Hi all~ First I want to say thank you all for so many wonderful , knowlegable, and uplifting words from you all! especially you Eileen, thanks for sharing so much.
Also I am so sorry not to respond earlier, but I have more bad news. I saw my new GP , and had a pap test, physical, etc. (My blood work has not been done yet . But I was told that i have a slight heart murmur, and a goiter??? I have to have a ultrasound done friday of heart and neck.
But , worse news yet, my pap smear came back abnormal. Mind u I haven t had a bad pap ever. I guess it is called severe dyplsia??? I have to go to gynocoligist on monday for biopsy of my cervix.
I cannot all these new health problems , since diagnosed with pmr.
Its just a nighmare. I am so worried~
Has anyone had anything like this??? I wonder if its from inflammation?? or some terrible underlying problem.
Eileen, today was my first day taking the medrol 8mg, all at once this morning, as I usually split it in 2 doses.
wishing you all well, Marie Louise
It does seem unfair when we're told we have other things besides PMR - it's enough on its own. I spent 3 weeks in hospital 3 years ago and left with a suitcase of heart/BP meds after atrial fibrillation due to sick sinus syndrome was identified - probably due to damage from the autoimmune part of the disease.
Goitre probably means an underactive thyroid - it could also be autoimmune - and that probably just means taking thyroxine.
And finding abnormal cells on a PAP doesn't have be the end of the world if you have had regular smears done before. That is the reason for having regular ones as cervical dysplasia causes no symptoms and is usually a pre-stage, not yet cancer. They'll do a biopsy to be sure what stage it is at so they can treat it appropriately and then you will be monitored every year. There is no point worrying until the results of the biopsy show what it is. You're having one done very quickly so you'll also know very soon.
But I know the feeling - cotton-wool brain and flat panic about what it will be. Far better to be foundearly than not - when you already have symptoms it is sometimes a bit late.
Hello Marie Louise, Eileen has given you some helpful reassurance and advice about your goitre and PAP queries, and I thought I might be able to also reassure you about your "slight heart murmur" worries. I was found to have a heart murmur whilst being investigated for what turned out to be either viral or bacterial meningitis some years ago, long before PMR and GCA struck. The heart murmur was investigated and found to be caused by a leaky aortic heart valve, but it has so far remained stable so not requiring intervention. Hopefully, further investigation will prove nothing unduly untoward for you as well, especially as the murmur has been described as "slight". Rheumatic fever in childhood can result in a heart murmur.
Good luck on Monday, and do let us know how you get on.
Don't panic about the pap test, many of these abnormal smears go back to normal, or can be dealt with relatively easily. I am a retired Nurse,wh used to do these, but I also had a pre-cancer result many yeas ago and following a minor procedure I have had no further problems.
gosh, sometimes when it rains it pours! I am sending good thoughts your way...
Oh thanks again! I guess I am over the top being so worried.
What is sick sinus syndrom? 3 weeks in the hospital, thats a long time! was it all due to your pmr, heart problems?
Your a strong lady Eileen! 10 years with this bear....I have only had it probably a year, but really bad since oct/2014.
By the way I took another 4mg this evening. I took 8mg this morning. But I have been in alot of pain the last few days. I hope its ok to do that. I don't think 8mg is doing anything for me, so I will up it a bit, for now. I no longer have my same rhuemy, so I have to wait until end of april/may, for 1st appt. !! I can't beleive I have to wait so long.
also is it ok to mix prednisone and mthypredsolone?? I still have the pred, I never got a very high dose of it. Thats probably why it didn't work. I do want to switch to it, but don't know if I should. Plus I guess I can no longer call my old rhuemy for advise~
thats why americas medical/ health care is so screwed up! take care, marie louise
Oh thank you MrsO, for all your advise. Sounds like you went through all this with your heart murmur. I am so glad that it has ben fine all these years. I will let u all know about tomorrows visit . take care, marie louise
Thanks Penelope, I guess I am so worried because they said its a sevre case. Then reading about some cases, having to have a hysteroctmy, has just scared me more......... I will see tomorrow what he thinks, take care, marie louise
Hi. I know just how you feel. My downward spiral started when I was diagnosed with Spinal Stenosis four years ago. Then came PMR in Jan. 14 followed by heart problems (still unresolved but I am now wondering if it is a side effect of the Omeprazole), high blood pressure that refuses to respond to medication and now type 2 diabetes! Sometimes I am scared to visit the doctor as it seems that every time I go, they 'give' me a new disease! I dread people asking 'How are you doing'. If I answer honestly I feel like a terrible hypochondriac! You are not alone. Wishing you all the best and fingers crossed for you with your test results. Debbie
There is a set of cells in the heart called the sinus node that emit electrical signals to tell your heart to beat rythmically. They are damaged in some way and sometimes emit nonsense signals - like the difference between the proper picture on the TV and when there is interference. So a lot of the time my heart beats OK but occasionally it went daft and sort of shook. One way of dealing with it is to destroy the rogue cells but that is really a last resort - mine is fine with medication.
I tripped and fell and my back just seized up in response, sort of whiplash injury. I was admitted for a couple of nights to sort that out with infusions but I had a rare but known reaction to one of the drugs - I'd had the atrial fibrillation before but not recognised the palpitations as being particularly bad. This time it went mad! I was kept in until they had sorted it all out - that's the way they do things here. In the UK I'd have been sent home and the rest done as outpatient tests. I have to say - 3 weeks in hospital is no fun but I preferred this way, they were very thorough.
I'd discuss things with your PCP and see what he thinks - or don't your PCPs do stuff like that? In the UK and here in Italy the GP would take at least a bit of responsibility between times. The increase in PMR pain is almost certainly in response to the stress of your other medical problems so do try not to worry too much - as Penelope says, sometimes these return to normal and hysterectomy is very low down the list of approaches. Leave worrying about that until it has happened.
My husband has a murmur - found at 18 when he had a medical to work for BP, the oil company, while at Uni. The cardiologist he was sent to said "Nothing to worry about. Well you might drop dead tomorrow - but you could equally well live to be 95." He was very popular at Uni with all the medical students because they wanted to practise listening to it!