What to do for added pain

[julesster22]

I am now back to 6mg of Predy but wondering if I’m still experiencing pain in shoulder, should I increase predy to 7mg or try Tylenol or something for the slight pain. I wake up in pain but it’s not bad. I’m trying low carbs diet, 3 x a week treadmill but I still feel tired and drained!!! Help !!

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Using the treadmill 3x a week may be too much - it isn't a natural way of walking and tends to put more strain on your muscles than walking on a solid surface. Try Tylenol and see if it helps - mostly we would then say if Tylenol helps it probably isn't PMR pain.

Is the shoulder pain just in the morning? Pain in the early morning before the new dose of pred has taken effect is fairly normal and a sign that the antiinflammatory effect of pred isn;t lasting the full 24 hours. The other possibility is you have shoulder bursitis and the oral dose isn't quite enough to combat that - a local injection might help there.

[HeronNS]

If you do use a treadmill it should be one where you can have a slight incline, which apparently makes it a healthier option than one which is perfectly level with the floor. When I still had access to my treadmill (now unused in my old home) I used to set the incline at 2 which was barely noticeable in terms of effort expended but I think much easier on the leg and foot joints. I also found in in order to counteract the extreme boredom of the treadmill I had to watch something on netflix or listen to favourite radio program. The treadmill was apparently first invented as a punishment for use in prisons!

[HeronNS]

Unless the "slight" pain in shoulder is definitely PMR related, I'd suggest you not increase pred to deal with it. If it really is slight you probably shouldn't take anything for it, but instead get a physiotherapist to evaluate the problem and pinpoint the origin, in which case you will probably be able to have targeted exercises or other non-medical treatment to help the shoulder heal.

[Hellyowl]

If you use your treadmill in a Gym do they have a cross trainer. I can't manage a treadmill but can go for ages on a cross trainer.

[HeronNS in reply to Hellyowl]

Just watched a YouTube videa of someone, never realized that's what they're called. It looked a lot more natural, but he was running. Still useful if you want to walk?

[julesster22 in reply to Hellyowl]

It’s in my home so I control it. Sometimes I take our dog for walks. I would like to swim but not available close by

[Hellyowl]

Yes I don't go very fast on it. But it is supposed to exercise your whole body. I get breathless on a treadmill but not on a cross trainer. If the gym has some good disco music on it is like doing a bit of disco dancing.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Hellyowl]

It was a cross-trainer that made my PMR show its true colours! Two mins and I had horrendous thigh pain!

[Hellyowl in reply to PMRpro]

Probably not the right time in your journey

[HeronNS in reply to PMRpro]

was that before diagnosis?

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to HeronNS]

LONG before diagnosis! it was the experience that persuaded me to join a different gym - one with a warm pool, steam room and sauna!

[HeronNS in reply to PMRpro]

I had a similar experience with a system called "classical stretch".

essentrics.com/

Pretty much crippled me.

[Hellyowl]

I walk the dog and do Pilates. I go to the gym about once a week and do strength exercise on things like the leg curl and shoulder press. I don't like swimming.