Jonathan
Hi, my mum who's 68 was diagnosed with polymyalgia last summer. I'm combing the net to try and find any info I can. I'm slightly disheartened to read the comments from the people that are still fighting it after five years, as everything I keep reading infers that there's a good chance that it will disappear completely after two years. the trouble is, and I hope the lady who made the original post reads this, while corticosteroids (predisone) make the symptoms disappear almost overnight, the side effects are very dangerous. Shortly before Christmas my mother felt a terrible pain in her upper leg, and after a pointless referral to an osteopath by our doctor, she insisted on an x-ray and they discovered that she had a broken pelvis. The steroids can make the bones much moe brittle and prone to stuff like this, and she has also put on an awful lot of weight. I have two close friends who are doctors, and they have suggested the following to me. Several clinical trials have shown that devil's claw soothes pain, and can reduce the need for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs. Also effective are vegetable oils such as flaxseed and oily fish, such as salmon and mackerel, that contain the omega-3 essential fatty acids. I have ordered some devil's claw, and we're going to try it, but other than that, as I'm sure everyone who's posted about this topic knows, it's very much a waiting gam. Anyway - I was very interested to read the replies here. Best wishes and fingers crossed! Jonathan, London, England