I just wanted to share my experience with other sufferers - my consultant offered me hydrotherapy treatment for my PMR. I quickly realised the benefit of immersion in warm water so I joined a health club to enable me to swim regularly. Starting very gingerly at first I now swim for 20 mins 3 times a week & treat myself to a soak in the jacuzzi for another 10 mins. The improvement was immediately noticeable, my aches & pains just disappeared, but if I miss my swim I can feel the difference. So I advise others to take gentle exercise & if you don't have access to a nice warm pool & a jacuzzi just soak regularly in a nice hot bath.
I also found Devil's Claw to be a useful additon to the Prednisalone - it's available over the counter & allowed me to drop from 15mgs to 5mgs quite quickly. Holding steady.
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confettibridal
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Interesting post thanks for sharing... the pools around here are freezing and I don't have the range of movement to actually swim. I have an adapted bathroom with no bath so hydro was really the only viable option...only problem is there is one hydro pool serving millions, waiting lists a mile long, once you get in you are limited to 8 sessions and they are often cancelled when someone accidentally poops in the pool (not sure why they say accidentally...like someone would deliberately do such a thing) and it takes days to drain, clean and refill, reheat it...
I am still on a quest to find a pool that is actually warm...many claim to be but in reality you could almost lose a toe to frostbite if you didn't move around fast enough in there...my quest for warm deep waters continues...
Hi Confettibridal,
I get great relief from standing under a really hot shower. This was very helpfull at the beginning of my illness and, even then, it would take the pains away.
I have looked up 'Devils Claw' and it does seem to have proved helpful in reducing inflammation in many conditions, but I have not used it because it is also suggested that, because no research trials have been done on this herb, it's use may have dangers.
Saying that, I know that I am now on the tricky lower doses - 7mg and if I find the drops in the future very hard to make, I may resort to certain herbal remedies to try and help.
What dangers? Well that's the M.D. question - as far as I can tell, there has not been any proper trials done on this 'ancient' remedy. Who knows what damage it may or may not do to the human body particularly when used in conjunction with steroids or other NSAIDs.
I will certainly look further into it's use by others to help, but in the mean time, is there anyone who knows anything?
Pats.
Glad you found the hydrotherapy helpful. I was advised to take up aqua-aerobics and I have found it very good. I was nervous at first - thoughts of synchronised swimming! but it's great fun and you can do as little or as much as you like. I can do all sorts of movements in the water that are painful on dry land. The water is a bit chilly at first but believe me you soon warm up!
Oh gosh! My GP suggested swimming when I couldn't even dress myself. I never understood how people were saying this helped when I couldn't make the arm movements. But ... when I finally got into it, the sauna was wonderful and worth the struggle with clothing. I think warm immersion in heat definitely helps.
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