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I was just diagnosed with polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) on October 31, 2008. I started hurting at the end of August 2008. It started with me not being able to use my right foot to push the pedal that I use to type with. (I do medical transcription at home.) Then my knees started hurting, and it progressed to my low back, right hip and buttocks and down the back of my right leg. I could not lift my right leg behind me like to put on clothes, socks and shoes, get in and out of the car, etc. I then had to start using a cane. I felt as if I had the flu and that someone was sitting on me. I had no energy at all. I usually have a high tolerance for pain. Then I thought it was just in my head. Finally, I went to the doctor. My RA factor was normal but my sed rate was elevated. I took some OTC anti-inflammatories, but nothing helped. She then ordered a Parvovirus human B-19 test, sed rate, CRP and another RA. My parvovirus was positive; the RA was still negative; my sed rate had gone up (68); and my CRP was 50. She then sent me to a rheumatologist, which took a while to get into, and she diagnosed me with PMR. I have been on Prednisone now since November 2, 2008 at 10 mg per day. Most days it works, but today, I am hurting. Right now, both of my shoulders, my right wrist, right knee and both buttocks hurt. When I feel really good, I wonder if there is really anything going on, and then just like today, it brings me back to reality.

PMR has tried to consume me. In October of 2008, after a very busy summer, I was stricken with unbearable pain in both of my hips, my knees, my wrists, my shoulders, and my hands. At a visit to my doctor, I convinced her to give me a shot of steroids. I have taken it before with a long history of chronic back pain. I felt brand new for about 10 days to two weeks. I then started NSAIDs about 1,200 mg daily, but they didn't help. After a trip to my rheumatologist, I was told I have PMR. I was started on 16 mg of steroids and am now on the first day of weaning off of them. I'm on 8 mgs today: So far, so good.

In April, I awoke one morning so stiff that I could barely walk. This went on until July when I figured I needed help and was not just getting old. I am now 63; I was 62 when it started. It progressively got worse. Finally, I was diagnosed with polymyalgia rheumatica and put on prednisone. Lately, I have been unable to talk; it's almost like laryngitis, but I have had it for more than seven weeks.

I first started having pain about four years ago only in my shoulders and hips. My doctor diagnosed PMR from a blood test and put me on prednisone, which helped immediately. I was gradually reduced from the prednisone until I finally was free from pain. The pain and soreness returned last year, and sure enough, my sed rate was elevated again. I have been on prednisone again since May 2008. My symptoms return every time my doctor tries to reduce the prednisone. I am very tired and sore most of the time, and I have gained weight. I am a 67-year-old female.

I was diagnosed with PMR in August 2008 after about six months of extreme pain, limited ability to move, and exhaustion. My doctor gave me 20 mg of prednisone a day and has gradually reduced the dosage. Now I am on 5 mg a day. It seems to be going well, except that in the last few months, I have developed an intense pain in my outer right calf. Some days it is not as severe, but during the last week, it has just about caused me to fall. A stabbing pain occurs in my right let, bit it's not always in the same area. For the last two days my inner right calf has become swollen.

I have just been diagnosed with PMR. I had pain everywhere. I have never experienced pain like this before. After a few trips to my doctor's and finally the emergency room, I was diagnosed. I started on 50 mg of prednisone and am tapering down 2.5 mg every 10 days. The pain has gone, and my life is back, but the side effects of the prednisone are horrid. My face is ballooning, as is my body.

My first symptom was a pain running from my groin down my left leg into my ankle. The pain soon expanded to my upper body with the most intense pain in my upper arms. It felt like a swarm of hornets in constant stinging mode. The range of movement for my arms became reduced to a few inches one way or another. My shoulders also ached. The pain migrated. The pain increased with nightfall, and mornings were the worst, as the body stiffened with sleep and each muscle had to be gradually worked to get the circulation going. Getting up, finally, and walking brought some relief--circulation and movement seemed to lift some of the most intense pain. My fatigue was severe and I found myself hyperventilating after the smallest exertion. The pain and fatigue totally consumed me. I was never bored as one is with most illnesses after a number of days. Not so with PMR, as every effort required a thought-out strategy and was accompanied by much pain.