Last week i posted the fact I was having pain on my inner forearm, several of you came back and said it was likely golfers elbow, this was agreed when i saw orthapedic , I am being treated.
I now find the tops of my shoulders and left side of my neck are starting to ache
I am on 13mg pred a day, I have upped this over last two weeks from 7mg based on how I felt.
Do you think I am experiencing a serious flare and 6mg Pred I have increased may have not been sufficent.
Thanks in advance Col.
How are you 'being treated'.
Is it your right or left arm that is effected?
I ask as it could be referred pain. I had it in my dominant right arm and to rest it from certain movements that hurt, I started getting shoulder and neck pain. I think I carried myself differently. If an extra 8mg of pred hasn't helped I suspect it's not PMR but general muscle fatigue. I would take OTC painkillers for a few days and GENTLY stretch the aching pained muscles. When I had housemaids knee I had referred pain iny hips, and when I had tendonitis in my left foot....referred pain in my knees.... fortunately those things happened one after the other but we're probably connected to Pmr/pred/ each other.
Right
That makes sense. I do think it's probably referred pain. A warm towel or hot water bottle might help too, especially on your left shoulder/neck. But be careful...wouldn't like to add a burn!
Pred makes you more vulnerable to the type of injury you have. I am a firm believer in only taking pred for PMR, not to assist with any of the add-ons. Because pred might be responsible for some of the add-ons in the first place!
Avoiding the actions which exacerbate the pain, but maintaining range of motion, very important. And therapies to relieve any spasmed muscles or such like which may be causing referred pain should make a positive difference.
All the best!
Have you done anything different that may have affected that side of your body? I would get similar effects due to an aggravation of my myofascial pain syndrome, especially piriformis syndrome aspects, and that slowly then spreads to affect shoulders and neck. An easy short term remedy for me is a warm hotwater bottle over the spasmed muscles.
I've just seen my physiotherapist for the latest in an ongoing saga of bits of my body hurting. Lately my right arm has felt strangely heavy when I walk any distance and I wish it were in a sling. I have a neck exercise which involves pressing, (and resisting the pressure) side of my head with two fingers and lately it hurts too much to use the right arm unless I hold it up with the other arm! There are other movements which hurt, but I've no problems lugging heavy groceries for a short distance, or hefting a loaded suitcase. So the physiotherapist discovered my neck and upper back are are full of little knots! Probably, she said, an expression of stress, because I asked what could possibly be causing them. She worked away at them for a little while then put the low level laser on for about twenty or thirty minutes, and sent me on my way, to return in about three weeks. I could have blamed this pain on PMR because in fact one of the things I've found difficult lately is pushing myself up to get out of bed! But obviously it isn't.
Wonder if it normal to experience a bit of pain as our bodies adjust to a lower
level of Prednisone. I am on 5 mg. ....reduce 1mg every two weeks. Seems I might
feel a twinge of shoulder pain, now and then. Nothing major, so I just continue to reduce. Feeling pretty good most days....nap everyday.
Yes, many people have twinges as they reduce but as long as they go away within a week or so that is fine. If they get worse it is more likely you have got to too low a dose and a flare is developing.
Now you are at 5mg it would be advisable to slow that reduction down. No drop in tapering should be more than 10% of the current dose, you are already at 20% and it will continue to rise as the dose falls. It can take a some time for the inflammation to build up enough to cause symptoms and your body also now has to start to produce cortisol itself. Staying at each new dose for at least 3 weeks, preferably 4 is a much better idea.
Flare Up?
Tapering and having a flare
Am I having a flare up? 
Flare up???? 
Deflated from this flare up...
