Can PMR cause foot pain?

[CarnationLily]

just as the tile says really. I haven’t been able to find anything conclusive about this on the web and so I wondered if anyone else had suffered from this.

Have developed quite bad generalised aching/ throbbing foot pain which does not get better at rest. No injury or change in activity levels . I have been decreasing my dose slowly though.

I don’t know whether to treat this as a flare or not as it’s not somewhere I’ve experienced pain before.

I’m also experiencing leg pain but that is definitely a PMR thing with me

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

There isn’t a lot of info about foot pain in PMR , but some do suffer from it - there are related posts to view.

But if you think your leg is PMR, then maybe treat as flare - just increasing for a week - and see what happens. If your foot doesn’t improve with extra Pred, then it’s probably not PMR, and you’ll need to think again.

Other than rest, have you tried any other therapy - ordinary painkiller or icing?.

[CarnationLily in reply to DorsetLady]

Thanks. Yes I have tried painkillers and icing without much success.

Can you tell me how I can search related posts ( I’m logged in in my phone if relevant)

I can see a box at the top of the screen which says- search health unlocked- but nothing for just searching the PMR forum

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to CarnationLily]

Related posts should come up once you have posted. On iPhone they are usually below current posts, on other devices on right of screen

General search see this link -scroll down to option 8

healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...

If painkillers and icing doesn’t help - then points to PMR -so maybe up the Pred

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to CarnationLily]

You search the whole forum first and then you get the option to refine the search which includes just PMRGCAuk

[PMRpro Ambassador]

I had pain similar to that when my PMR first started but after several months of pred it faded and has never returned, My hands were bad too - could barely hold a cup of tea or glass of wine!

Prof Sarah Mackie in Leeds actually did a study on hands and feet in PMR because she was surprised how many of us said it was a problem but rheumies wouldn't have it. They found it WAS quite common - but unfortunately they have never published the results!

What have you tried so far? It could be arthritis so might be worth discussing imaging to see if it is.

[CarnationLily in reply to PMRpro]

Thanks- how annoying that the research didn’t get published.

I have tried the rest, ice , elevation thing along with otc painkillers- didn’t improve any

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to CarnationLily]

Warmth?

[Indigo2417]

I had swollen hands, feet and ankles right at the start and for a couple of days, my feet were so tender it was painful to walk. That coincided with having blood tests and my GP started me on Naproxen. She suspected PMR or Rheumatoid Arthritis but referred me to Rheumatologist before I started with Pred. I don’t know if it was coincidence, but my swollen feet got better after a couple of days and the hands got better too. I have had swollen feet recently, but I think that may have been unrelated to PMR. Have noticed slightly swollen knuckles recently since tapering to 6.5. Regarding the feet issue, I hobbled around for a couple of days until it got better. Just a suggestion, would a warmed wheat bag help? I found it helped when my shoulders were stiff.

[RosyPollyandMe]

My pains started with intense foot, ankle and wrist hand pain before it gradually spread to the hip girdle then shoulders, arms, then neck over a period of about 6 weeks. I was finally diagnosed by a very knowledgeable and helpful GP. As soon as I started on the steroids it stopped.

And it is the pain in my feet and hands that are the first signs as I am currently trying for the second time (unsuccessfully) to reduce to 15mg from 20mg (As per GP instructions). After carefully reading Dorset Lady’s tapering programme I am going to try reducing at a slower and longer period to 17.5mg.

Hope this is helpful. 🙂

[Almostaweed]

Yes I had foot and wrist pain and also actually a sore head when I was on 10-15mg of Pred. Could hardly stand on my feet when I got out of bed. In my imagination the inflammation had got pushed to the extremities of my body - but the GP laughed at the idea. But I never needed to take pain killers for it. Less troublesome now (several months later and on 5mg with potential new flare) but it is still there a bit and I have developed plantar fasciitis in one heel.

[EnyaBlue]

After months of ankle pain which I was told was tendonitis, I recently got an ultrasound scan via NHS. The sonographer saw no inflamation of the tendons but did see inflamation of the vasculature in the joint. He said that PMR was known to affect the proximal joints but can affect dorsal joints and give pain in ankles and feet, but stressed he was not an expert.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to EnyaBlue]

I hope he tells his doctors that!!! I'd love to pick his brains and see the evidence.

[EnyaBlue in reply to PMRpro]

Is PMR understood to affect dorsal joints? The scan was requested by physio who I am seeing for the 2nd appointment on Wednesday. I was shown the scan and it was explained to me, but tbh it was fuzzy haze.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to EnyaBlue]

I don't know to be honest. It was the dorsal part of my feet that felt as if they were being squashed into shoes 2 sizes too small and I was walking on a mix of rounds and sharp pebbles and broken glass. I have heard quite a few saying they had exactly the same sort of feeling. It went with pred and has never returned!

[krillemy]

I also started with foot and hand pain and swelling. I could not work stairs, or lift a cuo. I still have it. I becomes worse after "using" them too much. Like 1-1½ hour after. So no knitting ect. I does help with pred. but it has never really gone away. Here the doctors say that 20% of PMR patients have it

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to krillemy]

Wish they'd publish!!!!!

[79andCounting]

I had foot pain, wrist, hand & finger pain. All went away with Prednisone.

[Sandmason]

According to Uptodate on PMR that I read, it can often cause hand and wrist but never foot and ankle symptoms. I cannot access the article anymore wo a membership. wolterskluwer.com/en/soluti...

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Sandmason]

Like most things - it is a brave doctor who claims "never" about symptoms that many patients will report!! And good though it is (when you can read it) Uptodate is only the opinion of its authors!

[Sandmason in reply to PMRpro]

Who posted the GREAT video that is on YouTube, wow! I need to send it to my family doc, who is hogtied by a horrendous secret note by the rheum I saw, at her insistence. It was disparaging to me and he even lied. Anyway, repeat post of that excellent video!

youtube.com/watch?v=mWBPr-z...(Not working as expected?)

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Sandmason]

Not working here - YouTube can be picky!!!

Brilliant isn't it. Think I might not mind him as my rheumy, though mine is even better I think.

Should be compulsory viewing for any doctor who claims to know about PMR and blatantly doesn't!!!

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to PMRpro]

Nor here…

[Sandmason in reply to PMRpro]

The latest YouTube rheum I saw says it "never" affects people under 50, which we all know isn't true. SO I take everything these experts say with a grain of salt!

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Sandmason]

This is true - but in general that is a very good presentation of PMR. It is a self-perpetuating myth of course since when the under-50 patient presents they will do anything to not call it PMR! You won't find what you don't believe in!

[Sandmason in reply to PMRpro]

Polymyalgia Rheumatica: What has changed since 1957?

MedStar Georgetown Department of Medicine

379 views

3 days ago

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Sandmason]

I have seen it, it was posted on the forum a few days ago, and commented on it. And I said here that in general it is a very good presentation of PMR. There are things in it that I - and Prof Sarah Mackie in Leeds - would disagree on the basis of the basis of our experiences and her research. But that is likely to happen with ANY such presentation.

[CarnationLily in reply to Sandmason]

Thanks to everyone who has replied so far. I’m just about to go on holiday and won’t have WiFi all the time but I will definitely look into all that has been said