Our Stories
Pam (updated Novembe 2011)
2009 I have had this condition for over 3 years now. It took almost 6 months to be diagnosed. My first reaction was that I was going to beat it. I tried to continue with my life as before and became totally exhausted and depressed. ...more
Margaret W
I was diagnosed with Polymyalgia Rheumatica in May 2006. I am a 60 year old grandmother who before I was diagnosed with PMR at 57 had a very active life walking 6 miles a day, swimming 20 lengths 3 times a week, abseiling, sailing and lots of other 'stuff' as well. ...more
Mavis - updated November 2011
I am writing this after living with GCA since February 2007. I felt puzzled when diagnosed with GCA. I had been feeling a bit off and suffering from intermittent headaches and toothache, but I put it down to doing too much and ignored what was going on. ...more
Alan
So Brenda where's our camping trip to be this year"? "Let's try Norfolk and Suffolk we haven't been there before" is the eager reply. We have been married nearly 40 years and have camped once a year at a new destination each year either in the UK or Europe i. ...more
Margaret E
I am a 67 year old widow living in Co Durham with my cat 'Daisy' I try to keep myself active. I read a lot, surf the net researching and studying, and I garden. ...more
Margaret R
I’m 62, and have had PMR for nearly 3 years, since November 2006. My symptoms came on very quickly, and I found the 3 weeks between the start, and getting a diagnosis very frightening. ...more
Elliott USA
Polymyalgia Rheumatica or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Prednisone So, you're a fifty, sixty, seventy something and you're going along, minding your own business, when, one day, out of the blue, you wake up feeling like you spent the previous day alligator wrestling – i. ...more
Jean
Having worked fulltime for 47 years with just a short break to have my daughter, I retired when I was 62 in March 2006. By November of that year I began to get symptoms of PMR, although at the time I didn’t know what was wrong with me. ...more
Catie's Poem
I'm never too sure if there is any merit in my ramblings and this is the first time I have been brave enough to send one anywhere. All I can say is that they always totally reflect my feelings at the time of writing. ...more
Ragnar (Sweden) updated January 2011
Ragnar (Sweden) After a week´s trip to Athens the first week in April 2005, I felt very strange and had a dry cough. After two weeks I went to the doctor. ...more
Annie
At 48 after having some very difficult life experiences to cope with I started to be have very heavy, congested sensations in my body, was stiff in the mornings and my menopause began. ...more
Charlotte's story
As a long distance walker had noticed a deterioration in my ability to walk distances without pain hitting in in my groin after 20 miles....... over an 18 month period this grew worse with pain in my hips and lower back in bed at night which nothing could alleviate Saw my doc numerous times during this period with pain arriving in ankles, upper arms, neck etc which rendered me in tears because so painful. ...more
Chris Y
PMR / GCA I was diagnosed with PMR in January 2005 (age 55) and started on 15mg prednisolone/day. My GP tried to reduce the dose too quickly and the symptoms returned. ...more
Ken Bolton's poems
P ...more
