In pain in shoulders, and knees today so stiff its unbearable

Sorry you are in so much pain I am just the same in the mornings and hobble downstairs to take meds and painkillers followed by a yoghurt or toast to help everything digest. I then go back to bed for about 20 mins to let things start to work and then have a hot shower to loosen things up before I get dressed.

I find it best to keep warm and always wear layers especially on my shoulders and arms. I have hand splints from the RA clinic and I wear them for driving and shopping for the extra support and to keep my hands warm, otherwise I wear gloves if the weather is at all cool, I may look a bit eccentric but if it helps go for it!

Be kind to yourself good luck.

or this one https://patient.info/forums/discuss/pmr-gca-website-addresses-and-resources-35316

Best of luck, John

Gathering all your strength to get off bed is something that people without illness don’t really understand, but I set my alarm clock with 15 mins intervals for exactly this reason…

My solution is tons of painkillers and anti-inflammatory meds (in addition to the scheduled medications) and, surprisingly, exercising. Whenever I can, I go for a walk, take a class or all of the above. Hurts like hell during, but I found that this decreases the overall pain (taking meds before the class helps too).  

I found that, surprisingly, TRX is a reasonable solution as it works on all joints and you can control which part of your body you work on. I can’t do anything knees-related, for instance, but there are workarounds even for that and your body gets stronger. Swimming is also great, but I can’t handle even 500m these days, so I gave up on that. If you can, try it (heated pools are the best, even if not of Olympic size).

Have a lovely day (from here you can only go up, right? :-))

Are you on medication? They do transform everything eventually...

The most important thing is to treat yourself caringly.

Be kind to yourself, give yourself permission to go slowly, to take breaks, to do what you want rather than what you are expected to do. Enlist your nearest and dearest as support.

Those of us who are doers, who like activity and are probably deeply involved in many things, find it especially hard to let go of all the things that define us, and just look after our bodies.

If it's a constant fight, it only makes things harder because we add mental anguish to the aready unbearable physical one...

So be gentle with yourself. If you can't take the space and time you need to nurture your aching body, who else is going to do it for you?

Enlist your family, your loved ones, your friends in unthreatening bits and pieces.

If you can manage exercise, swimming and cycling would be best - they take the weight off the knees and feet...

I wish you well,

Light

sorry it's so bad at the moment..

i think you ll find the steroid tablets help. Glad you phoned your rheumy nurse.they will tied you over till other meds have time to work. They may give you a tapered dose ( reducing over a number of weeks) my first tapered dose had to be extended.

I do something similar to chris.

i don't know how your sleep pattern is, but I take a banana up to bed plus drink of water. If I wake anywhere between 5 and 7 I take steroid plus painkiller with half banana and drink as tablets mustn't be on empty stomache.a walk then to the loo might be painful but I put an electric blanket on and get back into bed for 30 mins or longer. This makes getting up and dressing easier. Oh yes and hot shower helps like Chris said.

let us know how you get on. It s such a mental and emotional adjustment as well as physical adjustment isn't it?

I hate mornings too!! Sometimes I feel like I can will it away......but it's still there :-(

Wish there was some miracle cure :-)

You must  have a busy morning, inevitably I guess with 3 little ones.

you WILL get to a point where this is all much better, believe me, but it requires patience. The meds do kick in eventually .The  first part is hard where they try out medication and have to wait to see if it works. Sometimes the first one works and sometimes further meds are added. I am currently on a biologic which has made a huge difference to me .

But the prednisolone should help in the short term when you get it. Keep up the max dose of painkillers.

Can you call on husband , friends, family to help with practical things?

I can't imagine how you re coping with a wriggly 1 year old! Bless you!