Shin Pain

[Jeannie29]

Hi All

For the past week I have a brand new pain(lucky me)

My shinbones are really painful and sore. Would this also be caused bt PMR or should I

be mentioning this to my GP, as he is so busy I don't want him to feel that I am forever

complaining.

[Linny3]

Hi Jeannie29

Do you have fibromyalgia along with the pmr?

My Rheumy told me my shin pain was the fibro and not pmr.

Actually I have had shin pain for 10 years, and I have had fibro. for 20 years. Have pmr for 18mos. So go figure. Who can totally understand any of this maddening disease.?

Lin

[Jeannie29 in reply to Linny3]

Thank you Linny3, will certainly ask my GP re fibromyalgia, thanks co much for replying

Wish you well

Jean

[HeronNS]

Do you have the pain when walking or when at rest? I had been getting shin pain when at rest, no fibromyalgia, and eventually so bad it would sometimes wake me at night. I used to have to use a hot water bottle even in the summertime. I think it was a circulation thing because a simple exercise would relieve it - pointing the toes, then sort of pointing the heels, back and forth. It makes the pump, or whatever it is in the leg veins, work better. But there is a sequel because I accidentally found out I was sodium deficient and after I started to consume a little more salt the shin pains have gone away along with a few other symptoms.

[Linny3 in reply to HeronNS]

I have heard salt can help but be so careful with the salt. A little goes a long way and is so bad when on prednisone

[HeronNS in reply to Linny3]

I hear you. I became salt deficient because I had really by default been living a very low salt diet for decades. I feel much better now, and my blood pressure which had been creeping up is now back to my usual low normal. Symptoms that were alleviated: morning headaches, skippy heartbeat, blood pressure elevation, poor hydration evident through pinch test of skin, and, apparently, circulatory deficiencies in the lower legs.

[Jeannie29 in reply to HeronNS]

Hi HeronNS

Thanks for replying. Could be circulation, but pain seems to be in the shinbone, but I will certainly give the exercises and more salt a go

Thank you

Jean

[HeronNS in reply to Jeannie29]

That is exactly where I felt my pain. when I tried to find information all I got was info about calf pain! Only take salt if it tastes good to you. This is how I learned how to take it - a few grains if they taste good have more. If your level is good salt will taste horrible and you won't want more!

[HeronNS in reply to HeronNS]

With the heat and humidity I have to say salt is quite tasty these days! It doesn't work with salty food though, so be careful!

[Jeannie29 in reply to HeronNS]

Thank you so much, will give the salt a try

Jean

[HeronNS in reply to Jeannie29]

Like anything else there is always a caveat. In this case, if you have a diet with lots of potassium containing foods you will be fine. I gather it's really important to maintain the balance of potassium and sodium ions. Because I eat a lot of foods which contain potassium I figure I'm okay. Really, it seems we need a chemistry degree to know how to eat healthily these days! One must never take potassium supplements unless diagnosed with a deficiency and it's properly prescribed, so food is the way to go. Guess there's a reason animals seek out salt licks, but not potassium deposits.

[Hidden]

I have shin pain all the time plus my forearms, it's usually a dull ache but if I'm overdoing it my arms and legs start to what I call spark, it's as if my bones are on fire. This was the start of my PMR my whole body seemed to be alight plus terrible cramps in my muscles. I accept a dull ache after all that and at least I know when to stop wealding the paint brush! (Now it's raining, indoor jobs, boo hoo)

[Jeannie29 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for your reply, am taking all comments on board re PMR, and am now thinking I’ve probably had it for a couple of years instead of 4 months ( was never one for visiting the GP) Just thought it was old age creeping on!

Good luck with the indoor jobs, but hey it is Sunday, day of rest and all that...

I wish you well

Jean

[Hidden]

Going by my own and other people's experience of PMR there is no way you would have had it for a couple of years before visiting the doctor, the pains get progressively worse when it's untreated, in two months I could not walk upstairs to the doctor's surgery, she had to come down to me, I couldn't even cut up my own food, I thought I was a toughy regarding pain, I had my second child without any medication what so ever, but this, I would sometimes cry when trying to get up from a chair or get out of bed. Good old pred at least I'm living a life, sort of. It's Sunday is it? Wealding a paint brush, just showing off, can only do it for an hour then it's a lie down and a sleep!!!

Hope your problems are soon resolved. xxx

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Hidden]

Depends on the person and how severe it is at the start. It doesn't always appear overnight as full-blown PMR.

Mine started as a vague stiffness in my shoulders that stopped me sleeping with my arms above my head. A few months later I had a sensation I had lost the spring in my step - I did classes with a group of ladies much older than me in the hope they wouldn't stop the classes because there weren't enough of them and every so often we had a short step class, very easy and low level. I just couldn't step up onto the step as easily. It wasn't until the autumn when I went to the gym to start getting ready for the winter ski season and found I couldn't do more than a couple of minutes on the cross trainer without awful pain in my thighs which went away when I stopped. I put it down to being unfit. I switched gym because I could do less and less in the classes and went to one with a pool. When I asked my GP about these vague symptoms he put it down to "your age" - my blood tests were normal range, couldn't be anything wrong. The aquafit classes I did kept me mobile enough to carry on - despite the stiffness and pain after sitting. It was 5 years before I worked out what it was myself - and I had seen the doctor at intervals the entire time and had the symptoms dismissed.

I crawled up stairs in hand and knees at the end - but that was because I had been stopped driving for another unrelated and incorrect diagnosis and could no longer go to the gym. We had also moved into a small house with only one toilet upstairs. I had to do the stairs repeatedly during the day. It was agony. I managed to get here to our flat - one level with a lift. Once the stairs were no longer an issue I improved a lot - enough to be able to stagger to the ski bus and go skiing which loosened up my hips the way the aquafit had done before. I had constant pain - but it didn't totally incapacitate me. Not everyone gets so bad so quickly.

[Jeannie29 in reply to Hidden]

I do agree with you there, but I did have the other problems first. I only knew it was PMR after seeing a new GP, mine actually also came on fast and furious, within 7 days I could not dress myself, and getting in the bath wad unthinkable, the Pred was like a miracle pill

I wish you well

Jean

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Jeannie29]

Pred was a miracle for me too - in less than 6 hours I was almost back to normal. I stood up, walked downstairs to make a cup of tea and carried it back upstairs in my hand - something I hadn't done for months. I had to put it on the highest step I could reach, use both hands to pull myself or crawl up the stairs and repeat the action until I got to the top!

[Jeannie29]

Yes, mine took. 3 days, then I was feeling relatively normal, although still on strong pain killers it is bearable. Before Pred I could not even lift the duvet to get out of bed, sometimes I could not bear to go to bed at all.

The pain along with the muscle stiffness

really frightened me , I had visions of being in a wheelchair or housebound. That’s before I knew it was PMR, which I hadn’t heard of before, am certainly learning a lot about it now.

I wish you well

Jean

[maria40]

Yes, I've had this for a long time. Also permanent brown bruise marks on my shins, so marked that I feel self-conscious if I wear a dress or skirt. My shin bones also feel bumpy when I run my hands down them.

[Jeannie29]

My legs are also covered in bruises

, it’s embarassing, have to wear loose trousers most of the time, and that’s not really me, but there you go......

My skin was already getting thin, but. the Pred has made it so much worse,

but if that’s the only side effect, then I consider myself lucky

I wish you well

Jean