One sided PMR?!

[Orpheus82]

I have had PMR for almost 4 years. I would say I started with the classic symptoms listed on medical sites.....sudden onset pain in hips shortly followed by shoulder girdle, better after midday, night sweats, raised ESR & CRP and swift relief from first dose of prednisolone. Gradual tapering has got me to 3mg. Here’s the odd thing though.... sometime last year and I can’t remember exactly when all the pain moved to my right hip and shoulder! Left side perfectly pain free. Right side is, at times, agonising. Keeps me awake at night and lasts all through the day. Anyone else experienced this?

[Hidden]

Hi, I do think my right arm and shoulder are more prone to intense pain as I use that side more. My right bicep pain is where this flare started and felt it more in my right shoulder putting food in the fridge. But when I swapped arms after a few mins I found the left started to ache... But eased more quickly . No idea if that resonates or not!

[Orpheus82 in reply to Hidden]

Mine is resolutely sticking to the right. I’m actually left handed but the left side seems to be PMR free. I’ve tried all sorts including physio - seems to make it worse - resting, gentle exercising, increasing pred but none of it works. I’m seeing my rheumatologist but not till the 24th and I don’t have a huge amount of faith in him. I’m rather hoping for an MRI to rule out something else.

[Hidden in reply to Orpheus82]

I think getting it investigating is def the next step. As many can attest on here the shoulder very complicated!! I thin ybb and Dorsetlady might be going for joint ops competition but ybb likes the shoulder... Not!

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to Hidden]

Well, when these things are on offer it’s rude not to try them! 😂🤣😂

[Hidden in reply to DorsetLady]

😂🤣😂

[PMRpro Ambassador]

I think one side has always been worse than the other - but I do know that when the myofascial pain syndrome ramps up it is always the left side that gets tighter and the right side that hurts first.

[Orpheus82 in reply to PMRpro]

I’ve started wondering if it might be myofascial pain. Did yours start after your PMR diagnosis?

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Orpheus82]

I'd had back muscle problems for years, partly due to a slight scoliosis and I'm led to believe that a childhood accident hasn't helped. But it definitely got worse after PMR started - and it was keeping the MPS under wraps with the aid of my Bowen therapist and osteopath that allowed me to do aquafit and Pilates and keep at least semi-mobile during the untreated period of PMR. I suppose you might wonder whether MPS being caused by the same inflammatory substances as PMR is relevant - the difference is that in MPS they are concentrated in knots of hardened muscle fibres whereas in PMR they are systemic.

[Charlie1boy]

Well yes! My PMR started bilaterally at the top of my arms, and backs of my thighs. Now, after five years, my right side feels absolutely fine, but I still feel PMR pain at the top of left arm. This is not bad pain at all, and usually clears once I am up and have done some stretching execises. But it is telling me that PMR has not left me yet! At least, that's how it feels to me.

Good luck

Paddy

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Following initial month or so my GCA was always more troublesome on left side / hence fiasco with so-called “frozen shoulder”.

However in hindsight it might have been a combination of GCA and OA.

[Bridge31]

Started bilateral but 9 months down the line .... pain in the neck, ( 😂 ) hip and thigh all on the right. Bearable though because it’s only intermittent on 7.5

[Arflane97G]

Not quite the same but my right side is noticeable weaker than the left but the left is tighter than the right!

[nuigini]

I've had plenty of one-sided aches and pains throughout my 6 years with PMR and initially consider them OA (known to be in my back, shoulders, wrists and knees) and treat them with a combination of heat, icing, rest, appropriate exercise, knee and wrist supports and over the counter pain killers. Some combination of these things usually does the trick.

The same approach is taken initially with bilateral myofascial hip pain which has become more common in the last three years. However, if the hip pain becomes worse and bilateral triceps, neck and shoulder pain join the party I know it's a flare or resurgence of PMR.