In bed for a few days

Bones, joints and muscles
1

Hi Everybody,

Have had a virus or so the doc thinks, absolutely wiped out.

Had no sneezes, no chest infection , no water infection, so what virus I havent a clue.

Temperature was a bit raised, told to take paracetamol.

Had bloods done when nurse called to house, took 3 of them to actually get the blood, I am always trouble with a capital t when it comes to giving bloods.

Anyway most have come back, they said C.RP normal? whatever that means , still waiting on E.S.R & others.

By the way my husband didnt have P.M.R after all, he just sprained his back,are we delighted or what!!

Then he fell in the garden chasing a cat away who had killed birds before, so hoping to extend our net fencing to keep this particular cat out.

So his back pain & now his leg is back again.

I keep telling him he is 69 not 29.but will he listen.

Anyway I am still on 23 1/2 pred, hoping to reduce again soon, waiting to feel better over this virus, at least I am up & dressed today.

Felt really low again , tearful etc, but knowing you are all sufferig too has helped .

Hang in there , I do appreciate you being there.

Thank you

Amycakes.

2

So sorry to hear you've been so poorly Amycakes - whatever it was a flu-type thing makes you feel so disgusting doesn't it? And then to be poked at to get bloods as well - what an insult!

CRP is another indicator of inflammation - it's a protein and it is also often raised in PMR and GCA but is felt by some doctors to be a more sensitive test. Using it together with the ESR is supposed to be more specific but since the ESR is totally non-specific I can't see how they reckon that :wink: A slightly different measurement of CRP also is a n indicator or heart troubles. My CRP, like my ESR, has always been stubbornly normal!

So pleased your husband hasn't got PMR - hope the bruises heal soon! My husband once suffered for a similar misunderstanding of his age - but it was rather a while ago and he was much younger! He was iceskating and racing against a 13 year old - he was 30 and got a similar reminder when he went flying and broke a rib :roll: He was most huffed :lol:

hope you feel much beter very soon,

Eileen

3

Sorry to hear you havent felt very good of late Amycakes

It will take you a while to pick up so I wouldnt rush to reduce your steroids just get fit again

My Dr really takes more note of my CRP marker for my PMR than the ESR and if it is raised a bit I dont reduce Im sure I read somewhere that in Canada they use CRP rather than ESR to diagnose PMR

I hope your husband recovers soon We alll think we are younger than we are My husband has been climbing up and down ladders all day and he is 63 and luckily still very agile !!

Best wishes

Mrs G

4

Amycakes

I was so sorry to hear that you have been poorly with a virus. The trouble with steroids is that they lower our immunity so it's all too easy to pick up anything and everything. If I remember rightly, you were going to start taking Manuka honey UMF 10+ and, hopefully, once that builds up in your system your immunity will improve. Also, as you come down on the dose you should get stronger too. But don't worry about reducing until you are completely over the virus.

As for the CRP markers, mine were were very high in the early days of PMR and also increased when I had a throat infection last Christmas so my bloodmarkers are very sensitive to any infectous or inflammatory illness.

I'm glad your hubby's pain didn't turn out to be PMR, but it's no fun having a bad back either! I have quite a bad back problem and it's amazing how the pain can be so similar to that of PMR, even affecting your legs and arms.

I know exactly how he feels about protecting the birds from the cats though. Although I have a cat, I love the birds as well, and was shocked a couple of weeks ago on investigating why the blackbird was going mad down the bottom of the garden, to find a visiting cat lying in our specimen conifer tree just below a blackbird's nest! This afternoon my hubby found a baby bird lying at the foot of the tree - as it was still breathing he picked it up on a trowel and put it in the nest he could see but I have a horrid feeling that it isn't the right nest and that there may be another higher up :cry:

Get well soon Amy. :ok:

5

Thanks Mrs O , Mrs G & Eileen for your kind concerns.

I am feeling better this morning thank you.

You are right I shall hold off reducing till 1st July I think, hopefully I will be up & at 'em by then!

Does dropping to 22 & 1/2 by then sound about right Eileen?

its about 10% isnt it?

My hubby feeling better too today , taking things easy, his brother is coming to stay next week for a few days to help put up more netting to stop the dreaded cat.

We see so many different varieties of birds since we moved here nearly 5 years ago, I love to see the bluetits feeding there young on our fat balls.

Have to ring surgery tomorrow about the rest of my bloods, fingers crossed.

Thanks again you lovely people , when I am on the floor you pick me up, thank you so much for your kind messages, I really appreciate them.

Hope you are all feeling good today

Amycakes.

6

meant to say I am on 23 1/2 at the mo'

Amycakes

7

Sorry to find out you hadn't been feeling too good, Amycakes, but glad things are improving.

I do hope you continue to improve and you can get out a little more, mind you, we've got rain here and while we do need it so much it doesn't tempt me to go outside!

Nefret

8

Theoretically dropping by 1mg shouldn't be a problem at that level - whether the practice works is another! I'm sticking to 1/2mg at a time! Only real answer is to try it and see - but dropping half a mg on the 1st July and another half on 14th July and it working is the same as dropping 1mg on 1st July , finding it is a bit too much at one go and having to go back up a bit and not getting there for another few weeks isn't it?

Good luck whichever you try! :ok:

Eileen

9

Nefret.

Thanks for your input again much appreciated, & yes the rain is here in East Sussex today, we badly need it I know , but dont like it , got so used to the sunshine!

Eileen,

I agree , will give it a go anyway & keep my fingers crossed.

I just hope that by getting on to a lower dose of Preds will make me feel better .I do so wish I could feel \"normal\" again soon.

Everyone seems to be saying you feel better on a lower dose, so I am hoping that will be true for me soon.

Thanks again everyone

Amycakes.

10

Amycakes, Sorry you have been feeling a bit low. Hope the virus will soon depart.

Raining here, too and we are very glad. We seem to have spent a lot of time standing with hose in hand.

We have lovely birds here, too. We also have two cats both pretty ancient now thank goodness. Baby bird time and cats are a nightmare.

We have two pairs of jackdaws which are very entertaining. They were around years ago and then disappeared.This year the have taken a fancy to our neighbour's two disused chimneys. The nearly fledged babies keep falling down inside and the only way he can rescue them is by reaching in with a \"helping hand\". Wonderful gadget. Came round yesterday with one to leave under one of the trees in our garden as that was where the parents were agitating. The baby was completely relaxed and unconcerned in his hands. You can see how easy it would be to tame them but I hate the idea of captive birds. It was soon reclaimed by its parents.

They are costing us a fortune in fat balls!

11

Amycakes, hope you start to improve very quickly

12

Two baby jackdaws may be entertaining - more of their parents are NOT! Believe me! I had an expensive chimney clearing to deal with an infestation of flies - hundreds and hundreds (honestly) in one of our bedrooms in the summer two years running. The cast iron and very beautiful open fireplaces were no longer used as Durham was a smoke-free zone so they weren't swept regularly and the daws hadn't been noticed (probably by our predecessors). They had blocked the chimney and their nests are filthy - hence the flies which laid eggs which allowed the flies to appear in the house later. They cleared two large bin bags of twigs, wool, hair and heaven knows what out of it.

Warn the neighbour! :roll:

Eileen

13

Hi All

Just to let you know rang for results of blood tests today, & Doc says E.S.R 30 so its dropped from the last count at 33 & 38.

He said too that my white blood cells were raised, could be the infection.any ideas?

Anyway seeing him next week if I dont feel any better, though I have been able to function ok , dressed showered & back to almost normal.

Had a few visitors today who cheered me up, so a bit tired now, resting with my feet up for a while.

He only gave me 28 prednisolone so had to ask him for more , it doesnt last that long when you are on 23 1/2 everyday.

Told me not to drop till he sees me again.

Hope you are all having a good day.

Cheers Amycakes.

14

Amycakes

At least it's going in the right direction!

As for the white cell count, I was admitted to A&E shortly after being diagnosed and commencing on 40mgs and the doctor informed me that my white cell count was raised, adding that it was probably due to the high dose steroids. Let's hope that as you come down on the dose, the count will return to normal as it did for me. :ok:

MrsOxx

15

Well thats good news that it is going in the right direction and also good news that you are feeling better

The trouble with these ESR and CRP readings is most people dont know what there norm is !!

The year my PMR came back I had a bit of a panic when I felt in the March ( it came back Oct that year ) it was coming back pains at top of arms etc and my Dr thought the same so she gave me a prescrip in case it really deteriorated and I had bloods taken by the time I saw her about 5 days later I felt great again and she was concerned I might have started steroids as my bloods were 2 and 3 !!!! and this really is what she regards as my norm We then discussed do you have a weakness after PMR so pain goes to those muscles as if you have a recurring back problem ??

She didnt know but anybody who sees a Rheumy they get along with might like to ask ? When my PMR came back in the Oct my readings were both in the 30s

Mrs G

16

Amycakes

Just a thought, have you had a Vit D deficiency test?

If not ask for one.

Use the search engine on this site and read the thread on Vit D.

Alternatively, visit the Northeast support group site and read the Christmas Newsletter. Article on Vit D. Courtesy of MrsK and EileenH and checked professional medical people before printing.

17

No MrsK, I have not had a vit D test, when I asked about it my G.P. said they dont do that , thought I was too healthy to need one anyway.

I do take a supplement of Calcium & Vit D twice everyday, plus I sit in the sun for a short while when I can.

As you all say its going in the right direction, thanks for your input all of you.

I am also on the Manuka honey on my toast every morning , trying to boost my immune system.

Will ask the other G.P I see next week about vit D.

Your right too Mrs G ,not sure what the norm is for E.S.R. or C.R.P. anyway.

Hope you are all having a good day today

Cheers Amycakes.

18

Hi Amycakes!

Normal levels of CRP vary slightly from lab to lab depending on the exact method used to measure it. It should be less than 10 mg/litre (1mg/100mls), rises naturally with age, and rises a lot if there is any inflammation in the body - but like the ESR is very non-specific and may not be raised in PMR. Apparently it is also rarely raised in rheumatoid arthritis and there is plenty of inflammation there!

ESR can be anything up to about 35 to 40 and that is normal (age plus 10 and divide that figure by 2 as a rough guide). Above 40 is the borderline where the doc should be thinking \"is something going on here?\" but some people don't have raised values - mine has always been in single figures the whole time I have had PMR even when it was really bad.

ESR and CRP are GUIDES and only guides, the diagnosis needs to be made on the basis of a clinical examination and taking a clinical history - both, sadly, fast disappearing skills as young doctors fail to understand that the laboratory results are not the be all and end all of diagnosis. But it's easy to look and see \"within normal limits\" :roll: .

Your state of health has little to do with your vit D level unless a child develops rickets - but having PMR is an indication to test it, especially if they want you to take alendronic acid! Unless your vit D level is OK the AA won't work, however much they give you.

19

Thanks Eileen for the info , interesting.

Did take AA for a while till I read all the scary side effects ,& I stopped taking them.

Very tired today , but head not so fuzzy, think I have got over the virus anyway.

Fingers crossed things will improve soon.

I am praying when I get to a lower dose I will feel more like my old self?

In the lap of the Gods I guess.

Take care my friends , hoping you are feeling good today

Cheers Amycakes.