I have had fibromyalgia for over 12 years and have over the years felt that my condition has worsened not improved as I had hoped. For the last few months I have been in increasing pain and feeling rediculously tired . The fibro obviously causes both of these symproms but I can't cope with the severity I am suffering now. I could sleep 22 hours out of 24, I have no appetite at all and when I do eat a little I feel bloated and full. Do you think I could have polymyalgia rhumatica along with the fibromyalgia? I also have an underactive thyroid which isn't well controlled and also type 2 diabetes. Any advice would be welcome. Thanks D
It sure seems like PMR. I guess the best way to find out is by taking prednisone. If the pains go away in 3-4 days you got it. Good luck
You don't mention the usual symptoms of PMR - do you have stiffness in hips/shoulders, stiffness at all during the day, especially after sitting? I know fibro can cause morning stiffness so it is probably difficult to tell. You also don't say how old you are - PMR is more common in over 50s though people in their 40s are becoming more common and it is often difficult to get doctors to take younger patients seriously.
Has your doctor done any blood tests? ESR (sedimentation rate) and CRP (c-reactive protein) are both raised in about 80% of PMR patients and not in fibro. Also, the pain associated with PMR responds very quickly to a dose of 15mg prednisolone - it has no effect on fibro pain. Would your GP be willing to listen to you and try the test described in the paper by Quick and Kirwan which is the next to last reference in the post you get to with this link:
https://patient.info/forums/discuss/pmr-gca-and-other-website-addresses-35316
They give 15mg pred for a week - if the symptoms improve by 70% within a few days and then return in the same time frame when you stop you probably have PMR.
Hi Eileen and Tony. I am 55 and yes i do have stiffness and pain in my shoulders but also in my hips, knees and lower back. I do have arthritis in these places too.years ago before my fibro diagnosis my gp had referred me to a rhumy thinking that I had PMR but as I was only 44 she said I was too young and diagnosed fibro. I am just wondering about PMR as I know that the symptoms of both conditions are very similar but Pmr is more painful? It is the fact that I could sleep all day that is worrying me most. Deb
I am absolutely sure that there are a lot of patients under 50 who DO have PMR but have been labelled as fibromyalgia (amongst a selection of other things). It is, of course, absolute rubbish to say that anyone is "too young" - the youngest case in the medical literature who displayed all the typical symptoms and responded equally typically to pred was a young man of 24! Does it really MATTER what age you are if your symptoms respond to pred? If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck and walks like a duck - it very probably IS a duck.
And what you describe is fairly duck-like in PMR terms. Try discussing it with your GP - if you can get to see one as I gather appointments are like gold dust in the UK!
I am absolutely sure that there are a lot of patients under 50 who DO have PMR but have been labelled as fibromyalgia (amongst a selection of other things). It is, of course, absolute rubbish to say that anyone is "too young" - the youngest case in the medical literature who displayed all the typical symptoms and responded equally typically to pred was a young man of 24! Does it really MATTER what age you are if your symptoms respond to pred? If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck and walks like a duck - it very probably IS a duck.
And what you describe is fairly duck-like in PMR terms. Try discussing it with your GP - if you can get to see one as I gather appointments are like gold dust in the UK!
Those are the most common places for pain with PMR. I am 67 and have had it for about a year, started with shoulder and neck pains then hips, knees and lower back. I've had arthritis since my 40's but this is much worse. I guess the best way to prove that you have PMR is to take prednisone. It took the pains away within days. There are a lot of side effects and damaging results to long term usage of this steroid. The key is patience and a very slow reduction of prednisone. Good luck
Tony
They told me I had fibro for a couple of years. The pain got unbearable in my arms, shoulders, neck, and hips. I found out about PMR on my own ( my Dr. never even mentioned it!). A different Dr. at our walk in clinic listened to my story and put me on a 24 hour trial of prednisone. He put me on a high dose for 3 days ( 30 mg.), and said that if I responded to the pred. I probably have it. My response was amazing - in 12 hours my relief was incredible! My sed rate was not that high ( just 31), but don't let that dictate things, some people don't get the really high rate and yet still have it. I have been on pred. for a year and a half and am trying to taper, but it keeps creeping back when I go into the single digits - it is what it is, but I can move!! Do the trial Deb with the pred - good luck! Keep us posted
The pred is the only med that I have seen, heard about or discussed that works. My doctor wanted me to reduce my preds from 20mg to 15, 10, to 5 over a month period. I got down to 5 and the pains that I had last year before pred, I considered a 9 were back to about a 7. We agreed, yesterday, to go back to 20 and reduce by 2.5 every 3 weeks. over the past 36 hours my pains have gone to a pretty comfortable 2 level and am functionable again. Try the pred, find a level of comfort and VERY GRADUALLY reduce the dosage. Good luck
Tony
Hi all, I've been to see my gp (well I say my gp...I joined a new pravtice in november last year when we moved house, I've been 3 times and never seen the same doctor twice) I told him how bad things are and could I possibly have pmr he totally ignored my question and just said that fibromyalgia doesn't lessen with painkillers and prescribed me pregabalin! The trouble is that it's almost impossible to get an appointment at the surgeryso you just get given any doctor who's available...if you're lucky! I'm going to ring the surgery now and tell them that I NEED to see another gp soon. I think I need to try the prednisone as you said Tony to put my mind at rest and maybe even get some relief from this non stop debilitating pain.
If you book far enough in advance can you have a named doctor? My daughter can do that - means about a 2 week wait mind!!