It is possible that the pain traveling to other sides of my body? I have had high pain in the right shoulder for over 6 months and seemingly it moved to the right side. Now it has stayed to the left side. My brain doesnt comprehend what the world is happening. I have had this since 2017, and got started on 10MG, I had it down to 2mg and now back up to 7mg. I need to know from you guys...is this normal? I do know that i must find the right level again to begin to ween, but its not a sprint its a MARATHON. thanks in advance for support!
Jules
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Julesster84
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It may be that you were saving your right shoulder by favouring your left. An X Ray may be indicated. PMR trails a number of associated conditions that can be troublesome like this.
My shoulders are my weakest link through all this. They were the first to become painful before being dx'd wi PMR.
As I taper, I get niggles in other areas, which I attribute to my body reacting to less Pred.
My shoulders are my first responders to a flare and I cannot raise one arm or the other, then the ache settles in. Right now, my notes indicate I have had it for 2 weeks in my rt shoulder then last night it was in my left, too. This morning, back in my right.
But if I get tension from a situation, I hold it in my shoulders, too. So it is complicated to sort out!
Keeping our shoulders relaxed is key to stop it getting worse & that’s easier said than done.
I was originally prescribed Amitriptyline for another Shoulder Issue, a long time before PMR
& that really helped.
Hi Jules
Shoulders & PMR seem to be a very common combination, do you what your shoulder issue is?
My PMR started following shoulder surgery for an impingement; then a couple of years ago my right shoulder started to be affected but for that l had a Steroid Injection, did my own Physio (PT) as l’d suffered badly following my first shoulder surgery & it’s completely fine now!
You could be compensating for your original shoulder issue by using the other side more without even realising.
I have had xray, mri and exam after exam. i believe 7mg is holding it at bay, so now I wait to see how it goes. I stopped methotrexate, tylenol and folic acid, plus naprozen as none of them help with pain. My job has me riding for long trips, and being physical. I get help for things I can not do but now seems to be in lifting away from my body with my left arm.
As we have an issue on one side we tend to compensate with the other, without realising. The Pred is o by holding it at bay, so it’s probably a Wait n See Situation......
Do plenty of gentle stretches in the shower when the muscles are warm, both shoulders & ‘Walk’ your hand up the shower with the water on your shoulder.
I also raise my arms 🙋🏻 against the headboard every morning & then bring my arm over my head to touch my ear/shoulder. There should be no pain, just a gentle stretch & it really does help.
Any shoulder pain I get is due to spasmed/tight muscles - and it spreads into the neck. It can be due to myofascial pain syndrome - which is more common in patients with PMR.
Have you found yourself leaning your body to the left to help cope with the Pain on the right?
Have you started to do more with your left arm to put less strain on the right side because that had the most Pain?
Have you noticed that you are sleeping on the left side to keep pressure off your right?
All these things we do to help ease Pain which begins as worse on one side of the body rather than the other can end up making the Pain and Tension move to the other side too.
It may not just be PMR Pain but Muscle and Nerve Pain in the left from you using the muscle more or because your body and muscles are getting tighter.
If you find you bear your weight to the left now to reduce pain on the left this can also increase pain as your posture and balance is affected or you put more pressure on those joints and your back.
Have you tried Paracetamol to help with the Pain and found some relief?
If not , it may be worth trying it as if any of the pain in nerve or muscles related it could add some relief.
If you are sleeping on your left try sleeping on your back with graduating pillows at your head and neck and pillowing under your shoulders too to cushion you at night and help relieve pressure and tension.
Have a look at yourself in the mirror and see if you notice that your posture has changed. Try and gently correct yourself back to a straight but relaxed posture standing and walking over time and this could help Pain in general.
Don't carry heavy bags or use weights of any size when you feel Pain in the shoulders , arms and neck.
Try some heat on the joints and gentle rotating of your arms to ease the pain.
If it continues do go and see the GP , it's good to get changes on your record in case things progress in the future , it creates a timeline of your symptoms , it also may need extra examination and x-rays in case it isn't PMR and needs its own treatment.
ive had a MRI that just shows arthritis but nothing else. I have stopped going to ortho as my GP rolled her eyes after I told her what he was trying to convince me that was wrong. It would be nice if more dr know what this is!
Mark here; Brit in Hong Kong: PMR diagnosed in November 2015 but had to stop the pred due to a very bad ear infection. Started taking proper treatment in January 2016. Got to zero in February 2017 whilst in the UK at which point I had a flair with the classic PMR bi-lateral symptoms in shoulders, arms and legs etc. Clearly, my taper was too rapid. I went for blood tests to see if my markers were up and a few days later the clinic receptionist called to say they were fine. I wanted to tell her that I actually hurt like Hell but thought, why bother, I'll be back in HK in a few days and can buy pred over the counter at local pharmacies. So, on arrival in HK I tried 5mg of pred with no result. I upped it to 10 and found some relief and since then (early 2017) I've been tapering.
A year ago (probably on 6mg by then) my left shoulder became very painful to the extent I could not lay on my left side. This placed pressure on my right shoulder, which eventually started to hurt as well.
As I slowly continued the taper ( 6, 5, 4, 3 etc.) weird things began to happen to my body. I found that I'd develop a painful and weak left knee and then over the course of a few weeks it would migrate to my right knee. I also started to feel pains in my back (lower and alongside the spine) and at one point I upped my pred dose only to find it had no effect on these new pains.
I did however find that a strong NSAID (diclofenac) did ease the pain and even paracetamol helped at times. As such I tapered back down to where I was and continued to reduce.
A couple of months back I reached 1mg pred and then began 1mg every other day, every three days, every four days etc.
I have had no pred for ten days or so now and so I'm left with those aches and pains, which respond to NSAIDs, which I try to restrict to one every week or, when physical activity exacerbates the pain, maybe one every three or four days.
At this time, the pain in my left shoulder is still there but very much improved (I can lay on it) but my left arm feels as though it has carpal tunnel syndrome/tendonitis. I get the pains in my back mentioned above and which are very similar to the wear and tear pains I had before I developed pred. I've also experienced pain in the soles of my feet as if they're bruised.
I'm guessing, but I may be wrong, that my pain experiences over the last year are related to getting to low doses of pred where my adrenal system is having to wake up and do its job but causes havoc in the process.
Sorry, long post, but I thought it might ring a bell with some folks out there.
PS: Have also had the heart-burn thing and have to take Omeprazole to keep it in check.
I would be more inclined to ask for investigations to rule out something called palindromic rheumatism which can be a herald of late onset RA. There is another member of the forum who now has that diagnosis. It is characterised by joint pain that may last from hours to days and then just disappear for some time before reappearing.
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