Polymyalgiarheumatica

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master6
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Polymyalgiarheumatica

Postby master6 » Tue Nov 15, 2011 5:59 pm

Who has had it? How long did it last?

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scotto
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Polymyalgiarheumatica

Postby scotto » Tue Nov 15, 2011 10:29 pm

It's a crappy term for "I don't really have a clue what's wrong with you but your symptoms form a vague pattern".
Typically from pain specialists or rheumatologists

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Re: Polymyalgiarheumatica

Postby master6 » Wed Nov 16, 2011 1:59 pm

scotto wrote:It's a crappy term for "I don't really have a clue what's wrong with you but your symptoms form a vague pattern".
Typically from pain specialists or rheumatologists
Fair enough. I am not expecting our medical professionals to have a solution to every problem. Honesty is appreciated.

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Re: Polymyalgiarheumatica

Postby nutsack » Wed Nov 16, 2011 11:53 pm

scotto wrote:It's a crappy term for "I don't really have a clue what's wrong with you but your symptoms form a vague pattern".
Typically from pain specialists or rheumatologists
That's fibromyalgia.

Poly myalgia is a diagnosable autoimmune disease with clear definable symptomology and abnormal laboratory test findings.

The only effective treatment is steroids and cases can last a few months to years.
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Re: Polymyalgiarheumatica

Postby master6 » Thu Nov 17, 2011 8:31 am

nutsack wrote:
scotto wrote:It's a crappy term for "I don't really have a clue what's wrong with you but your symptoms form a vague pattern".
Typically from pain specialists or rheumatologists
That's fibromyalgia.

Poly myalgia is a diagnosable autoimmune disease with clear definable symptomology and abnormal laboratory test findings.

The only effective treatment is steroids and cases can last a few months to years.
Thanks nutsack. Can you suggest where I might look for information about the abnormal laboratory test findings please?

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Re: Polymyalgiarheumatica

Postby sogood » Thu Nov 17, 2011 9:41 am

Roid is wonderful and will be your friend for a short while. :wink:
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RK wrote:And that is Wikipedia - I can write my own definition.

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Re: Polymyalgiarheumatica

Postby master6 » Thu Nov 17, 2011 11:36 am

sogood wrote:Roid is wonderful and will be your friend for a short while. :wink:
This is a serious matter, not another "how to clean your chain" session".

What are you saying?

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Re: Polymyalgiarheumatica

Postby sogood » Thu Nov 17, 2011 2:11 pm

master6 wrote:This is a serious matter, not another "how to clean your chain" session".
What are you saying?
Indeed all health matters are serious. As mentioned by the earlier post, 'roid (eg. Prednisone) is highly effective in PMR and typically gives quick response and a good outcome. But given it's an inflammatory rheumatic condition ie. auto-immune, I'd be more considerate of whether there's any associated conditions. Further, your doctor will advise you on the effect of extended steroid therapy, one that should be closely monitored and tapered according to your clinical circumstances. But relax, there are far worse conditions to get out there and PMR is not on my big worry list.

Good luck in your recovery.
Bianchi, Ridley, Tern, Montague and All things Apple :)
RK wrote:And that is Wikipedia - I can write my own definition.

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Re: Polymyalgiarheumatica

Postby scotto » Fri Nov 18, 2011 5:06 pm

nutsack wrote:
scotto wrote:It's a crappy term for "I don't really have a clue what's wrong with you but your symptoms form a vague pattern".
Typically from pain specialists or rheumatologists
That's fibromyalgia.

Poly myalgia is a diagnosable autoimmune disease with clear definable symptomology and abnormal laboratory test findings.

The only effective treatment is steroids and cases can last a few months to years.
:oops: :oops: :oops: just goes to show we all screw up. i imagine i read ...myalgia and the eyes started rolling !!

PMR is a different animal, corticosteroids work well...

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Re: Polymyalgiarheumatica

Postby Joltman » Mon Jan 02, 2012 12:55 pm

master6 wrote:Who has had it? How long did it last?
Hi master6

I first encountered symptoms that would eventually be diagnosed as polymyalgiarheumatica around October / November 2010. I had swollen ankles, swollen knees and swollen joints in both hands. The joints in my hands had reduced movement as did my ankles. The range of movement in my hands became so limited that I was unable to grip a broom handle and were slowly becoming worse.

After numerous tests returned results that were non indicative of anything other than I had some inflammation and X-rays that ruled out arthritis I was diagnosed with polymyalgiarheumatica. Basically my doctors (GP and rheumatologist) were stumped and it seems when they are stumped you get diagnosed with polymyalgiarheumatica.

A couple of months before the symptoms developed I started to drink coke zero / Pepsi max in lieu of the standard sugary varieties. The switch in part was prompted by a visit to Singapore where Pepsi light ( the local artificial sweetener Pepsi ) tastes better then the normal variety. I mostly drink water and these beverages were only consumed with lunch and / or dinner.

Some research on the Internet into polymyalgiarheumatica ( gotta make sure that you have a bag a salt close by when sniffing around on the intarwebs ) suggested that some people have adverse reactions to the artificial sweeteners used in these drinks. The reactions are quite wide ranging and some were close to that I was experiencing. Another possible culprit was something close to Lyme disease transmitted via tic bite. Since I had been tested for Lyme disease and the results were negative it ruled out that possibility.

I attempted to discuss the artificial sweetner reactions scenario with my doctors but it didn't seem that interesting to them. I didn't have anything to loose by cutting out drinks with artificial sweetener so I decided to reduce and eventually cut out these drinks altogether. It took about a month to stop drinking them.

Initially this had no effect on my symptoms but over the course of the next two months they began to recede, slowly at first and gathering pace as time went on. I don't know if artificial sweetener actually did result in polymyalgiarheumatica in my case or not. I don't have any real scientific data to back it up. If I drink more that 2 375ml cans or coke zero or Pepsi max in a week I do notice some tightness of the hand joints return then recede over the next few days. Again I have no idea if theis is a placebo effect or not. I'm not really willing to go through the hell that was buggered up hands again to find out and since my doctors didn't seem to find any interest in the idea that artificial sweeteners could have this effect I'd have no one looking collecting and looking at results objectively.

joltman

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Re: Polymyalgiarheumatica

Postby master6 » Mon Jan 02, 2012 4:50 pm

Thanks Joltman. Prior to this thread, I had raised the subject in a previous thread:-

http://bicycles.net.au/forums/viewtopic ... ia#p560209

I am a diet coke regular user, 1 or 2 cans per day. There are 3 boxes in the garage, awaiting my attention. I can recall being a "1 can a day" drinker of standard coke when I lived in Mt Isa in 1990. It usually contained a cap full of Bundaberg Rum. I changed to Diet Coke long ago, possibly around 2000. A cap full of rum continued until about christmas 2007. Since then, I have consumed the premixed rum and coke cans on rare occasions; the presentation dinners of the 08,09, and 10 Graftons. Severe pains commenced in my back, neck, top of head, hands, and knees the morning after the 07 Grafton. The pains continued until August 08, when I consulted a GP in Brisbane, and he prescribed Prednisone. I took the dosage that night, and bounded out of bed and up Mt Nebo next morning, pain free. Attempts to wean off prednisone have resulted in pain returning when I get to 2mg daily. Since my annual visit to my Rheumatoligist in Hobart in early 2010, I have been pain free on 3mg prednisone , and 200mg celebrex, daily.
I am returning to my Rheumatoligist in April 2012. He is of the view that a low dose of prednisone might be permanent, and has left experimentation with dosage up to me.
Your suggestion about the diet coke is appreciated, and I will try an exclusion period to see what results. I turn 64 in March. Perhaps I should ditch the coke, and resume the rum, with water :) ?
Any useful news will be reported back to you
Thanks,
Jeff

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