Hi all, just asking if any one has experienced a change in there shoulder pain. I have been diagnosed with PMR for just over a year and I have see a change in my shoulder pain from aching (like over exercising) to sharp stabbing nerve like pain. In May this year I reduced my pred dose from 7 - 6mg and suffered as a consequence, as I have now found out it could have been to bigger drop (or not phasing the drop) and could have been steroid withdrawal pain. Around the same time I was diagnosed with Trigerminal neuralgia and was prescribed Carbamazepine I did reach a dose of 600mg a day, I am now down to 200mg. My pred dose, I went back 8mg and I have now phased it down to 7mg. However during this period my shoulder pain changed and it is now more like a trapped nerve, it is in both shoulder but far more prominent on my left side. I get pain in my upper and some times lower arm and some tingling in my hand at times. The pain in my should can be very painful if I get it in the wrong position. I have spoken to my Rumy and he thinks there is some thing mechanical going on and do I have a face to face appointment with him in Nov. It would be interesting to see if any one ells has had the same experiencing with this type of shoulder pain.
Many Thanks
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Yogurt55
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From what you’ve said, it could be related to nerve problem in your spine because the pain going down to your hand suggests a nerve being pinched. This isn’t really a Rheumatologist’s area and more musculoskeletal person to do a mechanical assessment to rule out something like a disc problem. Does this ring any bells?
It does sound more mechanical than PMR - but there are several things it could be. As Snazzy says, a physio assessment might be all you need, even a GP can do the basic assessment.
When that happened to me I had an ultrasound which showed nerve impingement. I was offered shoulder surgery, which I declined, and had guided steroid injections instead (where they do the injection while looking inside your shoulder on the US o they can target it more accurately, which eventually sorted it out, but it took a while, at leat 6 months maybe longer.
Hi Yoghurt55, I've been in a similar place to you. Diagnosed PMR Dec 2019, started on 15mg pred, now on 5.25mg. Prior to PMR I had some manageable shoulder pain, with the onset of PMR it became unbearable..so painful I couldn't sleep. Consulted my GP, went for Xray and was diagnosed shoulder impingement (mechanical) - a few simple stretching exercises later and I felt like a new person. The lesson for me was that PMR hugely exacerbated what had been an annoying but fairly minor problem. Good luck!!
I have gone through this three times. Each time it was carpel tunnel due to my T3 being too low. It presented as pain radiating from my shoulder into my hand. A cortisone injection in my wrist and increase in T3 resolved it each time. When my T3 is low for me, this is one of the many impacts. I have osteo-arthritis and bursitis but what triggers the pain is being low in T3; otherwise I am able to tolerate it despite PMR. I am pretty sure being low T3 is what triggered my PMR but that is a thread for another day. Best of luck!
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