Hip Pain is it PMR or in need of hip replacement

[sailorman]

Hi Folks well I have been reducing just fine from 10 mg doing it as recommended on here, successfully down to 5 mg stayed there for a few weeks all was well so I started with one day 4mg 6 days 5 mg then two days 4mg 5 days 5mg then 3 days 4 mg and 4 days 4, mg then my hip started giving me pain, not sure whether it is just coincidence, or if its the PMR so I have gone back onto 8 mg but the hip pain is still with me, Paracetamol does little to ease the hip pain, so does that mean it is the PMR ?

Mike

[suzy1959]

All I can tell you about is my experience. I have hd PMR for nearly 7 years and about 3.5 years ago, I started to have right sided groin pain and thigh pain and no one could tell me what it was. I couldn't tell if it was PMR pain or not- no pain killers worked on it even codeine and morphine. Eventually, when seeing a consultant about my OA knees, he spotted that my hip had OA too. This was about 3 years ago. Eventually, the pain got so bad I saw a consultant 1.5 years ago and he said I need a hip replacement but I was too overweight. After trying to lose the weight for a year and getting less and less mobile, I eventually decided to have it done privately as I couldn't stand it any longer. That was 6 months ago and it has been very successful!

The main principal I think is that if it is not bi-lateral pain it is very unlikely to be the PMR and more likely to be OA. I would ask for an x-ray as it should show up on that.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

It COULD be busitis and if that has developed then you may need either a much higher oral dose for a while or (better) a local steroid injection - which is what I ask for as it happens to me every so often. The blood supply to the bursae isn't good so a local injection gets the pred there better.

OTOH, it could be OA that has been kept quiet - and that would show up on an x-ray (bursitis doesn't).

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Agree with Suzy, ask for an X-ray first to rule in/out OA.

My right hip has deteriorated very quickly, so if it is OA the sooner you get into the system the better. I had been treated for bursitis for about a year with little success so I demanded (politely of course) an X-ray - and was shocked at the result.

If it not OA then you can go down the bursitis route! But get the ball rolling!

[piglette]

I had the same problem, my GP said that it was PMR, in the end I went to see an orthopaedic surgeon privately who said I would be in a wheelchair in six months if I did not have a hip replacement. I had a go at my GP afterwards though.

[Valnvaughan]

Is the hip pain bilateral?I had PMR from mid 2015. Late 2017 my GP diagnosed another flare during a reduction to 8 mg Pred. I said but pain is not bilateral. Can we investigate? Xrays showed severe OA. One hip replacement in May 18 and as I recovered second hip deteriorated and second hip replacement in October 18.

Slow recovery as needing 2 in a short time not ideal, but just getting off crutches.

Be nice and gentle to your GP, just ask for pain to be investigated. I had steroid injections in my hip whilst waiting the X rays.

God luck. Valerie

[Artsister]

I kept telling my rheumatologist I had hip pain on one side. She kept ignoring me. She said it could be bursitis --but said or did nothing to investigate. Finally after a year she ordered an x-Ray. Then she tells me I need a hip replacement right away because I had arthritis so badly. But that diagnosis wasn't exactly correct either. After seeing an orthopedic surgeon I do need a hip replacement, because I have Avascular Neucrosis --another side effect of prednisone --that I didn't know about. It shuts down the blood supply to the hip--the bone dies. If caught early enough and you stay off your feet for 3 months (using crutches), sometimes the blood supply starts again. But being ignored for over a year it is too late for me and it is very painful to walk now. Hip replacement is scheduled for 2 weeks from now. ☹️