Extra Pred?

[Decsgran]

I have had really bad neck pain since before Christmas, and a routine trip to chiropractor has, if anything, made it worse. Looking back over my diary since I started pred in 2021, my neck has played up on and off since I got below 10mg. Despite this I had tapered to 3.5mgs in December but went back up to 6mgs at New Year. I really think I maybe need to go back up to 10 for a little while at least and see if it helps. If not then I think an X-ray is called for . My question is can I take an extra 4 msg tonight and then take 10 tomorrow morning ?

[PMRpro Ambassador]

What about trying 2mg just now if you feel it would help - less likely to disturb sleep

[Decsgran in reply to PMRpro]

Hmmm! I didn’t think about it affecting sleep - I’ll wait till morning!

[PMRnewbie2017]

I see from your profile that you have a long standing issue with neck pains. You have already increased from 3.5mg to 6mg in January. Did that make any difference? Can I ask how old you are?

Sore necks are common with PMR but because our head weighs around 11lbs as we get older, if our posture isn't good or if there's any arthritis lurking, our necks will suffer and that's not because of PMR. Can you think back to what you were doing before Christmas? Were you doing anything where your head was being held in a fixed position for a while? There are many muscles in the neck which connect with the upper back. Many people carry a lot of tension in their shoulders. Shoulder bags are really a no-no but we all tend to carry them. As a carer, could you have strained your neck at all?

I'm going to tell you my story:

Currently the left side of my neck is really sore. Side to side movement is restricted and painful. I can hear the muscles crunching as I move my neck. Yesterday the pain spread to behind my left shoulder blade towards the spine. I've had knots and myofascial pain before and it was just like that. Like a toothache in the muscles. Then I thought about why? Two weeks ago I did a lot of knitting to finish a jumper while I was unwell. I have now resumed my swimming which I had to stop for 3 weeks because of the bad cold. Resuming the swimming has been hard because of my breathing so I've been doing breast stroke without putting my face in the water. My conclusion is, my neck pain has got nothing to do with PMR but simply neck strain. How many of us (including me) ever do exercises to strengthen our neck muscles and sit in correct posture when reading, typing, knitting, sewing etc? I've used a heat pad, taken Paracetamol, made sure my neck is correctly aligned and supported during sleep. As I write this I am not slouching over the keyboard and this morning my neck feels 100% better. Not perfect yet but so much better.

I am resisitant to heading for the Prednisolone at every ache and pain because at my dose of 2.5mg lots of other things (age related and former injury related) surface and a shot of 10mg Pred will give anyone a boost whether PMR is the cause or not..

[Sharitone in reply to PMRnewbie2017]

I thoroughly agree, and if anyone has a method of knitting with shoulders in a good position, then I would like to hear it!

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Sharitone]

I gave up knitting because of PMR arm pain. I wonder is having elbows supported on cushions would work? I didn't move my hand much when knitting ..

[Sharitone in reply to PMRpro]

I tried it, and it didn't help. I got very sore over the distal end of the clavicle. For me, I think it would be an issue of keeping the shoulders back to prevent tendonitis, but however often I remember and pull my shoulders back, I find they have sneakily crept forward again within minutes.🙁

[Groovykindoflove1992]

I have a v-cushion which I put across my lap with the point facing outwards. This way, the ends of it are sort of under my arms, and they support my elbows, and my hands are supported too. My daughter has a dodgy shoulder from gymnastics, and when she does embroidery she says it burns and aches, so I gave her a go of my v-cushion and she says it's a miracle. It takes the weight of my arms hanging from my shoulders, and therefore helps my arms, shoulders and neck 👍👍👍