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Diagnosed With Dermatomyositis. Temporary Relief From Predmet. Suggest Effective Cure
Question: Hi,
My father is diagnised with Dermatomyositis. He was prescribed with Predmet 4mg 4 tblts a day for one month. all the symptoms such as reddish swelling around the eyes and joint pains has reduced drastically after which doctor has reduced the dosage to Oredmet 4mg 3 tablets a day. since 2 weeks again he has shown reddish swellings around the eyes and itchings all over the body. what could be possible reason for this. Please help
My father is diagnised with Dermatomyositis. He was prescribed with Predmet 4mg 4 tblts a day for one month. all the symptoms such as reddish swelling around the eyes and joint pains has reduced drastically after which doctor has reduced the dosage to Oredmet 4mg 3 tablets a day. since 2 weeks again he has shown reddish swellings around the eyes and itchings all over the body. what could be possible reason for this. Please help
Dermatomyositis is an autoimmune disease caused by the disturbance in patient's immune system and is a long term disease.
Steroids (predmet) is main treatment of this disease. It is used for a long term and gradually reduced over period of months. Though it is fair to reduce the dose of steroids after a month, probably your father is not tolerating this reduction in the dose. So probably, he needs a little longer time on the higher dose of 16 mg/day and gradual reduction thereafter. You could talk to your rheumatologist about introduction of some other medicines like azathioprine or methotrexate to allow a better reduction of steroids.
Steroids though life saving in this condition could have some side effects. Your rheumatologist will keep a watch on this by checking his BP, sugars and bone density regularly.
Steroids (predmet) is main treatment of this disease. It is used for a long term and gradually reduced over period of months. Though it is fair to reduce the dose of steroids after a month, probably your father is not tolerating this reduction in the dose. So probably, he needs a little longer time on the higher dose of 16 mg/day and gradual reduction thereafter. You could talk to your rheumatologist about introduction of some other medicines like azathioprine or methotrexate to allow a better reduction of steroids.
Steroids though life saving in this condition could have some side effects. Your rheumatologist will keep a watch on this by checking his BP, sugars and bone density regularly.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Thank you doctor. When the Anti-nuclear antibody test result was positive, doctor suggested a series of test to eliminate the risk of malignancy. All the test results were fine and showed no presence of any malignancy. Now is there any risk of cancer as such since the symptoms are showing up again. Please advice.
The current symptoms are more suggestive of increased activity of the disease rather than malignancy. However, the risk of malignancy is real and is valid for the next 3-4 years or so. So, keep doing frequent screens for malignancy as advised by the rheumatologsit.
Note: For further information on diet changes to reduce allergy symptoms or to boost your immunity, Ask here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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