Annoying Stiffness

[diana1998]

After 8 years I have managed to get down to 2mg over the last year. But my problem is I'm very stiff now when walking around and walking up the stairs. Absolutely no pain so very lucky there. I've just joined a small gym with a personal trainer who understands pmr to try to strengthen my muscles. But I'm wondering if the stiffness would go if I put up my dose? My regular bloods are always normal and my GP has let me self medicate over the years going down very slowly. I have just joined the 8zero club. My friends walk normally so keep thinking it must be the pmr??

[PMRpro Ambassador]

There is only one way to find out!!! Try it and see.

[diana1998 in reply to PMRpro]

Ooooerrr......🤔nervous to increase!!

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to diana1998]

You can try it for a few days, up to a week or so and drop straight back to where you were before if it doesn;t help. But really - quality of life is what you are aiming for and if 3mg were make a big difference to the stiffness, it is still a low dose.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to diana1998]

Why? As PMR-has said you may only require a small increase- and QOL is important. For the sake of a mg or two, I’d be giving it a go.

[Gimme]

Has your PT given you any stretching exercises? If you are reluctant to try the pred, try some gentle stretching for 10 or 15 minutes at the beginning of each day. If the stiffness is not due to the PMR, you should start to notice a difference within a week or so.

[ponai]

Stiffness has been a problem since I started pred 7 years ago- it solved the severe pain, but never the stiffness. I'll be interested to hear how you get on. I suspect there's something else going on. I'm worse today after a very pleasant 2 mile walk yesterday and am remembering that even before PMR I was gradually cutting back on weekly walks- 10 miles, 7, then 5 etc because I'd be so stiff, and it helped to take paracetamol before I set out, not afterwards. PMR does complicate things. It's hard to separate out the different problems, though very glad your stiffness doesn't hurt. It does seem to go with a lack of balance that also varies, but I'd expect a more definite pattern if it were a flare. I've been at 3, now at 6, not much difference.