Natural Remedies for Polymyalgia Rheumatica Relief

Leslie,

Sorry to hear of the PMR. It is, indeed, a difficult problem to handle without the steroids. I will try to make this as short as possible: woke up in December with pain in my left shoulder and upper arm. Shortly thereafter, both legs began to hurt - felt like shin splints. I couldn't remember any physical activity that could have been the cause. During the next few weeks, I intermittently had pain in my hips, both shoulders and trapezius muscle. I have worked in the medical "industry" all my life, and so it finally clicked that I had all the symptoms of PMR. I knew the indicated treatment was prednisone, but since I had been on prednisone for 35 years for intractable asthma (took me 2 years to wean myself off), I preferred an alternate solution. Intent on finding a non-steroidal treatment, I read every available bit of material - this site being my first go-to. Being fed up with the pain, and an impatient person to boot, I used my usual shotgun approach!

Now, it is about 5 months later, and I am almost pain free from my self diagnosed polymyalgia. You can try things one at a time if you wish, or go for my all in approach, but this was what worked for me: Colloidal silver 10 ppm 2 Tb 3x a day (there is evidence that PMR is brought on by residual virus), Olive Leaf extract (same reason), homeopathic arnica montana 30x 4 pellets 2x a day, homeopathic hypericum perf. 30x 4pellets 2x a day, rhus toxicodendrum 6x 4 pellets 2x a day, vitamin B 50, benfotiamine 300, Alpha Lipoic Acid 600mg, and Turmeric, Bromelain, and Devils Claw throughout the day (when I thought of it). Additionally, heat feels really good, and when I needed a pain medication, aspirin worked the best.

Phew! I know, it is a lot. But, for me, much better than prednisone. Also, keep in mind, I did not have an official diagnosis. I know very little about homeopathic remedies, but did an enormous amount of reading, and came up with this combo. I apologize for the length of my post, but this particular problem is fairly complicated. Hope you are feeling better soon.

I too have polymyalgia and have read your blog with great interest. I wondered what you meant about the lauralin pellets causing detox symptoms. What symptoms would they be please?
Thanks

If I have PMR at all, it's very mild. The doctor wanted to put me on a trial week of steroids but I declined in view of all the nasty side effects. Also, most of the time I don't need to take anything at all for my various aches and pains, so taking steroids would be like killing a mouse with a howitzer. I know this sounds sort of nuts, but what helps me the most is the healing code. It isn't black magic; it's similar to the EFT used by the psychiatric profession. It's an effective way to teach your brain how to dump negative thought patterns that promote anxiety and stress. Stress is a big contributor to an impaired immune system. Unless you find a way to eliminate it, all the ACV and baking soda in the world isn't going to help. Another thing you might want to look into is muscle imbalance. Your sore, stiff muscles might not be PMR at all. It might be a severe case of muscle imbalance, which can also cause inflammation but is correctable with appropriate exercises.

How many droppers/drops of the extract did you dose into licorice tea please? Thank you.

Lemon and soda? Can you explain?

Did the Turmeric and Ginger Tea help? J.

I have PMR and am taking 7mg of Prednisone daily. I also drink ginger tea in the afternoons (a pint) and think it is helping. I tried several recipes before I found one that was acceptable.

Steep one quart of water, juice of one lemon, and 1/4 cup of finely grated ginger (grate with a zester) for 20 minutes. Strain and add 1/4 cup raw honey, pour over ice and drink with a straw.

I am drinking my ginger tea as I type this...I also take a tumeric capsule (with the pepper added) and 2 tsp ACV in water every morning. Just before bed, I drink magnesium tea to help relax the muscles. This is in addition to my other supplements (D, C, B-12, iodine, ). Of course, being diagnosed with PMR in 2014, I also still need to take prednisone. I am now down to 2mg daily, which my rheumatologist says is very low...yay! I am being weaned very slowly off of it, having started in the spring of 2014 (when I diagnosed myself via the internet). First, I just tried a dose pack and the symptoms (sore arms, hips, legs, back etc) came right back after going away for a short time. In October 2014 I had my first Dr app't and yes, that PMR diagnosis was correct and I was started on 20mg of prednisone daily. It was scary taking that drug as I know all the awful side effects. However, it got rid of most of the pain and the doctor began slowly tapering my dose. I was positive I would be off it in less than a year...haha. Every time I tried to go too low, the symptoms would come right back and I'd have to increase the pred. again. How did I get this condition is what I want to know. My niece is in a rheum fellowship and she sent me a long paper on how it could be a virus or bacterial infection and it may have connections to a vaccine (aha...flu shots, which I will NEVER have again!! ). They say there could also be a genetic connection; however, I know of no one in my family that's ever heard of it, let alone had it. My fingers are also swollen with arthritic joints and I don't know if that's part of it. My dr just calls it osteoarthritis. Getting up in the morning is difficult and I need a full two hours of walking around to be able to move semi-normally. If I stay in one position too long (i.e. out to eat with friends), I have difficulty walking when I get out of the chair. But, the good news is, although it's been three years now, it IS slowly getting better. I am thankful to only be on 2mg of pred. now and hope I can taper off even more. I try to do light aerobics in the AM and try to get 10,000 steps on the fitbit....all that helps. Lifting anything but very light weights brings on more pain so I don't do much of that. In short, it's been a longer journey than I originally anticipated. In fact, I feel it may have started in 2013 (I did have a flu shot that year), when I fainted due to anemia....also a symptom of PMR. Hang in there, people, and do what your dr advises...but also, be your own medical advocate and research into treatments that help (tumeric, ginger, ACV, exercise, magnesium tea before bed).

Chriss,

My Mother got PMR after taking statin drugs. One doctor on a reputable site says when her patients say they have been diagnosed with PMR, she immediately asks if they ever have/are taking a statin drug. I am happy to hear you are doing well with your protocol.

Hi, Chriss!

Yours is the first PMR writeup that mentions hand problems. I had very disabling PMR about 5 weeks ago and am on 20mg pred per day, and it is really gotten me back to "normal." My hands both were very painful, swollen, stiff, and weak. Couldn[t even bend the fingers on my right hand in the a.m.'s. Now it's time to start weaning for the pred! Hope your recovery continues and you are fully back to normal.

By the way, I grew up in West Bloomfield, Michigan. On Green Lake, then we moved to Upper Long Lake. You may be familiar with these!!

Marty, (and also Rsw! )...after my rheumatologist listing my PMR case as 'resolved' in 2019, I feel that maybe it is back. I'm going to make an appointment next week because I can't stand this stiffness and pain! It started up again with a stiff neck and shoulders, November 2021, after I started on statins (per the cardiologist as I have high cholesterol and a stent). Surprise, surprise. I had also just had the booster for Covid in September. I plan to tell the rheumatologist all of this(no longer taking statins and I'm not going to get any more boosters! ). Dealing with the stiff neck, shoulder, hip and leg pains and back pain and thinking it was all just arthritis. I've been through Physical Therapy and Chiropractic treatments (upper cervical) and to a neurologist. Nothing has really helped. NSAIDS sort of take the edge off and I do take Arnica pellets each day. Hope you (and Rsw's mother) are better. I'm hoping for some kind of relief from this also. I do remember asking my rheumatologist if it could return and he said, 'yes'. So, we will see.

Hi Chriss,

Just looking over these posts because I suddenly started having a hard time walking, carrying packages, getting out of bed or going down the stairs in my house. At first I thought I had over done the gardening, or housework and injured myself. It got worse and worse from May 1 until late July, when I finally found a doctor and was prescribed five days of 40mg prednisone after having very high CRP and ESR. It worked well for a couple of days after I stopped it, and then the pain came back again. Finally, after anothe month, my doctor prescribed 10 mg prednisone, which did nothing, so I upped it to 15mg, which relieved most of the pain. I now also have very bad osteoporosis, and my doctor told me this week if I trip or fall, I will certainly also break a bone. I have taken yoga for decades, walk, and have been physically active, so this was a surprise. I have an appointment with a rheumatologist in November, so it has been a long summer. I lost my appetite because of the constant pain, and lost 20 lbs., but the prednisone seems to be helping my appetite. I have found I can eat a peach in the morning so I can take the prednisone. My doctor told me to stop drinking tea because the caffeine depletes calcium. Coming from a family with an English Mother, and tea was consumed many times a day, this was a challenge, but caffeine free is OK, I would imagine, and I am drinking that.

My Mother also had this, but I thought I had just overdone the gardening and cleaning, and didn't connect it to my Mother, which was decades ago. I am finally improving. I was told if I didn't take statins, I could end up in the hospital with a heart attack (both of my parents had heart attacks, Father also had a stroke, and cerebral strokes have taken many of my relatives at young ages, so I took them for eight years). That may be the link to the PMR, and my Mother also took statins. I will be glad to be rid of this, and also hoping my eyes are OK from Giant Cell Arteritis at the November appt. It's been a long summer! Take care.

Greetings RSW of OH, You can kick this pain out!

My mother use to say, "Never trust a woman who will tell her age because if she tells her age, she'll tell anything." But when I found out they give out discounts and some free stuff after age sixty-five I started telling everything that it is safe and helpful to share; after all, who knows how many more years I will have to share them. Therefore, my secret recipes are not a secret anymore; so here are a few of my back to health recipes.

When I first realized I had a serious case of stiffness (instead just standing up out of a chair, my achy body had to push up out of the chair), I was in my early sixties. What worked a wonder was 50,000 IU's of D3 daily for about a week, then down to 10,000 IU's of D3 daily.

After I began to take the high dose Vitamin d3, in the morning I would get up with an instantaneous stretch like I used to have when I was young. Be sure to take a K2 vitamin along with your Vitamin D3. I simply use Life Extension's "Super K" it has the Ks in a good amount.

About a year later, I noticed another change in me, I just did not feel like doing anything, and then I learned about "Pregnenolone" and "Dhea." When I took them, I had the Mind to Accomplish something. I take them at a low dose because I did not ask my doctor. I switch brands sometimes, I have found they all work for me as I keep them around 25mg. Younger women may only need 5mgs check with your doctor. What you can do if you find it to strong is only take them once or twice a week. Charity had mentioned that, that was a great Idea.

When I was praying about healing for my gums, I was also researching. One of the suggestions that some people from YouTube and Amazon said helped their gums to recover was CoQ10, many of them also said that that their doctor prescribed CoQ10 for them to take alongside their Statins, so maybe you have already tried CoQ10.

When I tried CoQ10 for my gums, it was a healing miracle; I got the ability to walk with stamina again. I had been riding from bus stop to bus stop. I did not want to do any walking or standing. The CoQ10 also stopped the muscle pain that was in fold at the back of my knee. The soreness pain is not there anymore. Anyway, as I studied about CoQ10, one doctor said he did not see good results using CoQ10 unless his patients used at least 400mgs a day. So start low, but don't be disappointed if there is no improvement, you may just need to take an extra dose.

I have tried several brands, whichever brand I buy, I get the gel caps they work better for me. See if your doctor will work with you to achieve less pain using CoQ10. Your system may take more or less than someone else's. According to the following article, they have tested with at least as much as 1200 mgs of CoQ10 depending on what the infirmity was. Also, please pay attention to your blood pressure. CoQ10 brings my top number down every time, except If eat crackers, you get it.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5807419/

In your leisure, please check out the above PubMed study. If you do not have the time to read it all, jump down to the part about 2/3s down the page that says "Inflammation".

I do pray that this will help you kick that painful ailment out.

HisJewel

Thank you, His Jewel, New York, for your suggestions to alleviate inflammation. I have taken some of those supplements over the years before I got this PMR, but have not taken the COQ10 for a while now. I may need to try that again. Yesterday, while home alone, I squatted down to pat my cat in the morning, and I, too, felt there was too much of something behind my knees and painful (my husband thinks maybe Bakers cysts(?), and I immediately fell over and smacked my head against the kitchen wall, so I won't be doing that again for a while. I can bend over and pick things up from the floor now, and pat my cat, but I have to watch to not compress my knees too much and just bend at the waist. I have been thinking of adding one drop of 1% USP Methylene Blue, to a glass of water because I feel my thinking is slower, but as yet have not taken the plunge. I did buy the brand on Amazon recommended by Dr. Mercola, but just not sure how things may react with the prednisone.

I keep thinking I need to embrace this, but find I am usually thinking of fighting it instead. Still, all things considered, I am doing much better than I was just a few months ago, and for that I am grateful. I will look into your other suggestions, as well, and I so appreciate your sharing your knowledge and your time to help me. I have always enjoyed your posts on Earth Clinic. Thank you so much for taking the time to post the links and responding. I will look into what you have suggested. Thank you!