Whats the treatment for polymyositis?
Polymyositis disease is treated with corticosteroid medications. Prednisone therapy usually leads to improvement within two or three months, at which point the dose can be tapered to a lower level to avoid the significant side effects associated with high doses of prednisone. Unresponsive patients are often given a replacement or supplementary immunosuppressant, such as azathioprine, cyclosporine, or methotrexate. Intravenous immunoglobulin treatments may help some people who are unresponsive to other immunosuppressants. When an improvement in muscle strength is achieved, usually in 4 to 6 weeks, the medication is slowly tapered off. Maintenance therapy with prednisone may be continued indefinitely. In people who fail to respond to corticosteroids, medications to suppress the immune system may be used.
