So my GCA is behaving, my spine fractures are healed and arthritis in spine is behaving. My walking is improving and even my Achilles Tendon is playing nice so why now do I get aching pain when in bed from my hip down my left leg to my foot when lying on my left hand side ( I prefer to sleep on that side). Its now stopping me from going to sleeping at night. I have had left knee x-ray recently when the knee popped out and a recent hip x ray. Both showed mild OA and Rheumy said it was unlikely I would need a hip replacement as the OA was in the part joining the hip joint. Physiotherapist checked me over 3 weeks ago, not bursitis and plenty of movement in left hip and I felt no pain when she pulled me this way and that. I still have a problem getting my left leg in to the car and putting my socks on. Can this really be muscle wasting? Thoughts anyone please. Thank you
Pain L/H/S when lying in bed: So my GCA is behaving... - PMRGCAuk
Pain L/H/S when lying in bed
Any chance of trying other side and with pillow between knees as shown in link - Doesn’t stay there all night, but does align the upper legs/hips in a better place for part of it…. So may relieve some of the pain
Have a look at this -
healthline.com/health/sleep...
Very interesting thank you I will certainly try it. Im having an eye operation within a week or 2, I was offered anaesthetic but chose to have it done with a local so that I don't have to stay in overnight. I told the Doctor my only worry was staying completely still on my back for an hour on a hard table due to spine problems. She immediately said we will sort that with cushions under the knees and possibly small of the back.
Could be tight muscles in your back that are making you lie squint? They could irritate the sciatic nerve so it aches along that track.
Its down the side of my body, literally the part I am lying on. I don't have it when I am standing or sitting and weight bearing on that leg has improved recently. It goes away when I decide to lie on my back instead and then I can get off to sleep, All my problems started with pain in that leg last August, I found I was limping when walking my dog. I went to Physio on 16th August last year as I thought then I had sciatica, you kindly suggested Piriformis. 2 weeks later I woke up one morning unable to move, taken to hospital by ambulance told it was PMR. couldn't stand or walk at all. A week after that I had a scan which showed a sacral insufficiency fracture, osteoarthritis. osteoporosis and a previous spine fracture. That was quickly followed by another spinal fracture. Until that day I had absolutely no idea I had anything wrong with me other than GCA. Things have improved considerably until the last couple of nights I have had this pain lying on my side in bed. I just hope nothing else is brewing.
Don't we all!!!
Strangely I find bed a dangerous place 😂. Everything I have had wrong with me over the last 2.5 years starting with pneumonia when I couldn't breath lying down, has meant I can't take to my bed. Even the eye operation Im about to have restricts the amount of time I can go to bed. Thankfully Im the best I have been mobility wise since last August, praying it continues. Thank you for listening.
Hehe - apparently a lot of people die in bed ... So don't you try that!
😂😂😂
I'm not sure whether to laugh or groan PMR, at the moment I'm doing both! 😂
Better than under a big red bus.lol.
Certainly usually more comfortable way to go ...
Until reading your other posts HD this morning, my initial thought was something but to do with pressure on the sciatic nerve in your lumbar region. I do reccomend trying the pillow between your knees. It does align the spine and has to be used after a hip replacement. I have to use one if lying on my right side at the moment because of the pain I'm getting if I don't. You have certainly been through the mill and I hope you get further, helpful, comments on here...there is very strong liklihood that you will. Take care, Kx
I have a simular problem and after an m i r scan they found a disc had bulged out and was pressing on a nerve going down my leg it can be very painfull
Could it be sciatica? Is it down the back of the leg or front?
I don't think so piglette, please see my lengthy reply to pmrpro
Fair enough.
I have OA in base of spine...often struggle to sleep, but couldn't manage without small folded towel between knees....have tried pillow, and granddaughter bought one of those shapes knee supports, but found it made my legs too apart to be comfy, you have to find shape and size to suit you. Had Dexa scan recently, I always say...no way can I lay on this flat hard bed without a pillow under back of knees.....they and other tests have always been ok for that....Good luck...
Thanks for that. I have 2 different pillows and a towel by the bed to try tonight 🤞and I totally get the flat hard bed bit, its murder.
Hi HD I have the exact same problem in the same leg. The only difference is that I am having pain whilst walking and also cannot go upstairs normally, I have to walk up like a toddler. I think it’s bursitis and an hoping that when I see my rheumy in a couple of weeks he can help me. I do miss my daily walks. 😩
I can't do stairs either nor steps, or lift leg in car easily, though my left leg is beginning to cope with weight bearing. I also suspected bursitis and the hospital physio pulled me this way and that and said it wasn't bursitis as I would have been in agony with certain movements. She also said my hip had a lot of movement. This morning I am wearing cropped trousers (which are actually ankle grazers for me because of loss of heigh t🙄 so I put on some sandals. Big mistake, had to change to lace up trainers to be comfortable enough to walk. Would love to hear what your Rheumy suggests to you.
Not so sure - mine is bursitis (plus some muscle stuff) but it is only after more than about half an hour walking and/or standing that the pain starts. Not that you can do much in half an hour ...
Sorry to trouble you again, but my night time pain (fine in day only problem lying down) isn't getting any better, in fact its a little worse and disturbing my sleep and the pillow trick hasn't helped at all sadly. Im worrying that it might be vascular, I shouldn't have googled! Last night I took 2 paracetamol before bed and slept like a baby so Im assuming it can't be vascular if paracetamol helps. I have an appointment with my GP at the end of the week as the hospital wants him to "rule out a few things" before seeing me again. I have good movement in the painful leg and I don't hurt anywhere else at all or at any other time. The painful leg is the one I injected TCZ in last time and it even crossed my mind it could be that but I feel really well otherwise. Any ideas please Pro?
I suppose you MAY have got a bit close to the femoral nerve - I use my fat tummy because using my leg worries me, Is that when it started?
Yes, it was the second day after my jab but Ive only just thought of that possibility. So its my fat tummy from now on! Will report back what GP says but don't hold your breath for anything useful 🙄. Thank you
Once I managed to catch a blood vessel!! Bled impressively for a minute or two. Just the once ...
I would love to find a decent Physio, but fear they may make me worse....
Will jet you know in a couple of weeks
It sure sounds like sciatica to me. I suspect you have a bulging or herniated disc that when you lay down pinches the sciatic nerve. This can be quite painful and unfortunately there's not a lot that can be done.
Ive checked my notes again and wondered if either of these things were a bulging disc please "severe lower lumbar facet joint osteoarthritis with minor L4/L5 anterolisthesis". slight retrolisthesis of L5 on S1"
spine-health.com/glossary/a....
medicalnewstoday.com/articl...
spineuniverse.com/condition...
These might help understand the relationships between back problems and "discs" - doesn't have to be a disc ...
Thank you for the links Pro, it appears that I potentially have a few things that can be causing my problem. The arthritis devil has decided that yes he will let me walk a little easier now but he won't let me lie down.
How rude of him! I like half lying once I find the right position of the pillows!
Or could this be the problem (sorry I don't understand the medical descriptions at all ) "early subcortical cystic change within the right lateral acetabular roof."
What a coincidence! I was complaining this morning to my wife about a really awful night when I opened up healthunlocked and saw you ‘headline’. The symptoms are exactly the same, and on the left side. About four years ago I had something similar and came to the conclusion it was the result of crossing my legs on a footstool. Immediate improvement when the footstool was consigned to history. It started again in March and has slowly got worse as the pain now extends from the left, across the pelvis, even when I lie on my right side. There are no problems when I go for my exercise walk each day, just when lying in bed. I will give the pillow trick a go.
I have learned from this forum that its always worth mentioning something that is troubling us because someone will always come up with help and suggestions and by asking it helps someone else. I sincerely hope you will benefit from some of my replies too. Just to add I bought a treadmill last week to use to increase muscles strength and I can walk on that for 15 minutes absolutely no problem, get in bed and lie on my left side and I get pain. I tried the suggestion of a pillow last night and while I wasn't pain free something good must have happened because I woke up this morning with the bedside light still on an my book on the floor 😀. Hope it works for you
I am pleased that you have had some success with the pillow. It certainly seems worth trying. Not exactly a large sample, but is it just coincidence that we suffer from the left hip? Perhaps it has something to do with a preference for lying on the left side, certainly my choice, all other things being equal.
I have the same problems...pain lying on my side, heavy legs, trouble getting in and out of a car, pain from my hip to my knee and up from my ankle to my knee. The spinal surgeon showed me my MRI images which, he says, explain it all: spondylolisthesis and spondylosis. Two vertebrae have slipped out of line, one forward, one backwards so that the nerves are impinged. He said " Don't worry, we can fix this". I have opted to try the quick fix first: spinal injections, but I may need the second option: an operation to make more room for my nerves and pins in the spine. He said it has been coming on very slowly, probably over the last 5 to 10 years. I have confused PMR flares and this problem and have probably stayed on steroids unnecessarily. I hope they fully investigate your issues and that you find a way of sleeping comfortably soon. I lie half on my tummy with the top leg bent and the bottom leg straight. My spine seems straight like that and there's no weight on my side. If I have to sleep on my back I have a soft pillow up against the side of my face. It's comforting, as , like you, I am a side sleeper by choice.
Thank you for replying your description certainly appears to mimic my problems which I think are at the early stage. So difficult to decide which part is playing up at which particular time. Im glad you have found a comfortable way to sleep and hope the 'quick fix" works well for you.
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