I spoke to my rheumatologist today about her saying to me that it was good that I started exercising as it would help in restarting my adrenals. I asked whether she had any references to medical studies that might have been done to reaffirm this. Unfortunately she does not know of any studies but based on her experience with PMR patients and consultation with other rheumatologists she was quite confident in her beliefs.
I have been on this PMR rollercoaster now for over 6 years and am now at an all time low of 5.5 mg prednisone withput issue - I started regular "senior style" exercise classes in June of 2024. So far so good.
It would perhaps be difficult to do such a study as there are so many other factors that can affect recovery from a complete adrenal shutdown. The way I look at it though is that I am gaining in other ways by exercising - core strength, flexibility and balance all contribute to better quality of life in our senior years - I am 76 - you can start exercising at any age - just takes commitment and having the opportunity to join a senior oriented program. I was lucky as there is a club right in my neighbourhood.
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Alebeau
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Well done you! All I know is if the Prednisolone is giving me an adrenaline rush ( I have just moved down to 7) then a walk helps me balance it and makes me feel better.
An increase in cortisol is seen when aerobic exercise is intense enough and long enough to affect BS metabolism. My question would be whether most of us could achieve the level and duration required to affect cortisol. However, exercise obviously CAN stimulate the HPA axis and is good for us anyway, so worth doing.
I find your post very reassuring. I have been fearful of doing an exercise programme for fear of being left even more depleted in energy. Struggling at 3mg leaves me with no reserve and living alone I cannot risk being unable to manage daily demands. I have been relying on my daily 40 minute dog walk to keep me reasonably fit.
Last year I was doing strengthening exercises for what was thought to be sciatica but the condition did not improve. I lost confidence in the physiotherapist and the programme and have not resumed, so now getting rather flabby. A group like you describe sounds like it might motivate me.
It is the best thing to start at any age. You will need to be patient at the start as it did cause me muscle pains from the stretching but those are good pains and only last a day or two at the beginning stages.
Once your muscles start to get back in shape the recovery time gets shorter. I do one beginner yoga class and one simply called Stretch and Tone - both are one hour sessions and so far all is good. Don’t overdo it -our senior instructor always advises if it hurts don’t do it. Some of the participants (mostly women) are in their mid eighties and are in better shape than me 🤪 - I am only 76.
Well, you are a kindred soul. I am also 76, male. I am going on just over 3 years with PMR and have been at 1 mg for the last 3 months. I tried dropping to 0.5 mg but found that would not work - waking up with deep shoulder pain. Every one’s journey through this appears to be different. However, to get to the question of exercise; I have for the most part remained active; not necessarily structured exercise but things like cutting/splitting/stacking firewood, yard type work, building a workshop, and just generally keeping things maintained. I also do some structured body weight exercising when I can (at times I just don’t have enough amps to get anything going). But I know that I certainly feel better being active. Lolling around on the couch, in my mind, leads to more problems than whatever physical activity might bring. I wish you luck and health in your exercise routine.
Sounds like you are keeping fit with those kinds of activities. I do enjoy the social aspect of joining groups and plus it is an incentive to as you say get off the couch.
1 mg is a great reduction and I wish you luck and good health as well.
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arthritis appearing at low dose pred
Adrenals etc
Going back to exercise
Tried to use my new stationary bike for just 10 minutes 
Exercise , PMR and Hip replacement 
