The steroids put me back on my feet
I am Scottish and live in Northern Italy. I have been diagnosed as having GCA and I would like to share my story with you as I hope it may be of help to someone as the stories of others with GCA have helped me.
Finding people with the same condition
My story began on 6th November 2007. I had been feeling strange for a while, and felt I had flu but nothing definite. I went to the doctor and some blood tests were taken. Later that week I hobbled into the doctor’s with gout, something I had never had before.
If you suspect that somebody you know has PMR
In early 2008 I was a fairly fit specimen for my age, male and just turned 61. I had one or two little complaints but nothing too serious and they didn’t stop me using my mountain bike in the hilly forests around where I live.
Prednisolone did remove the pains almost overnight
Over time, I had developed minor stomach problems due to excess acid and a visit to my GP was required. He prescribed the modern anti-acid remedy, a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) and that solved the stomach problem after a short course. My stomach problem reoccurred, my fault, and I got another supply of PPI which again fixed the acid problem but I began to have increasing pains in my major muscle groups while taking the PPI.
I couldn’t raise my arms above waist level
3 years ago I was diagnosed with PMR at the age of 56. It was only affecting my arms & shoulders but was very painful & I couldn’t raise my arms above waist level. After many months the Prednisolone was down to a maintenance level of 2mg but I could never get below that as the symptoms would come back.
Now I go with the flow a bit more
I have had this condition for almost 2 years, though I was only diagnosed 18 months ago. My first reaction was that I was going to beat it. I tried to continue with my life as before and became totally exhausted and depressed. One year on I realized that I had done everything in my power, had swallowed dozens of potions, followed up every bit of advice but the illness was no better. In other words PMR had beaten me.