Polymyositis & Dermatomyositis Support Group

Polymyositis (PM) is a type of chronic inflammation of the muscles (inflammatory myopathy) related to dermatomyositis and inclusion body myositis. The inflammation is predominantly of the endomysium in polymyositis, whereas dermatomyositis is characterized by primarily perimysial inflammation.

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amberhere 04/26/2014

Hi all, today my hands are really painful and swollen and my foot so I have had to go back up to 9mg steroid yet again. Tried 8 1/2mg for a couple of weeks but felt really rough. What a nuisance this prednisone is - I will have to try again I guess in a couple of weeks time. At the moment I am really upset.

trpt1 04/27/2014

Hi JNS, I think everyone has covered well your question about prednisone plus a DMARD. I would like to add that the DMARD that gets added with the prednisone is for killing bad cells. For example, I take Cellcept and that kills bad B cells. Cellcept slows down my disease progress. The Prednisone will lower high CPK and assist with regaining muscle strength. Prednisone is used widely with many rheumatic diseases and so are the different DMARDs.

Be sure to discuss with your doctor about the subject of adrenal insufficiency. You will need to have a plan when taking 5mg of prednisone or below 5mg incase you get sick.

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