1. Community
  2. Bones, joints and muscles
  3. Polymyalgia Rheumatica and GCA

Going up steps is a big problem

Posted , 16 users are following.

wilma80366
wilma80366

Have been on prednisone for about 3 months, started at 30 now at 20 after a disastrous reduction to 10.  Have been on 20 for two weeks now. Still takes time in the morning to get going, afternoon and evening are better as far as mobility/achiness.  I have steps in my house and it is Very difficult to go up the steps!!! GOing down is no problem.  Am considering getting a stair lift. When I go up the steps, I take one step and have to rest a  minute before taking another step.  What do you all think?

0 likes, 17 replies

17 Replies

Next
  • paul45653
    paul45653 wilma80366

    Posted

    I know just what your saying. I started that way two years ago and was not too bad in till this year when down to 5mg. Now I have a lot of original symptoms mainly a feeling of vasculitis where I cant get blood flow to muscles and they refuse to respond. My take is that it's all related to pred dosage. I'm very anxious to hear what some of my other friends have to say. Maybe we can all get you sorted out.

    • jeanne333
      jeanne333 paul45653

      Posted

      I don't agree with blaming the lack of muscle control and weakness on steriods. I've been on and off prednisone, 2 to 4 months out of the year, for almost 20 years, due to prior (before PMR) health issues. The only side-effects I felt were increased energy and very easily irratated. I never felt this total lack of energy and extreme exhaustion. This is just my opinion, not the opinion of this forum.

    • FlipDover_Aust
      FlipDover_Aust paul45653

      Posted

      It's more likely the PMR that's causing the problems with your muscles and fatigue.

       

      However, below around 7mg (for me it's 5 1/2mg) the adrenals have to start working again and sometimes you feel tired and lethargic until they work out you expect something from them!

       

    • Daniel1143
      Daniel1143 jeanne333

      Posted

      Jeanne, one of the well documented side effects of prednisone is muscular myopathy.  Without question, it happened to me. I am or should I say I was a ompetitive rower and in full training when I started to notice the thinning and shrinking of my musculature. Doctor confirmed the cause.
    • Anhaga
      Anhaga Daniel1143

      Posted

      I agree.  My undiagnosed winter with PMR I was out shovelling snow with little difficulty (having trouble getting dressed or getting out of bed but I could still shovel snow and it was the winter from hell, go figure).  Following winter, on pred for about six months by then, found I could not do nearly as much heavy lifiting, even though the flexibility issues caused by PMR had all been resolved by pred.  As my dose lowered I felt I was getting a bit stronger again, but even that improvement hasn't got me back to where I used to be.

    • FlipDover_Aust
      FlipDover_Aust Anhaga

      Posted

      that's the bizarre thing about PMR - I can do some things but not others. Putting on socks or a bra is next to impossible but I can paint a ceiling!

  • FlipDover_Aust
    FlipDover_Aust wilma80366

    Posted

    Wilma, in my opinion you should do whatever you can to make your life easier. If you want to put in a stair lift, do it!
  • snapperblue
    snapperblue wilma80366

    Posted

    If you are still experiencing debilitating pain and stiffness, you may need to be on a higher dose of prednisone for a while.  It took 25 mg for me to get the inflammation under control.

    Doctors typically start with a dose of 15 mg, so I wonder why you started at 30 mg.  Then the reduction to 10 was very fast- too fast, as you found out!  But a puzzling series of decisions about your dose.

    I hope your doctor is open to increasing the dose for a while, until the symptoms are under control.  After a while with little or no pain and stiffness, you can begin a slow reduction.

    Best of luck! PMR is extremely variable in severity and duration, so I hope you have an easy course!  

     

  • nick67069
    nick67069 wilma80366

    Posted

    Wilma I also live in a house with steps. At first, it was such an effort to go up or down ( honestly I was more concern about going down because of the risk of falling). I am a bit concern that you may not be at adequate dose of pred and that your decision on installing stair lift is motivated by your condition at the moment. If I were you, I would give it more time for pred to reduce inflammation and for you to adjust to it. My office is upstairs, so I make it a habit to stretch my legs and go get a drink or snack from a kitchen (downstairs) at least once an hour, thus forcing me to climb the stairs. I do it slowly, and take time to rest. I remember it took me about 2 weeks or so of this regiment before climbing stairs was not an issue any more.

    While we have to careful and listen to our bodies  even more with PMR, this does not mean not moving at all. In fact, I think that slow, measured movement is necessary to get our blood flowing again and help those muscles impacted with PMR to get some fresh blood with nutrients and oxygen.

  • dea13
    dea13 wilma80366

    Posted

    Hi, I hear you, I am on 40mg of Pred a day and have 16 stairs to climb if I go out, and boy, it's hard > I also do one at a time, then stop. Once I decided to just go for it, and boy did I suffer the next few days in my legs and back. 

    I now have my food home delivered to my kitchen bench, and just have to learn to take it easy. I have had PMR AND GCA for 3 months, getting to know my body limits still ....  I hope you find it easier soon.  Cheers Dea

  • Handbrake
    Handbrake wilma80366

    Posted

    Hi Wilma, I agree with all other replies on here, it's still early days for you so would take enough prednisolone so that you are pain free enough to get moving.The longer you are immobile the longer your recovery will be. Even if it's just standing and walking to the other end of the house or to get a glass of water do it at least every hour. The less pain you have the more mobile you will be. Now after 2years and off prednisolone I don't notice the stairs anymore and make sure I exercise everyday. Another tip if you are housebound is to get your vit d levels checked you may need a supplement and vitk2 mk-7 is another supplement worth looking at especially if you have vasculitis. 

    • Anhaga
      Anhaga leonard12916

      Posted

      Vitamin K2 not K1 is important for getting calcium into the bones where it belongs.  It comes in a number of versions and there is some thought that mk7 version is the best.  Usually we have to get it from supplements as it's not readily available in the modern diet.  We can convert a little K1 in our own gut, but apparently we're not very efficient at doing so.

  • macas02
    macas02 wilma80366

    Posted

    Wilma I too have problems with stairs, I am otherwise doing quite well and down to 4mg pred. But stairs are a real problem, I go up and down one at a time and feel as if my thigh muscles are the problem we are even thinking of moving to an apartment or installing a stair lift .

    p.s I am now in my 6th year of pmt🤔

     

  • Sheilamac_Fife
    Sheilamac_Fife wilma80366

    Posted

    It sounds as though you are not on a high enough dose of Prednisolone. Perhaps for you a drop of 10mg was too much. We are all different in our response to steroids and of course how PMR affects us also varies.

    i started on 15mg and was unable to to cope with the initial planned drop to 12.5mg and tried 13.5mg and this worked for me. I continued like this on reductions of no more than 10% and am now 2 years later on 5.5mg. The mantra is 'Slow and steady wins the race'.

     

Back to top
Next

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.