bilateral or not?

[Jakey67]

this is such a good forum for information. I have significant pain in right knee and left hand. When I just generally googled PMR and its bilateral nature, a lot of the medical sites were assuredly saying it was, which might have given me cause for concern had I not also searched here. Helpfully there was a good amount of information about it not always being bilateral and for me, that it seeks out old injuries. I had a bad fall many years ago with injury to right knee which took over a year to heal and have Carpal tunnel syndrome in left hand…….apart from wishing to praise and thank everyone who contributes to this site, my post may allay someone concerns over similar symptoms.

[piglette]

Are you saying you have been diagnosed with PMR or not? If you have pain in one knee and in your hand it does not sound like PMR to me. PMR is a muscle pain, not a bone pain. I may of course be wrong, you need to talk to a doctor.

[Jakey67 in reply to piglette]

I have been diagnosed with PMR. The steroids brought instant relief pain killers were ineffective. I also have pains in spine, buttocks and moving pains which shift around my body. I am very stiff in the mornings, crabbing downstairs but by evening much relieved and almost pain free in early hours of the morning. The pain in left hand is a separate issue being CTS, knee pain is all around, down the legs and is I believe muscular.

[piglette in reply to Jakey67]

Have you had your knee xrayed? I got Carpal Tunnel pain just when I got PMR and then it seemed to go away again. It sounds as if your pred dose may be a bit low if you are getting so much pain. What is it?

[Jakey67 in reply to piglette]

It’s a bit baffling because if I walk for a mile or two, I feel better, and usually more so as the day goes on. Not had knee X rayed, had physio at the time and did appear to make a full recovery . I do find this condition a mystery in many ways.m

[piglette in reply to Jakey67]

It sounds like osteo-arthritis. Gentle movement like walking can actually help lubricate the joint and reduce stiffness, effectively lessening the pain; this is because walking helps strengthen the muscles around the knee which can take some pressure off the joint itself.

[Jakey67 in reply to piglette]

I’ll see if the GP will refer for X-ray on my knee

[piglette in reply to Jakey67]

That is a good idea, at least you will then have more of a feel for the problem.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

The dramatic response to pred isn't really a reliable criterion that it is PMR - if the pain is inflammatory it is likely to help other things too.

"moving pains which shift around my body" - in joints or generally?

Not saying it isn't PMR - my query would be is it JUST PMR?

[Jakey67]

I do get what you are saying. It feels muscular, sometimes achy, stiff but also shooting pains in buttocks…it’s very variable but doesn’t feel like bone pain. When I was diagnosed the GP did all the blood tests so I assumed that reinforced his diagnoses. I have had a lot of stress and I think that has impacted on the pain levels.

[Holidaytime89]

Regarding your knee pain - at the beginning of my illness I also had pain - my left inside knee which was especially bad at night. When I tried to move my leg it was excruciating. My hands, wrists and ankles were sore too along with the other PMR symptoms which I found difficult to describe to my GP.

Early on I had my knee xrayed and they told me it was osteoarthritis.

3 months later I was finally diagnosed with PMR and prescribed pred - I felt massively better within a few days. The knee pain persisted though it became much less - but was still sore for about 3 months. A year later it’s completely gone. I’m down to 1 mg pred now. I’m sure the knee pain was part of the PMR.