Anyone with PMR ( Polymyalgia rheumatica ) ? on Prednisone

dea131313

Hi, I have had PMR Polymyalgia rheumatica now for near 2 years, I am on Prednisone for it and hate that drug, but no other choice for the pain and high inflammation with PMR.

Not a lot is known about PMR, but over the last few years more and more cases are showing up It took the specialists ages to diagnose me, as the only test is a SED test for high inflammation and a few symptoms , then put on Prednisone and if the pain goes then it PMR. Crazy.....

I was on 40mg of Preds now down to 12mg and still doing a very slow taper.

My concern as most of you that are on Prednisone is the weight gain. Very hard to lose it while on this drug.

Catch22 for me because I also have severe facet joint Osteoarthritis in my lower spine, so not a lot of exercise, I do the pool and walk when I can...

I would like to be friends with anyone else with PMR or that are on Prednisone for advice and to help each other with our journey's .

Gentle Healing All / Dea

Cheesy567

I don’t have PMR, but I’m on high dose prednisone (60mg/day, unable to wean yet) for Myasthenia Gravis, which also affects muscles. It limits my ability to exercise, too.

I’ve found that a low-carb diet controls the cravings from prednisone the best. I’m sensitive to being too low-carb, though— becoming ketogenic affects my breathing, because of the MG and how unstable it was. So, I started by decreasing my carbs just a bit, by about 10-20gm carb/ day every week or so, until I reached a point where cravings were managed, but the MG wasn’t affected.

This past year my specialist did not want me to focus on weight loss (because of how the ketosis affects my breathing with the MG), so instead I focused on maintaining my weight at 320-330 pounds. Honestly, it was the first time I ever maintained my weight through the fall and didn’t gain a bunch. It took almost as much work to maintain it as it does to lose it. I’m glad I worked on that, though; it’s not a skill set I had before.

In Nov he cleared medically me to start losing weight again. I simply dropped my calories by about 150-200/day, mainly dropping my carbs a bit more from my maintenance levels, and it’s been working. I’m down about 10lb since Dec 18.

doe5133

I've been on prednisone for almost 3 years for polymyalgia, COPD, Crohns and Gout, and only have one kidney due to cancer. I gained 35 lbs in that time. I've tried about everything include Weight Watchers, Military Diet, Lose It, etc, but have finally found a diet that fits my likes and dislikes. I have managed to taper down from 20 mg to 2 mg of prednisone and even though I have had two steroid injections this month for sacral inflammation, Keto is working for me. With almond flour I can have a sweet without running out of carbs in one meal. And while I am sure I am eating too much cheese, I'm trying to up my fiber by having half cup of spinach cooked with an egg and wrapped in a Mama Lupe's 3 net carb tortilla for two breakfasts each week. Since the first of the year I have lost 9 lbs. I am not starving. I have been surprised at the actual carbs of a lot of veggies I consider healthy, but it means I eat half a cup of asparagus or brussel sprouts instead of a cup. I am surprised what "fat" has added to my life. I can even enjoy a slice of French bread with garlic butter. And when I pop a quarter size almond based snickerdoodle ( 1.5 carb) in my mouth I am satisfied without having to eat a dozen of them -- because of the butter. I've tried Atkins, sort of, but I find Keto much more to my liking. And I was happy to discover this diet gets an okay from most renal physicians.

julie_roberts3

Hi, i was diagnosed with PMR in April this year. At my last appointment, my doctor suggested a low carb diet and gave me a print out created by Dr David Unwin, a UK based GP that advocates this type of diet for his patients with diabetes with great results.

I am currently take 15mg of Prednisolone each morning, along with a multi vitamin/calcium tablet. Where i am struggling is with the conflicting information around the low carb diet. I have started to follow a number of Keto/Low Carb instagram accounts and they seem to just each meat smothered in cheese and drink coffee with added butter and or cream.
However, last night i watched an excellent documentary on Netflix called "The Magic Pill", they advised what food you should/shouldn't eat on a low carb diet, and they said no diary. So now i am confused!!

I have another GP appointment tomorrow and I am going in armed with a list of questions after the research I have been doing over the last few weeks. I'll keep you updated with how I go on. So far, I have had hardly noticed any weight gain but i am trying to track my calories and carbs using MFP and taking slow gentle exercise (walking the dog for 10 mins about four times a day).

Great to be able to speak to other people that understand.
Julie