I was put on a 5 day course of steroids and would rate the next 7 days on a scale of 1-10 at a 10 being one of my worst days. I feel the steroids cause a reaction and may not have been the best drug to try. Is there any other way to determine if I do infact have Polymyalgia rheumatica since the steroid test did not improve my symptoms? I seem to have almost all the typical symptoms except weight loss. This seems more possible than fibromyalgia. I'm at a loss and still in pain.
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Hi Anon,
Welcome to EmpowHER and thanks for your question. Some test that are done to diagnose polymyalgia rheumatica are.
Sed rate, or erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), measures the distance red blood cells, or erythrocytes (uh-RITH-roh-sites), fall in a test tube in one hour. The distance indirectly measures the level of inflammation — the farther the red blood cells have descended, the greater the inflammatory response of your immune system. An increased rate occurs because of certain changes to red blood cell properties in response to inflammation. C-reactive protein test measures the concentration of C-reactive proteins in your blood. Production of this protein and its release into your bloodstream increase when your immune system initiates an inflammatory response. Therefore, a high concentration of C-reactive protein indicates increased inflammatory activity. Imaging tests
Ultrasound imaging, which uses sound waves to produce images of soft tissues, may reveal inflammation of tissues within the shoulder and hip joints that can support a diagnosis of polymyalgia rheumatica. These images may also help identify or rule out other causes of your symptoms.
Here's a link that can help,
https://www.empowher.com/condition/polymyalgia-rheumatica
Best of luck,
November 1, 2011 - 7:21amDaisy
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