Does working through the pain of pmr aggravate the condition?

[francesm]

[Polywotsit PMRGCAuk team member]

Hi Frances

Do you mean physically pushing yourself although the pain is bothering you and interfering with your range of movement?

[francesm in reply to Polywotsit]

Thanks Kate I'm a gardener and doing some DIY at the moment and finding the pain in the muscles in my upper arms inhibiting. I need to get the work done so find myself resorting to painkillers now and then. Just a bit worried that I'm making the situation worse in the longterm.

[Hidden]

Hi francesm,

My thoughts are 'yes' , but it does depend on what work you are doing. I have found in the past that a nice walk at a pace my body found comfortable with could often lead to me feeling much better the next day, but that doing harder work involving shoulder and hip muscles would cause a marked deterioration in my energy levels and an increase in pain for quite a few days afterwards.

I have always tried to pace myself as much as possible in the past when my PMR was much more severe. It worked.

Now my illness seems to be much less aggressive and I only have withdrawal pains for a while after reducing the dosage.

Just over 2 years ago, I pushed my body to it's limits and woke up one morning with PMR. I will never do it again!

Pats.

[ritter in reply to Hidden]

Hi pats,how are you today?we did not get much snow here infarct its almost gone again dogs love it,chickens not keen,anything new pats? did you read my blog re my wrinkles gone due to my moon face If it ever gets back to normal i,l have more than i started with,not a good idea.reading your notes to francesm you sound like you did the same as me i did the same as you woke up 1 morning and their it was, well granddoughter just walked in so will write to moro,ritter

[Hidden in reply to ritter]

Hi ritter,

Yes, I bet your dogs are loving the snow, but your chickens, poor little things. This is were the bran mash comes in - all your potato peelings, meat and fish bits and left over vegey boiled up and mixed with bran. Serve it quite hot and they love it. It helps them produce eggs in cold weather.

Wrinkles, yes you're right, pred does seem to get rid of them, but I've got a cunning plan - when my PMR shuffles off I'm going to eat more to put on more fat that will take up the slack, so to speak. I only need to eat enough to put back the half a stone I've put on due to pred. What do you think? Ha Ha!

Are you taking extra vitamin B6 for your hair? I use a flexable bristle brush for mine and I find it's better not to brush my hair when it's wet, but dry it off and then brush and style. I too used to have long hair when younger, but I like it in a bob now as it's so much easier to look after.

Pats.

PS. we've got the snow now.

[ritter in reply to Hidden]

Hi pats,been out all day its been one of my good days,god it is nice to be pain free for a change,does not happen very often,yes have changed my brush,and no have not got my B6 yet,will get some Thursday,s thank pats,I have learnt more from this site than I have in the last year from the docs,I have some questions for doc on the 31st,he is going to wander what's hit him,could not get the bran in small packets only in big sacks only have 3 chicks,will try and find someone that caters for family pets,think I have put on 1/1/2 stone in the last 11 months pats I already had an excellent appetite before I took ill and went on steroids imagine now,my hair pats will not style its like its totally dead and looks like cotton wool its awful you can pick a piece up and it just stays their,no life in it at all.will google what foods have B6 in them and go to chemist in the morning,off to bed now will contact soon. Anne (ritter)

[ritter]

Yes francesm,,I do believe that pushing yourself when you are very ill with pains is a bad thing,I will never do that again,I pace myself now occasionally i am a bit silly, as I find it hard to slow down as I have always been bounding with energy,until I went down with Temoral Arteritis that will be a year next month to be precise Friday the 7 of February,this is a brilliant website I do not feel alone any more and that is a lovely feeling,.not that I would wish this on anyone of course but it is just nice to know that other people know what you are going through,

[Celtic PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Frances

YES!!! It depends exactly what you mean by "working through the pain of PMR" but if you overdo things it doesn't give the steroids a chance to do their job. If it hurts, you really need to rest it. I found a short daily walk to be the easiest and safest way not to overdo things, not only did it ease any stiffness but lifted my spirits as well. Some days I found I could only manage about 10 minutes before the lower back and leg pain kicked in but found that if I sat on the nearest seat or garden wall for a few minutes I quickly got some relief and could continue towards home. I think that learning how to pace ourselves is one of the hardest lessons but definitely well worth it in the end.

[francesm in reply to Celtic]

Thanks Celtic - your advice is very welcome. I find yoga helpful in the morning but will have to give the steroids a better chance to work and stop DIY/ gardening if I'm hurting.

[michaelegan]

If you are experiencing pain in your big joints because of PMR you are not having enough prednisolone. It's important to maintain an awareness of the state of your PMR by having regular blood checks so that the dose of medication matches your current condition. A lot of people with PMR feel pressured into medication reduction and so this becomes an objective to achieve ie getting off the steroids. Don't go there; focus on the management of the PMR and when the pain is gone a sensible gentle reduction programme. There are setbacks from time to time and if so it calls for an increase in medication for a while. I started on prednisolone 20mg five years ago. During the past year I have varied between 5mg and 2.5mg and I have resigned myself to the fact that we don't all fall into a "typical case of PMR". When the PMR has run its course and I get remision hooray I'll be off the steroids but until then keep taking the pills. I wish all of you with PMR a pain free 2013

[francesm in reply to michaelegan]

Hi michaelegan - thanks for your help. I am having regular blood tests and can't accuse my doc of pressuring me to get off steroids. The pain is a result of a flare up and I've increased my dose but suspect that I'm shooting myself in the foot by doing too much. After what everyone's said I thinks I'll award myself a day off tomorrow!

[Celtic PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Michael

When you say that during the past year you have varied between 5mg and 2.5mg, have you tried staying on the 5mg dose for a considerable length of time. I ask because when I had a severe flare at 3mgs (which I knew had started going pear-shaped at 5) after putting me back up to 10mgs and slowly getting me back to 5 via alternating doses of 10 and 7.5, then 7.5 and 5, he then kept me at 5mg for 5-6 months. With hindsight, this really made sense as it was the dose at which the flare had started so was obviously a sticking point for me. I then managed to reduce successfully to zero in half mg decrements and only on 1 day of the first week, 2 of the second, 3 of the third etc - a snail's pace but it worked.