leg pain

[Kay60]

hi I am confused i was diagnosed in early March with PMR given 20mg pf pred and it worked like a miracle pill in 6 hrs.(now on 10mgs) My symptoms where stiffness mainly in my ham strings and hips which i had for over 18mts and i also limped on my right side also I have had problems with my shoulders sometimes. I have been told my knees have arthritis. However the hip stiffness and ache was the worse thing.I have been to phiso and the exercise he gave me for my hip well i still can't do it !!

I am also a little stressed at the moment as i am have a big birthday party next week (60th)

However what i am confused about is the pain in my right leg i think its coming from my hip

so is this my arthritis ? its bad in the morning and in bed. Would it help to put up the pred ?

or is that the pred is help me move better so therefor my arthritis has got worse.?

I do feel lucky that i caught the PMR in time when i read what other suffers have gone through.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

I'm going to make my usual suggestion since it is a one-sided pain - PMR is mostly on both sides, not necessarily equal but there. Have you got a Bowen therapist in your area? It is a very gentle therapy and many people on the forums have found it helps with what I call the "add-ons to PMR". PMR is often accompanied by a couple of problems, myofascial pain syndrome and piriformis syndrome, both of which can cause referred pain into other areas and which will respond quite well to Bowen therapy. Both of them can cause low back/hip and thigh pain - a couple of us had identical problems and dubbed it "HBT syndrome"! And the way you walk (or should that be waddle?) in PMR can put a lot of strain on back muscles so they eventually get very tight and can cause muscle spasms and pinch nerves.

You have to be very careful with physiotherapy when you have PMR, many of the things they do can make the PMR worse, even if it is for another problem so make sure your physio knows about the PMR.

If you can find a Bowen therapist it would make a lovely birthday present - especially if it sorts your pain so you can enjoy that party! Some people find there is massive relief even with just one session but it is also not an open-ended thing. If it doesn't make a difference after 3 sessions it is unlikely to do so.

[Kay60 in reply to PMRpro]

Hi many thanks

I have got the pains you listed i also have had ops on my feet for flat feel so will put my arch supports in.

i have been looking to see if there is a therapist and there is one in the town i have left a message.

September 2014 I went to a muscular skeletal DR and 2 physios before i was told i had PMR i told the both the worst thing was the stiffness and i could cope with the pain. i was told to exercise and take pain killers !!!

in March 2015 have a very bad time on a 3 hour train journey and could hardly walk when i go off i was very scared and thought at 59 it was all over I managed to get home and went straight to the Drs whosaid i have PMR. I don't understand why someone who is trained to know the body did noy know i was not just stiff .! (sorry for the rant )

I will let you know how the therapy goes

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Kay60]

Ah well - was the musculoskeletal specialist actually a physiotherapist with a bit of extra training? I met one of those at my local hospital in the early days of my PMR. "How far can you bend down?" - I could and still can touch my toes without bending my knees. "You can't have anything wrong with your back in that case, that's better than I can do." was his assessment. It's difficult to tell whether he or the rheumatologists I saw were more patronising. To be fair to the first rheumy it was hand pain I was complaining about - but she decided it was osteoarthritis, no consideration it could be late onset RA, never mind PMR which it has now been decided can also present with hand and foot pain . The second rheumy wasn't interested in the miracle in 6 hours that 15mg pred brought about. He wanted to put me on sulphasalazine but I was leaving the country so got out of that!

A local orthopaedic specialist here told me my low back pain was degeneration and nothing could be done - it turned out it was all muscular, the physio at the hospital and the pain specialist couldn't believe he'd said that. My back muscles were as hard as boards - it took a while but it's as good as it will get now. Very little pain - except the PMR bursitis...

[Kay60 in reply to PMRpro]

Hi PMRPro

just thought i would up date you on my Bowen Therapy . Its not what i expected in fact i could call it weird !. But it has works i have has 2 sessions now and although it doesn't feel like she's doing very much the pain in leg is a getting better it comes and goes but not as sharp as it used to be .

I had a session Friday at 8.30am did feel like she had done any thing but the therapist said she felt a lot of movement. i went home to have coffee felt really tired laid down for a moment ! woke up an hour later and felt brill.

As i said its weird but so glad you and PMRPro told me about it thanks

Kay.

[Angela123]

Hi Kay. I have RA (hands and feet) as well as PMR. My PMR pain and stiffness was in my upper arms, shoulders and neck, but later I developed hip, thigh and lower back pain. When you have more than one condition it's often difficult to know which one is causing the pain. I decided to try a Bowen therapist recently because my Rheumy wants me to taper the Pred dose further, and Bowen has helped a lot. I've had 5 sessions so far. I was wary of going for physiotherapy in case it made things worse. Bowen is very gentle, relaxing, and gives you a lift. As PMRPro has said, it would be a lovely birthday present. Angela.

[Kay60 in reply to Angela123]

many thanks i have left a message for therapist

XX

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Angela123]

I'm so glad you have also found Bowen helps - I swithered for months and months about mentioning it on the forums because it is an "alternative" therapy. Then I bullied a couple of others into trying it and it worked very well for them so I changed my mind. It doesn't matter if it doesn't take away all the pain, every little helps

A northeast of England health Trust is doing a 2 year trial of Bowen on the NHS to see if it helps with intractable back pain for patients the pain clinic can't do any more for - on the same sort of basis as they do with acupuncture. Judging by the experiences of people on all 3 forums it should be successful.

[Kay60 in reply to Angela123]

Angela what is TA i also get a sharp stabbing pain in my left wrist /hand like i have sprained it and it looks a little puffy

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Kay60]

Do you mean RA? Rheumatoid arthritis in this case.

Pain in hands and feet can also be part of PMR though usually PMR affects both sides similarly. My hand/wrist pain was worse on one side than the other though.

[Kay60 in reply to PMRpro]

ok thanks

[PMRandRA in reply to Kay60]

Kay, I have both PMR and RA and a couple of others but they don't apply here. RA is more commonly found in the feet and hands, but specifically in the ankles and wrists, toes and fingers at first and will manifest as a slow ache which bites very hard when moving them. Picking up heavy stuff, vacuuming, making beds, ironing etc. I inexplicably drop things and am unable to clench fists after a while and little non painful lumps on the back of the hands. The ankles just ache especially after walking - wear flat or 1cm, high shoes. Your toes may hurt when walking. By contrast, PMR feel as if I have been running on Brighton beach, barefoot, with the whole of the soles of both feet feeling lumpy and a little pins and needley. With the hands I have carpal tunnel pain intermittently but don't get the small lumps on the back of the hands, but could have every other RA symptom with PMR. These are only the differences I have noticed of course and each sufferer is different. My swearing vocabulary has increased exponentially!

[Angela123 in reply to Kay60]

Hi Kay. It's RA which is Rheumatoid Arthritis. It causes swelling and pain in the joints. Have you been tested for it? It's different to Osteoarthritis which is wear and tear of the joints.

[Kay60 in reply to Angela123]

ok thanks

[Kay60 in reply to Angela123]

Hi Angela just thought i would up date you on my Bowen Therapy . Its not what i expected in fact i could call it weird !. But it has works i have has 2 sessions now and although it doesn't feel like she's doing very much the pain in leg is a getting better it comes and goes but not as sharp as it used to be .

I had a session Friday at 8.30am did feel like she had done any thing but the therapist said she felt a lot of movement. i went home to have coffee felt really tired laid down for a moment ! woke up an hour later and felt brill.

As i said its weird but so glad you and PMRPro told me about it thanks

Kay.