown0407 Yes. Thank you. I think we are saying the same thing.

@suetex PMR causes IL6 or maybe it is that IL6 causes PMR. IL6 is a type of inflammation that elevates when PMR is a problem. I have been researching inflammation types because up until recently I did not realize there were multiple types. There are more types than I can count - little did I know.

Apparently IL6 inflammation is one that is a big portion of PMR, thus the IL6 inhibitors like Actemra, Tyenne, and Kevzara.

Based on my less than scientific research there are several different types of inflammation involved with PMR. It seems that they feed off each other, so it looks to me that if they shut one type down (IL6) then the other types cannot sustain the inflammation, all types appear to be needed. I am not an expert, and I certainly do not want anyone to think of me as one on this topic.

Thank you for making sense out of a muddled topic.

@jabrown0407
The immune system is fascinating the more you read about it. Inflammation gets a bad rap when the immune system goes haywire when we have an autoimmune condition. Inflammation is a good thing as long as the body regulates it with a hormone called cortisol. I finally reached the conclusion that I was foolish to think that I could regulate my inflammation with prednisone. I thought that I knew how to take prednisone and taper off again. I eventually had to concede that I had no idea what I was doing when I took prednisone.

I have moved on from cytokines like IL-6 because I will never understand cytokines. Some are pro-inflammatory, some are anti-inflammatory and some are both. There is a communication network where all these hormones and cytokines “talk” to each other and to respond appropriately as necessary. There was no way to take prednisone only when needed and at an appropriate dose and time.

My body used to regulate my inflammation and cortisol levels but without me knowing. My immune system kept me very healthy too until I was diagnosed with PMR and took prednisone.

@robinleslie make prednisone your LAST choice…ALEVE does wonders.