1. < Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR)

Prednisolone immuno-suppressant effect v Covid booster protection

Posted by macferse @macferse, Apr 15, 2022

I wonder if anyone has a similar problem. have recently been diagnosed with PMR after 10 years without it. Back on 20 mg Prednisolone and have heard of the immuno-suppressant effects of steroids. Can that effect be quantified. and does it increase with dosage and/or duration of treatment ? I am to have my second Covid booster tomorrow (4th shot in total since start of pandemic in Uk) Will the protective effects of the booster outweigh the undermining of the immune response related to Prednisolone ? If so, how long will that effect last. Grateful for any insights. Thanks

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sharonanng | @sharonanng | Oct 16, 2022
In reply to @linda7 "My PMR started after I got the Pfizer vaccine. I feel that it was triggered by..." + (show)
@linda7

My PMR started after I got the Pfizer vaccine. I feel that it was triggered by the vaccine and have not gotten any boosters. I asked my rheumatologist his opinion about any relationship between PMR and vaccines. Similar to your rheumatologist, he said the science just doesn't support any connection. His take is that there would have been a large increase in PMR incidence since so many elderly people got the vaccine. I have my doubts, wondering if anyone tracks this, plus I think there are undiagnosed cases and people who were destined to get the disease but the vaccine hastened the onset. I asked him also if he thought I was immune compromised. He said that since I was taking less than 10 mg of prednisone he did not think so. He did not think I needed to be more cautious than the average person about travel, etc.

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My good news: Diagnosed with PMR in early April. Currently on 10 mg of Prednisone. I received the Pfizer Covid booster 3 days ago and have had no negative effects, not even a sore arm. So relieved!

REPLY
sharonanng | @sharonanng | Oct 17, 2022
In reply to @johannab "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7944369/ Published online 2021 Mar 5. doi: 10.2147/JPR.S302115 PMCID: PMC7944369 PMID: 33716511 Recommendations and Guidance for Steroid..." + (show)
@johannab
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7944369/

Published online 2021 Mar 5. doi: 10.2147/JPR.S302115
PMCID: PMC7944369
PMID: 33716511
Recommendations and Guidance for Steroid Injection Therapy and COVID-19 Vaccine Administration from the American Society of Pain and Neuroscience (ASPN)

In a case-controlled analysis of 1947 serious infection cases in 16,207 rheumatoid arthritis patients receiving chronic oral glucocorticoids for disease management, it was found that patients taking 5 mg of prednisolone had 30%, 46%, and 100% increased risk for serious infection when using steroids continuously for 3 months, 6 months, or 3 years compared to non-users, respectively

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Thank you for sharing! Very helpful.

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suetex | @suetex | Oct 18, 2022

I, too have gotten all my moderna shots with only the first one giving a few hours of feverish effect. Even had the bivalent shot recently. Honestly, I think I might be more relived to feel some reaction to know my body is "noticing" it. I hope I am building immunity.

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