Hi, I have just been diagnosed with PMR and have started on Prednisolone. Whilst I have some symptoms of PMR (sore shoulders/hips I feel there is more going on. I can’t sit down or drive for more that 5mins before searing pain (which I think is sciatica) sets in down the back and sides of my thighs and calves/ankles. Doc is sending me for a scan but it’s not for a couple of months and I need to drive to work. Does anyone else experience this?
Driving agony: Hi, I have just been diagnosed with... - PMRGCAuk
Driving agony
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DorsetLadyPMRGCAuk volunteer
No, but you do need to seriously think about driving…if you are in that much pain -
a. Are you able to concentrate properly, and
b. If you have take immediate action to avoid an accident/ incident are you able to?
If the answers are no, or even perhaps, then don’t get behind the wheel. And do you mean drive to work, or drive for work? If later, then even more serious.
Thanks. As soon as the pain starts I have to get out. When I stand the pain drains away in around 30 secs. It makes journey times a lot longer! I drive to work.
Can you get a lift to work temporarily until it gets sorted.. plus of course it also depends what conditions you drive under, but even in sleepy Dorset [or on the open roads in New Zealand] 😊I wouldn’t risk it, and certainly not in an urban environment.
Thanks for advice.
Try some lower back exercises for sciatica prior to driving
Perhaps try changing your posture i.e. use a cushion to lift your bottom a bit. That may take pressure off the nerves. If the problem goes when you get out of the car then sitting is causing the nerve compression..You might have to try several different position for your bottom. Good luck.
Thanks
Just another thought. Have you tried driving other cars? Do they have the same effect? I sympathise with your problem. The last time we bought a new car we tested Sixteen(!!!) before we found one that didn't hurt too much.😡
Yes, I’ve tried one other, but doesn’t make any difference if it’s a car seat or any other seat.
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Hi and welcome!
I have back problems that are not directly PMR but nothing to come close to that. In fact. one thing PMR has never done is make driving difficult thank goodness, I'd have been a bit stuck otherwise.
With that much pain I agree you need to consider whether you should be driving and I'm really rather taken aback you haven't been sent for at least an emergency x-ray. From what you say, it suggests it is both legs? Which suggests to me it might be a disc causing the problem. Have you any other symptoms? Numbness. for example?
Did you make it clear to the GP just how severe the pain is? What have they suggested for the pain?
Mmm - reading SJ's response made me think: what sort of seat do you have? It is obviously a positional thing and altering the angle your back and hips are could well help.
This explains common problems with car seats and backs
google.com/search?q=car+sea...
And just to emphasise my comment before - sciatica is generally on one side only - if yours is both sides, there may be something else going on.
Thank you. Most upright seats are impossible. A sofa is ok for a while if I ‘lounge’. I’m constantly changing height and angle of car seat.
That is what the guy in the video says - slightly reclined and you probably need a decent lumbar support as well.
And yes - I think it is a disc problem as well. You don't wait as long for an x-ray - most places have walk-ins service - and it depends what the GP writes on the referral for other things. If it just says routine it could be yonks!
My GP was surprised at bloods results. She (and I) suspect something is going on elsewhere- maybe disc. I just wanted to see if anyone else had same problem with PMR. It was my osteopath who suspected PMR. The pains started with right leg but both for last couple of weeks. No numbness. Seems everyone is waiting a long time for scans at the moment.
My husband is prone to sciatica, being a tall man doesn’t help. He bought a wedge shaped pillow (Amazon) that supports the base of his spine whilst driving. It is called the Livtribe car seat cushion. This has completely solved his problem £28. Might be worth a try, temporarily at least.
Many thanks, I got one of those cushions last week and it does help a little.
Years ago, I had very bad sciatica for about 6 months. A friend told me to use a stability disk as a seat cushion wherever/whenever I sat. After following his advice religiously for two weeks, I was free of the sciatica pain. I continue to use the stability disc daily, but I don't need to use it everywhere I sit as I did in the beginning. Since then, I have mentioned this to about a dozen people suffering with sciatica, and about 75% have gotten relief.
The reason it works is that spinal discs break down with age, allowing the vertebrae to pinch the sciatic nerve. Sitting on a stability disc forces your spinal stabilizer muscles to do the work of maintaining your posture, and this in turn tones up the spinal stabilizer muscles, which in turn keep the vertebrae positioned correctly so they don't pinch the sciatic nerve.
You can buy a stability disk on Amazon for about $20. Some are better than others; the good ones are more "rubbery" and less "plasticy". I own and recommend the gray King Athletic one, but I am sure there are other brands that are good as well.
I’m in no way disagreeing with everything people have said in reply to you, but you did ask if anyone experienced pain whilst driving. I certainly did down the back of both thighs and into my legs, but NOT in my back. I probably should have stopped driving, but it was only really bad in the last week before diagnosis of pmr.
This also affected me whilst sitting down, and when first trying to get going again, after I’d managed to stand up. In my case it must have been the pmr, because it cleared up when I was on a sufficient dose of prednisolone.
That said, I think you are best following the advice already given to you.
Good luck.
Thanks Charlie, only my second day on pred so will be interesting to see what happens. My GP has started me on 15mg per day. Osteo thinks not enough.
I hope you feel very much better soon 💐The pred should help and don't forget to pace yourself.
x
Many thanks!
Have you been signed off work for the time being? Being on pred isn't the only bit - you need to rest and look after yourself to let your body get used to the pred. I worked with PMR - but I worked from home, I couldn't have coped with a commute as well.
Not really an option for me. I work freelance so if I don’t go in I don’t get paid. In the current climate I can’t afford it.
Oh right - get that. I was freelance - but I did only work from home.
Hi, I did and sometimes still do and it stops me driving too. Its across lower back into hips and fown back of legs. It was my osteopath who 1st thought PMR too. X
I'll be curious to see if the pred dose helps you. Prior to being diagnosed with PMR, driving was torture for me. I frequently drove long delivery routes and needed to get out of the truck every 15 minutes or I just couldn't stand the pain. However, my pain was in both thighs, hips and some around the knees but especially the shoulders and biceps. Within days of being put on a trial of 20 mg daily of prednisone the majority of the pain was gone. That was the start of my 7+ years with PMR. Whether it's PMR, something with your back or something else, I wish you success in finding help for it soon! It does stink to work in pain.
oh yes, definitely. I was like that before I started taking pred. Sadly, I don't have a real answer to it. I've always linked it to being in one position for too long. Though the pyriformis stretch and a quads stretch does release it a bit for me. I think you also need to look at your driving position. Lowering or raising the seat by even a few millimetres could make all the difference.
It has re-appeared a bit since I began lowering my pred dose. I definitely need to replace my office chair.
I had those exact same symptoms a few years ago. Mine was definitely sciatica. I needed to stop the car and get out to straighten up. To a lesser extend it happened when sitting at the dinning table.
It didn’t last too long for me, but everyone is different.
I have had sciatic disc issues years before PMR. My PMR's early onset was pain in my legs to the point that I couldn't press the gas pedal. My first guess was another disc problem. If the Pred doesn't help to relieve the pain, it is probably due to disc pressure on the sciatic nerve.
I always have lower back support on my car seat (even when I feel well). Back stretches before you go to work and after you return may help too (some you can do during work as well): backintelligence.com/sciati...
Also, after a day's work, it may help to lay on your back with ice under the lower back and knees elevated (to avoid pressure on your lower back). If you do this, don't go beyond 20 minutes. Prolonged periods may contract the mussels.
Keep in mind that this problem usually doesn't get resolved quickly. Be patient, take care of yourself, and avoid carrying heavy loads (more than 20 lb.).
Good luck and get well.
Hi, thanks for advice and link - looks really useful. I have a lumbar support and a spinal support cushion in the car but when the sciatica sets in I just have to get out. Hopefully the press will help with this.
I hope so. Maybe this tip will tooaxialchairs.com/how-to-driv...
Hi, I had just the same, however I invested in a special seat cushion for my car. I firstly purchased a set which comprised of seat, back & head at a cost of around £40 but it was no good for the car but I tried it on my kitchen chair which is wooden and it’s great. ( obviously not the head bit). I tried another one at£90, expensive I know but I couldn’t drive my car without it! It held reduce the pain & discomfort. I was suffering for months like you and after an x-Ray was told it’s only arthritis!!! Only??? In the end I couldn’t stand the pain so paid privately to see a consultant, it was a trapped nerve! I was informed the injections in my spine was a 50/50 chance of not working. It did for about 8 months but sadly has returned. I can’t afford to pay again so it looks like at least a 2 year wait on the NHS! . I wish you the best and hope you get some relief. 🙏
I have suffered back pain for many years, although not sciatic pain like you. I've found that having a heated car seat really helps me when my back stiffens up. I don't know if your car has heated front seats, but if it does then try turning on the driver's seat heat and see if that helps.
If your car doesn't have heated seats, then be a bit cheeky and go to a car dealership and ask to go for a test drive in a car that does have heated seats. That way you can try out the heated seats without cost to yourself, and if you find that the heat helps you drive for more than 5 minutes then perhaps you should consider getting a car seat heating kit.
I've just looked on Ebay and found heated car seat kits priced from less than £10 up to around £120, depending on the kit. Amazon do them as well, for similar prices.
Sorry to hear about this......I used to struggle driving prior to starting meds as my hips just got stiffer and stiffer and after a while I had to pull over and have a walk before carrying on.
Didn't have any of the leg or back pain. I've never needed to stop since taking pred and driving has been completely back to normal.
Hope things settle down for you 🙂
when I was first diagnosed with PMR I couldn’t drive for more than 5 minutes without extreme pain in buttocks and back of thighs. Also burning heat! Prednisolone has largely resolved this with addition of a cold cushion!
Hi, I dont know if this helps but my very first PMR symptom was pain in my buttocks. So much so that driving or sitting for any length of time was nearly impossible. Even now, 4 years on I know if I'm about to have a flare because the pain in my buttocks rears its ugly head again. My rheumatologist said it's a common symptom.
I do hope you get some relief soon.
Yep, have buttock pain today ... right royal pain in the a*se, but overdid walking yesterday. It's stiffness which causes problems driving. I have to pull over after 30 min max, haul myself out of campervan, and do a series of stretches. Get sympathetic smiles from people in laybys ...
Same. Sorry to say I haven't driven in 2.5 years. Neck won't let me look behind or check mirrors. Too dangerous. I had just bought a new vehicle. When I was working it was work from home and had to give that up too. Had PMR diagnosed since Jan. 2022, but it started the summer before. A whole new lifestyle is PMR.
When I first got PMR, and even before the PMR diagnosis, I struggled to sit in a car for more than 30 mins. Ended up in terrible hamstrings and hip pain, along with the PMR stiffness.From my experience, your description is similar to my symptoms. The pain started in hips and hamstrings and then spread down the legs. This happened on trains, and planes and all cars - I drive an old Volvo with super-comfy seats.
Similar to Cyclo5 before diagnosis and when first on pred I found being a passenger or driving a car for any length of time very uncomfortable. The pain was in my hamstrings and made sitting for any length of time very painful
This sounds similar to my experience. When first diagnosed I could not travel in a car for more than half an hour before having to stop, get out and stretch my legs muscles. Also could not sit for more than ten minutes without getting cramps if, say, we went out for a meal.This scenario eased over time but long journey car travel continued to result in thigh/posterior cramps. The only cure I found for this was to spray the muscle areas with a magnesium spray which I massaged in before my trips out. Try it and good luck. Other people in our PMR group have had similar problems in to ours but weirdly does not seem to affect everyone.
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