I just read in a doctor's column of possible help with muscles by taking creatine. The doctor said it is safe. Does anyone know of its use and if so, do you recommend it? Thanks!
Can you attached the doctors colum. .don't load the creatine and make sure you drink plenty of water. .
check web md for uses and side effects
Personally I would prefer to spend my money on a decent diet. Have you got PMR? If so are you taking steroids? Creatinine tends to cause fluid retention and weight gain and so does prednisone, so I don't think I would want to take the two together.
I do eat a very healthy diet. I eat lots of fruits and veggies. I drink plenty of water. Yes, I am on prednisone. I began with 20 mg the first of May am down to 10 mg and am totally pain free. I usually walk four to five miles a day. I wear my Fitbit and really keep track of the activity. My main complaint is that I have not been able to walk that far and get tired, but I have to say that this is probably due to the climate in which I live. It hits 100 on a regular basis in the summer. I need to get out very early to get a good walk in. So, I guess that I would not be wanting to buy the creatine. I have had no weight gain, I am slender normally, but do not want to buy a new wardrobe, so will stay away from anything that would cause a gain. Thanks, Donna
The recycling has already taken the paper away. Actually it wasn't a big endorsement by the doctor. It was an answer to someone who wrote in. He did say it was safe. From what I am reading, I have decided not to try it.
I have decided not to take it. I am actually feeling pretty well, so don't want to add something that is not needed and might cause a problem. I am already taking lots of vitamins that have been recommended including the K2 that you recommened.
The fact you are not able to walk so far and get tired is due to the PMR. The steroids will reduce the inflammation thus helping with the pain, but it does nothing else for the PMR. You will still have all the symptoms of the illness. As long as you respect that and do not overdo things you should be fine. Keeping active which you obviously are, should really help though.
Thanks, I guess I am just frustrated since I am so used to being active. I thought that it was the prednisone that was making me feel so tired. It does not help that I live in such a hot climate too. I appreciate your response. I guess I need to be patient, I am not always good at that. LOL
You are doing remarkably well Donna!
If it ain't broke, don't fix it!
I agree, so I think I won't mess with it. I had wondered how you were doing. I was gone for a week on a road trip with my youingest daughter. Had a great time and PMR really didn't cause me any problems on the trip. I know you have other things besides the PMR with the facial pain and all. I hope that you will be feeling better soon.
I've had a strange week - really quite ill on Monday and Tuesday - ended up going home from work at lunchtime and sleeping for the next 18 hours or so! BUT, since then I've been better than I have for months! I have to wonder if it the new drugs (Plaquenil) messing with my weekly dose of Methotrexate - but who knows. I certainly don't!
I'm off on a short road trip tomorrow - just for three days over the weekend - can't wait! It's getting out of the car after a few hours that's a killer!
I'm almost certain I'm going to go back to my AIP 'lifestyle' as I know it makes a huge difference to how I feel - I'm seeing a new Dr in two weeks who specialised in nutritional medicine - not a nutritionist, but a 'real' Dr... lol I'm almost convinced I've got some food intolerances going on, but no idea what they are.
I am not sure what the AIP lifestyle is. I am glad that you felt better after your obviosly much needed sleep. I hope that the road trip gives you a boost. I really enjoyed mine. Hope the new doctor is a great help to you. I have a dear friend who has celiac disease. Her symptoms were almost identical to PMR. She lives in France and they finally got a handle on it. She is doing well, just has to be super careful and read labels all the time. I hope that you can find what is causing all of your varied symptoms. Take care, Donna`
Responding to the little discussion yesterday about activity. I find that as my dose gets lower the fatigue has really kicked in. It's not that I can't do things, I'm still having my daily walk, for example, but I have to be really sure to get good rest during the day or I am completely wiped the next day. Pacing, balancing activity with rest, has been pretty important ever since I realized that pred wasn't a cure, but now it's essential. It's the only way the body will be able to heal.
It's also perhaps worth noting that ALL kinds of activity count. Even a fun morning having coffee and a walk with friends can be exhausting and needs to be balanced with quiet time, with a book perhaps, or the computer, before doing chores. It's a lot more difficult for people who have to work as well as look after a household. Have you read the Spoon Theory? Google it. It's great!
Thanks, I appreciate your answer. I was begiining to think that perhaps some of it was just psychological. I do find that if I am with firends or doing something fun like a road trip my daughter and I took that I felt better. Sure would love a shot of energy, but guess that is not something anyone has come up with. :-) I go to my rheumotologist on Monday, eager to hear what he has to say. At least I will say that I think I have been lucky to get down to 10 mg of prednisone and am still pain free. I am thinking that, from what I read here, I will probably have a return of pain when I go below that dose. I am not sure how soon the doctor will want me to go down. I will Google The Spoon Theory as soon as I am done here. Thanks, Donna
Hi Donna there is no reason at all you should get pain when going lower than 10mg if you take your reduction slowly. You may find you get a little tired when you hit around 7mg when your adrenal glands have to leap back into action though.
Thanks, I keep reading on here that almoat everyone talks of being stiff and aching as they reduce the prednisone. I am hoping that this does not happen, but have begun to think that it is inevitble. I am feeling more fatigured at 10 mg. I just reduced to that on Monday, so day 4 now. Maybe my adrenal glands will leap back into action. Thanks for your positive spin on this. :-) Donna
Increasing pain is not inevitable. In my case I had such a brilliant response to pred that all my aches and pains went away, including long standing ones caused probably by osteoarthritis in my spine. That pain has come back, sadly, but even at a very low dose of pred (3 mg at present) I have none of the debilitating aches and loss of range of motion which PMR caused. I do have a few "niggles" but if this is all I had ever felt I'd have just put it down to old age and carried on as they are not a problem. Just enough to let me know the disease is still active and that I'll need to stay at this level a bit longer than at other points in my taper and also because my adrenal glands are really not yet up to snuff. I'm going to talk to dr about this next week. I've been using the dead slow nearly stop taper since 10 mg, so I can vouch for its effectiveness.
Thanks, I have been worried that I might get back to the horrible pain that I had in the begining where it was difficutl if not impossibel to get dressed within a couple of hours of arising. The only thing that got me out of bed then was the need for my little dog to go outside. I would cry out in pain just putting my robe on, just any movement hurt. So, if I end up with a few aches and pains here and there, I can handlet that. Just happy to see some positives on here. I hope your appointment next week goes well. As to the adrenal glands, what part of the blood work shows that? I need to be ready with questions for my doctor on Monday. Thanks, Donna
I haven't had a test. I understand there is one (synacthen) but there's no point getting that until you're below the physiological dose of pred, which is 7 or below and even then only if your fatigue is persistent and debilitating. Although I get tired easily I don't feel I need this test as I do still have energy to do most things, I'm not entirely "flat". But I want to run this by my GP just in case she thinks otherwise.
I think most of us are prepared to put up with a few niggles. If I wanted to be as painfree as I was at the beginning it would mean staying at 10 or above forever, and in the long run that would be a bad idea because pred for all its virtues is not safe enough. But as Eileen and others say, there's no point taking less than you need in order to avoid the debilitating pain and "stiffness" for want of a better word PMR caused before we got treated. That would simply mean having both the disability of PMR and the side effects of pred! What we want is to reduce pred to the point where PMR is still controlled, but the possible side effects are also reduced as much as possible. Learning to ride a double headed dragon!
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