Soreness | Arthritis Information

Hi everyone, I just popped in to see what new messages there were, and to ask, is it part of this disease to feel tenderness in muscles? I am dropping steadily with the Prednisolone, started at 30mg and now down to 15mg, but my left shoulder in particular feels as if it is bruised.
It is comforting to read all the postings, as although I have looked up the illness on the net, they give you the bare bones of it and not how you actually feel day to day. As many of you have said I don't know anyone else with this, and had never heard of it until I got it.
What other supplements besides Glucosamine has anyone found to be helpful. Thanks for your help.
Margaret

Hi Margaret, I have not experienced any tenderness, but I'm sure you'll hear from others who have. It's a really weird disease. Some folks say the bottoms of their feet hurt so badly they could hardly walk. Thank goodness, I never had that. On top of all the other pain that would be hard to bear.

I personally have never found anything that helps except prednisone until I reluctantly tried Glucosomine Chondroitin. I'm not well versed on supplements or non drug cures, but something has made me 90% pain free except for the initial morning torture for about an hour. It could be a coincidence, but right now, I'm leaning toward giving credit to the GC. Some folks say Advil works for them.It's always been most effective for me for inflammation, but it doesn't touch this PMR. So...bottom line...not everything works for everyone. We just have to try things. As for me I am thrilled to death to be able to move a heavy peice of furniture and do things the pain would never let me do. Thanks for the post and good luck to you.

I have also experienced soreness of the muscles, especially the upper arm on the left side. I also experienced the tenderness on the bottom of the feet (especially the right foot). When I started taking prednisone, those pains went away. I took prednisone for 8 months. I have been off it for 3 months. Some pains are back, but at a much reduced level. I also have sore muscles, this time in the legs. My knees are also quite sore. I find it hard to go up and down stairs. But all of this is bearable and I do not want to go back on prednisone if I can avoid it, because the medicine gave me osteoporosis and benign fasciculation syndrome (your muscles twitch randomly for no reason). Prednisone clearly did not agree with my body. The last time I had a SED rate test, it was a little elevated. I just went to the lab for another test, and am waiting to hear. I hope it is stable. Keep up your courage and exercise as much as you can. I am a big believer in that.
Adrienne34
Margaret,

I had the sore, bruised-feeling muscles and, for a
while, the achy soles of the feet. I have been off
prednisone for over a year now, and I really think my
PMR has bunred itself out, but still have some muscle
achiness in my deltoids (?top of the arms) and
sometimes in the legs. That could be from something
else. I didn't think to try MSM while I had the PMR,
but I am taking 3000mg per day now, and it seems to be
helping me a lot. My last SED rate, 3 months ago, was
47. I won't have another test for that until February,
but I don't think that is indicative of PMR any more
for me. My rheumatologist said he wasn't too concerned
with a sed rate under 60 (unless maybe it stayed high
50's for a good while), and that some people just
naturally have a higher (40's) SED rate. I've heard
that Omega 3 fish oils are antiinflammatory, as well,
and may help you. Can't say for sure. As Betsy said,
what works for one person, may not work for someone
else. MSM and fish oils are benign enough that it
wouldn't hurt to try them. Hope you can find something
to help.

Reni

Hi Margaret

I certainly have sore muscles. I feel as if I have been trampled all over tonight (had a day trip to London for a business meeting). I had a bit of a respite when I first went on the prednisolone but now I am tapering off, the aches and pains, burning and tingling are coming back.

I've not had a very high ESR, 29 and 27 were my last two tests and the lower one was when my thighs were screaming at me and were so hot. I did read somewhere that you do not have to have a high ESR in PMR - is this true?

Hope you are feeling a bit better tonight.

Love Judi

Hi all,

Thanks for the input about the soreness, yesterday I was not good at all but today it seems a little easier. My Dr has not suggested I see a Rheumatologist, he said my blood tests were "normal", whatever that means, and that the fact that the prednisolone had such immediate effect in helping was a good indication that PMR was what I had. The problem is............I am not totally convinced, and I don't want to go on taking steroids if it is not neccessary. How can I tactfully ask to see a specialist?!!!
Margaret

Hello Margaret

Sorry I can't be much help in this as I seem to have quite a proactive GP. He is managing my treatment without referral just yet. He has said that he will refer me to a rheumatologist if I cannot taper off prednisolone easily.

I've found in the past with other GPs is to make the request seem like the suggestion came from them. I suppose it depends on how approachable your GP is. Best of luck, what ever happens.

Love Judi

Judi......perhaps you are right..........I will wait and see what happens. I have actually had two good days, the aches are still there but not so bad. Isn't this the queerest thing, it seems to affect us all differently! My left shoulder is my main problem, and while I was a little stiff in the mornings I was never, ever, as bad as some of the prople I have read about. Which was one of the things that made me wonder if I actually had it, or something else. Maybe there are degrees of it!! Half of my trouble is being 70 I don't know which aches I have to put down to old age and which ones to something else........I've never been 70 before so have no yardstick to compare it with! I see the Dr again next week so we will see what he has to say then. I have to go into hospital for day surgery on the 4th December, I wonder if that is going to upset everything?
Margaret

I am sure there are degrees. I was never so stiff in the morning that I had to get out of bed by "rolling like a log" as I read someone had to. I was stiff, and I am stiffer than last week as I'm on 15mg now. Anno domini might play a part but it seems that the main diagnosis is our reaction to prednisolone. Good luck with the doc next week.

Love Judi

There is a very good article on PMR diagnosis on the Cleveland Clinic website (if you google PMR and Cleveland it should come up). The article says specifically that not everybody with PMR has high SED rates, though 90% do. Of course, high is a matter of interpretation, as Reni pointed out. Her apparently normal SED rate is higher than mine ever was. In fact, the doctor hesitated to diagnose PMR because my SED rate was only 40. But prednisone made the pains go away and reduced the SED rate to around 13. I find that the pains are bearable now (I have been off prednisone for 3 months, after being on for 8 months), and the SED rate is staying down. Without the inflammation, I do not have the extreme fatigue that I had before I was diagnosed. I prefer the pain to the fatigue!
Adrienne34
Hi, All!

The SED rate thing is a mystery to me. When I was
diagnosed with PMR, my SED rate was 40, which is one of
the reasons the first rheumatologist refused to believe
I had PMR. Six months on plaquenil (after getting off
prednisone)and my SED rate was still at 42. I would
have thought it would be lower considering the
medication. But who knows???

Last night I woke up about 5 times with hot flashes and
achy back. I went for a walk with my neighbor, thinking
that would help, but it didn't. My back and thighs are
so achy still. Am hoping it is just the weather (we
actually had a bit of snow on the ground this
morning)and the osteoarthritis in my back, though would
really rather not have any of this. Oh, yes, I did do
some upper body work last night with some 5 and 8 lb.
weights. That might have contributed to the aches.
('') I'm not so concerned about SED rate any more,
since the PMR symptoms seem to have resolved, but when
I see the rheumatologist in Feb. he's going to do
another DEXA scan. I've only had one before, and that
was when I was 52, a year before the PMR. I requested
it then because I had lost 1 1/2 inches in height and
didn't know why. The scan showed I had mild osteopenia,
and the only thing I could think of that could have
caused loss of height was very tight muscles in the
back compressing the vertebrae. After a few rounds of
physical therapy, I regained 1/2 inch. Weird. I will be
interested to see if the next one shows any
improvement, after the fosamax I took while on
prednisone, and my increased walking. Will let you
know.

Margaret, I hope you are feeling better and have
success with your doctor. I agree with you, not having
been at this age before makes it hard to know what is
"normal" and what is not. If only there were a book or
something out there that would tell us what to expect,
but then we are all different, so guess that wouldn't
really work. Take care.

Reni Hi, All!

The SED rate thing is a mystery to me. When I was
diagnosed with PMR, my SED rate was 40, which is one of
the reasons the first rheumatologist refused to believe
I had PMR. Six months on plaquenil (after getting off
prednisone)and my SED rate was still at 42. I would
have thought it would be lower considering the
medication. But who knows???

Last night I woke up about 5 times with hot flashes and
achy back. I went for a walk with my neighbor, thinking
that would help, but it didn't. My back and thighs are
so achy still. Am hoping it is just the weather (we
actually had a bit of snow on the ground this
morning)and the osteoarthritis in my back, though would
really rather not have any of this. Oh, yes, I did do
some upper body work last night with some 5 and 8 lb.
weights. That might have contributed to the aches.
('') I'm not so concerned about SED rate any more,
since the PMR symptoms seem to have resolved, but when
I see the rheumatologist in Feb. he's going to do
another DEXA scan. I've only had one before, and that
was when I was 51, a year before the PMR. I requested
it then because I had lost 1 1/2 inches in height and
didn't know why. The scan showed I had mild osteopenia,
and the only thing I could think of that could have
caused loss of height was very tight muscles in the
back compressing the vertebrae. After a few rounds of
physical therapy, I regained 1/2 inch. Weird. I will be
interested to see if the next one shows any
improvement, after the fosamax I took while on
prednisone, and my increased walking. Will let you
know.

Margaret, I hope you are feeling better and have
success with your doctor. I agree with you, not having
been at this age before makes it hard to know what is
"normal" and what is not. If only there were a book or
something out there that would tell us what to expect,
but then we are all different, so guess that wouldn't
really work. Take care.

Reni

Margaret....what is MSM? I've just found this forum and I have missed that discussion. I am being treated for PMR. I have been hurting for the past five or six years. I August I overexercised and I thought I was stiff because of that, but it keep getting worse and worse and then went into my arms.

My knees hurt terribly. My hips hurt and my shoulders hurt. I was going to a chiropractor and doing physical therapy. Finally went to a rhumatologist on Dec 18 and she prescribed 20 mgs of prednisone. Within an hour my right shoulder could tell the difference and within two days my knees quit hurting.

She called back after a week and said my blood tests showed I had a uniary tract infection and prescribed some antibiotics. In a couple days I developed lower back pain so bad I had a hard time getting up from a seated position.

I don't have another call back appointment until Jan. 4th and I don't know if I should call with this new ache, or just assume it is part of this disease.

I've had sacroiliac joint pain almost constantly for the past 10 years, but this is in a different place. It is about at my waist line in back and then down into that bony part.

Hope you are still reading and can tell what MSM is, it might help my pain. I took some ibuprofen, but it doesn't seem to help.

Mary

Just before I started taking prednisone (for the second time due to an idiot rheumy), I sat down and wrote what I was feeling. Thought you might find it interesting. So, yes, I have had severe aches and pains. With the pred, I am now relatively pain-free.

SYMPTOMS: Widespread muscle pain; aching and stiffness, worse upon arising in the morning; disrupted sleep. In June, symptoms started with a mild achiness in my neck and shoulders. At the end of June, I ached all over at which time I visited my general doctor. Near the end of July, I experienced severe deep aches and stiffness. He ordered blood tests, resulting in a referral to a Rheumatologist.

Specific Pain: In neck, shoulders, upper arms, forearms, chest, upper, mid and lower back, hips, buttocks, thighs and calves. Location of worst pain depends on my activity at any given moment. The pain seems to be in the muscles and not in joints.

Morning stiffness and aching: I always have aching and stiffness in the morning, but when it is very severe (most days) it lasts all day. Getting in and out of any seat (chair, car, toilet) is a struggle. Anything that requires raising my legs or arms is painful. Walking and climbing stairs is difficult. It is painful to shower, to reach behind my back, or to wash my feet. Getting dressed is hard. Pulling on socks, pants, and sweaters takes a long time and gritting teeth.