Polymyalgia
in [Fibromyalgia]
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From: annie306 on 2 Feb 2006 12:24 Is there a difference between fibromyalgia and polymyalgia.? I was given Prednisone,which helps somewhat,however,i was told that i cant take it for a long period,due to the side effects,such as bone deteriatetion.What other meds have proven helpful?Love to read your column.
From: Jamie Dolan on 2 Feb 2006 13:06 > I was given Prednisone,which helps somewhat,however,i was told that i cant > take it for a long period,due to the side effects,such as bone > deteriatetion.What other meds have proven helpful?Love to read your column. If prednisone is really helping, it is almost certainly due to it helping with inflammation. The same is true with solumedrol and synthetic corticosteroid drugs. All drugs (Medications) in this class have potentially very serious side effects with long terms use, and the benefit must outweigh the risk. To give you an idea, the following, are just some of the long term effects of the use of synthetic corticosteroid drugs, even at relatively low doses (If given long term): weight gain, facial swelling, nervousness, acne, rash, increased appetite, upset stomach, stomach irritation, vomiting, headache, dizziness, isomnia, restlessness, depression, anxiety, acne, increased, hair, growth, easy, bruising, irregular or absent menstrual periods, depression, unusual, fatigue, or, weakness, blurred, vision,abdominal, pain, peptic, ulcer, infections, painful, hips, or, shoulders, osteoporosis, skin, rash, swollen, face, lower, legs, or, ankles, vision, problems, cold, or, infection, that, lasts, a, long, time, muscle, weakness,black, or, tarry, stool. A extremely rare, but very serious side effect of corticosteroid drugs use is the potential for avascular necrosis of the hips. This can require an emergency hip replacement. Most of the time this only occurs rarely after long term use, but it can occur suddenly, even after a few days. Next to your question about what other medications can be helpful. I would suggest you consider medications that are in the NSAID class if you can tolerate them, there are multiple sub classes of these drugs, Including: Salicylates, Arylalkanoic acids, 2-Arylpropionic acids (profens), N-Arylanthranilic acids (fenamic acids), Oxicams, Coxibs (Cox 2 inhibitors), and Sulphonanilides. (Also a Cox3 inhibitor may be available soon). These medications include: Salicylates,Aspirin, Methyl salicylate, Diflunisal, Arylalkanoic acids,Indomethacin, Sulindac, Diclofenac, 2-Arylpropionic acids (profens),Ibuprofen, Ketoprofen, Naproxen, Ketorolac, Carprofen, Fenoprofen, N-Arylanthranilic acids (fenamic acids)Mefenamic acid, Oxicams,Piroxicam, Meloxicam, Coxibs, Celecoxib, Rofecoxib, (withdrawn from market), Valdecoxib, Parecoxib, Etoricoxib, and Sulphonanilides,Nimesulide. Some of these like Asprin, Ibprophen, and Naproxen are available over the counter, at some doses. All of these medications can reduce inflammation and have far less side effects than synthetic corticosteroid drugs. The main side effect that you have to be careful of is bleeding ulcers that are caused by this class of medications. These can usually be treated without surgery. Report unusual symptoms immediately, especially signs of blood in the stool. These may or may not be a good choice for you. I suggest you talk to your doctor about the potential benefit of using these. This class of drugs is most likely the most frequently administered drug on the planet namely aspirin, (possibly a tie with Tylenol). I have read more about polymyalgia, and depending on the co-existing conditions that are present, it may be necessary to take synthetic corticosteroid drugs to prevent worsening of the disease, such as blindness. As I said, if taking long term synthetic corticosteroid drugs, the benefits must outweigh the risks, and I strongly suggest you at a minimum talk to a specialist, and better yet, get a second opinion. I hope I did not scare you too much, I just wanted to inform you and answer your questions. Please let me know if you have further questions. Good Luck. Jamie
From: johnie on 2 Feb 2006 15:21 annie, here is a good starting place for info on polymyalgia. It is quite different than FM. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000415.htm johnie annie306 wrote: > Is there a difference between fibromyalgia and polymyalgia.? > I was given Prednisone,which helps somewhat,however,i was told that i cant > take it for a long period,due to the side effects,such as bone > deteriatetion.What other meds have proven helpful?Love to read your column.
From: acoftil on 2 Feb 2006 16:45 On Thu, 02 Feb 2006 17:24:00 GMT, "annie306" <annie306(a)nyc.rr.com> etched permanently into the ether: >Is there a difference between fibromyalgia and polymyalgia.? >I was given Prednisone,which helps somewhat,however,i was told that i cant >take it for a long period,due to the side effects,such as bone >deteriatetion.What other meds have proven helpful?Love to read your column. > They are totally unrelated disorders. Polymyalgia involves inflammation, fibromyalgia does not. The treatments for Polymyalgia are more direct. Have you searched on the word, "Polymyalgia" or "Polymyalgia treatment"? I really don't know any more than that. You can have both. YMMV, HTH, Nancy Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing. to email me, remove the Z
From: Nann Bell on 2 Feb 2006 21:27
On Thu, 2 Feb 2006 12:24:00 -0500, annie306 wrote (in message <QerEf.13676$cj3.6951(a)news-wrt-01.rdc-nyc.rr.com>): > Is there a difference between fibromyalgia and polymyalgia.? > I was given Prednisone,which helps somewhat,however,i was told that i cant > take it for a long period,due to the side effects,such as bone > deteriatetion.What other meds have proven helpful?Love to read your column. > > the full name of polymyalgia is polymyalgia rheumatica, also often called PMR, though web searching on polymyalgia should find you lots of info. in addition to what others said, prednisone is THE treatment for pmr, though some resistent cases also end up on methotrexate. generally they try to get you tapered off of the prednisone within a year or two, but not everyone can get completely off it. my mom was diagnosed with pmr about 6 years ago. at the time her sedrate (a lab test that indicates inflammation) wasn't high, but her symptoms and her rapid response to pred proved the diagnosis. she required higher doses of pred than her doc expected AND had to stay at 20mg/day for about 18 months before she could taper any without flaring up. she's down to a very low dose now, i think 2 mg/day, but is not yet completely off it. this isn't to scare you, she was atypical, but just to give you some background if you start to feel that they are reducing your prednisone to soon. We also have a neighbor who has pmr and she's been tapering since about 2 months into taking pred, but they're doing the taper very slowly, 1mg/month i believe. -- Nann remove the Gator cheer to email me Simply the thing I am shall make me live --- William Shakespeare |