About 4 years ago I was diagnosed(?) with fibromyalgia but I have never thought that it fit what I was feeling.Today I read something very casual in our newspaper about polymyalgia which I had never heard of and went immediately to the computer. I haven't been to my rheumatologist abut this yet, I just saw her last week actually, but will call her tomorrow. About 5 years ago I bent down to take something out of my oven and got this horrific pain in my lower back. Since my back has "gone out" before I figured I just needed to rest it a little. That pain has not left me to this day! I have had two back surgeries and know that I have some spurs etc. I have gotten so progressively worse that I can barely walk at all. I also have had severe pain in my upper torso, I have a little pillow in my car to put behind my neck while riding it bothers me so much. I have gone to a month long class on dealing with chronic pain. The only time I had any relief was when I was given steriod injections in my shoulder joint after breaking my upper arm in a fall. I remember telling my husband that I just felt better all over. Although I have not been diagnosed as I said before the possibility of maybe having a name for what has been going on with me gives me some hope. I had been to a neurosurgeon on Monday to discuss a spinal cord stimulator which he said I was not a candidate for because my pain was myofascial not nerve based. As I have read some of the posts here I can so relate. As I told my neuro I used to walk an hour everydayand hated every minute of it and now I would give anything to take a walk. Sorry this is so long but it really feels good to talk about this with people who don't think you are nuts! One other thing, I noticed in a topic here was cramps in the legs. I have been having them for a long time. I just turn or stretch my leg or foot wrong and the cramping is unbearable. Kept thinking I needed more potassium but that didn't help.hi georgia
i know what you are going through with the cronic pain............i have been in pain now for 4 years, fibromyalgia was mentioned for me also then pmr now they are looking for MS i also have leg and foot pain, in fact that is where my pain started, and it crept up my whole body. keep after your drs. aska lot of questions and the computer is great for info good luck........................Georgiana
Hi, Georgia -
I also had a spell where I was getting severe cramps in my legs and feet, but the worst of it was after I started on prednisone so I was never sure if it was the PMR or the medication causing the cramps. For some reason, I don't get them anymore, although I still have PMR and have been on prednisone for over 5 months. I make sure to have a banana every day, in case that helps. The cramps seemed to go away soon after I started taking chromium picolinate & biotin to prevent corticosteroid-induced blood sugar problems. Again, I don't know if that is related or not.
The steriods (prednisone) helped almost immediately, and the response to medication is used as a confirmation of the diagnosis. Let us know what your doctor says. Prednisone has a lot of ugly side effects (depletion of calcium causing osteoporosis, weight gain for some people, blood sugar problems) so I try to take only as much as is required to allow me to function (almost) normally. I was down to 6 mg but seem to be having a "flare" so have upped the dose - it appears stressful situations require more cortisol in the system, so after a very busy or otherwise stressful couple of days, my usual dose isn't adequate and I get more stiffness.
PMR seems to hit some folks harder than others. I've only missed a day or two of work (before the diagnosis), plus I keep up with the daily barn chores on my little farm, do some horseback riding, etc. Having PMR is not fun, but I can't feel too sorry for myself as so many people seem to have it much worse. Also, I havent' really put on any weight.
Coincidentally, after posting that message yesterday, I was reading in a magazine this a.m. that a new study has shown that muscle problems e.g. leg and foot cramps, etc., after strenuous excercise for example, previously thought to be caused by a buildup of lactic acid, actually have nothing to do with excess lactic acid. They determined the cramps are actually caused by dehydration and/or low blood sugar.
The prednisone plays havoc with blood sugar, partly due to the fact that it depletes the chromium in your system (same as it depletes calcium and potassium and who knows what else), as the chromium is necessary to work with insulin to regulate blood sugar. So it appears that my leg and foot cramps, which generally happened just at bedtime, were most likely caused by low blood sugar. I know I had the blood sugar spikes (high blood sugar) during the day, because my vision would begin to change mid-morning and be at its worst by late afternoon. I would always do the barn chores (physical exertion) in the evening, which probably led to low blood sugar just at bed time.
BTW, I'm not a scientist or doctor, so this is just a layperson's speculation, based on personal experience.
Ruth