Tendonitis and Pred

[allotment-lover]

Does Pred cause tendonitis? I had not heard that until reading Annodomini's post today, if I understood it correctly. I wonder if that is the cause of a pain in my thigh and hip and just under my buttock which I have had for a while. The doc just says take pain killers. It is a sharp pain if I move wrongly and an ache a lot of the time.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Tendonitis, synovitis and bursitis are all found in PMR - not always but very commonly there are symptoms and if they do MRI studies they almost always have found some bursitis in the shoulders.

The pain you have in the buttock (just where you sit down I take it?) and into the thigh (into the groin/hip joint?) can be due to two causes. One is trochanteric bursitis (more likely from your description) and the other is myofascial pain syndrome where there are 2 trigger points, one on each side of the spine, a couple of inches away, sort of where a baby's dimples are, and they can result in referred pain radiating into the outside of the thigh and down the side of your leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even into the calf. The trigger points are concentrated foci of cytokines, the substances that are the most likely cause for the morning stiffness in PMR and RA - they are shed by the body about 4.30am and cause generalised stiffness and pain. These trigger points are just very concentrated areas of the same stuff and so very inflamed. This makes the muscle form a sort of knot and it can cause pinching of the sciatic nerve. They tend not to resolve on their own and I have had mine dealt with by osteopaths, massage therapists/physiotherapists and cortisone injections (all by medical doctors/therapists, they were so bad I couldn't walk at all) - all of them use similar mobilisation techniques. You could probably do it yourself - if they weren't in such an inconvenient position!

Trochaneteric bursitis that doesn't respond to ice and rest can be treated with cortisone injections into the bursa area (not into the joint so it can be done by a GP if they are confident enough and can be persuaded). They identify the right spot by pressing until they find the most painful spot and giving the injection there. Sometimes one is enough but if the bursitis is very long standing you might need up to 3 (you can have 3 a year). I had 2 on each side with a gap of about 3 or 4 months and the difference was as wonderful as that first dose of pred at the beginning of PMR!

[Hidden]

Hi allotment-lover,

Oh yes! If you take it for longer than a few weeks it will effect all the soft tissues of the body - the skin especially, and also tendons and ligaments.

I had it quite badly last year in my knees, but especially in my elbows. My left elbow felt like it was falling to bits and was very sore. Remedy for me was ibuprofen and tubular bandages. The latter were great and worked a treat. I doubled them up to get extra support and within a few days there was an improvement. The bandages literally partially immobilised the joints which helped.

Gradually the joints recovered. I am now on 7mg for the 2nd time and my joints are quite good. Seldom have any trouble.

Hope this helps - and by the way, the skin recovers too to a large extent. My advice is moisturise every day as much as possible and drink plenty of water.

Best wishes,

Pats.

[allotment-lover in reply to Hidden]

Thanks very much for this info, new to me.

[lucky12]

Hi allotment-lover I too suffer all that you have said in connection with tendonitis I have had PMR for 7 years and came off preds 3 months ago I am going to discuss this NEW condition with my G P on saturday fingers crossed it will not last too long.