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.
i saw my rheumatologist for the first time yesterday and was very encouraged by my visit. he definitely thinks i have DM and seemed very confident that we can get me feeling good again. he seemed to know a lot about the disease and how to treat it. i was not really getting any relief from the prednisone so he switched me to medrol. if the side effects are any indication about how well the medicine will work, i should start feeling better pretty soon. my heart is racing and i feel like the next person to talk to me is gonna get their face ripped off. :)
He got me in with a surgeon for a muscle biopsy on sept 12th. He said ideally that would have been done BEFORE I started steroid therapy but you also have to consider your quality of life while you are waiting and he felt it was still good to go ahead and get the muscle biopsy done. he is having them do it in my upper left arm which is where most of my pain is concentrated.
He said we would soon switch to methotrexate and ween me off the steroids. He seemed very confident that with some time and the right meds I can get back to feeling pretty normal again which was wonderful to hear. I sure hope he is right!
He gave me a lot of good information and really seemed to listen to me which I found very reassuing. He said my cpk (?) number was 541 which he called "puny" for DM. :) He said that is a great sign that we caught it early and can hopefully get me into remission soon.
So, I"m hopeful for the future anyway. I'm a little nervous too. Just waiting to see how all these meds shake out side effect wise. I have given notice to my two friends I babysit for that I am going to need to take a little time off to focus on me now. That leaves me feeling horribly guilty but I have to do it.
Thank you to everyone on this site for their advice and support. It has been greatly appreciated. :)
He got me in with a surgeon for a muscle biopsy on sept 12th. He said ideally that would have been done BEFORE I started steroid therapy but you also have to consider your quality of life while you are waiting and he felt it was still good to go ahead and get the muscle biopsy done. he is having them do it in my upper left arm which is where most of my pain is concentrated.
He said we would soon switch to methotrexate and ween me off the steroids. He seemed very confident that with some time and the right meds I can get back to feeling pretty normal again which was wonderful to hear. I sure hope he is right!
He gave me a lot of good information and really seemed to listen to me which I found very reassuing. He said my cpk (?) number was 541 which he called "puny" for DM. :) He said that is a great sign that we caught it early and can hopefully get me into remission soon.
So, I"m hopeful for the future anyway. I'm a little nervous too. Just waiting to see how all these meds shake out side effect wise. I have given notice to my two friends I babysit for that I am going to need to take a little time off to focus on me now. That leaves me feeling horribly guilty but I have to do it.
Thank you to everyone on this site for their advice and support. It has been greatly appreciated. :)
My best to you, shawna
Maggie
Love Hugs and Prayers
It's great that you found a rheumy who knows what they're doing with myositis. Be sure to consider taking something for sleep, but not melatonin because it stimulates the immune system too much. Loss of sleep can make you feel so much worse than DM alone does. Good luck on the fourney!
~Lucky