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Legs, glutes and hips "seizing up"

Posted , 14 users are following.

rocketman42
rocketman42

I posted this in another thread but don't want to hijack that thread so I'm starting a new discussion.

I find that much of my leg and hip "pain" is under control while on 11mg of Prednisone but I have another issue. When walking I find that my legs, glutes and hip girdle feel very weak as if they are going to "seize up" and stop functioning. I find myself having to walk rather slowly since I am just not able to move them quickly......not because of pain, but because they are just not functioning properly.......I imagine it feels similar to someone who had just run 20 miles.

Same goes for my shoulders. If I'm lying flat in bed holding up a book to read, I find that I can't hold my arms raised for too long before my arms and shoulderd tire to the point of having to lower them. 

Anybody else experiencing this ?

0 likes, 25 replies

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  • ann3035
    ann3035 rocketman42

    Posted

    Hi Scoth , I have no pain in my hips or thighs since I have been on my Preds but when I walk at a normal pace I get pain in my calfs and feet , I was told this is a circulation problem and put on cilostazal  which has no effect as yet. If your weakness continuse I would be going back to my doctor to rule any other under lying problems
  • Oregonjohn-UK
    Oregonjohn-UK rocketman42

    Posted

    The muscles get very weak due to pred/PMR and the lack of physical exercise especially in the early days of PMR.  I'm now at a point - 2mg - when I can increase my exercise but it's difficult at first but as I persisted and built up the muscles things have improved.  Don't attempt to over do the exercise, a little and often is far better - and remember 'listen' to what your body is telling you.

    • erika59785
      erika59785 Oregonjohn-UK

      Posted

      I am dealing with this right now....alternating Gentle Yoga with Low Impact classes for Seniors.  I found 1 hour too much, and I leave after 30 minutes with Low Impact movements  and weights.

      I had to learn the hard way...... aching back and arms when I took the whole session.

  • Anhaga
    Anhaga rocketman42

    Posted

    Listen to Oregonjohn.  You might consider some sort of support while walking.  A couple of months ago I took up Nordic walking, and believe it has increased the strength in my upper back.  The point is, however, that these poles are also taking some strain off the legs.  Might be worth a try.  I used to think it looked really foolish, but I find people are really interested and ask me about them.  And more and more people are taking up this activity.  But as Orefonjohn says, you have to remember you've got a pretty serious illness and you need to be kind to yourself.  Healing from PMR is slow, but it will come.

    • candace1213
      candace1213 Anhaga

      Posted

      Nah -- you don't look foolish.  I often seen people using hiking poles on even pavement!  I walk my dog every morning and don't think I could control the leash and poles at the same time!!

  • ptolemy
    ptolemy rocketman42

    Posted

    A side effect of pred is muscle weakness, I have trouble carrying shopping even. My walking is quite slow too, I have to apologise to people as I lag behind them. 
    • rocketman42
      rocketman42 ptolemy

      Posted

      The pain is minimal at 11mg. I was about to increase the dose a bit to see if it helps the muscle weakness and fatigue. However, if the Prednisone contributes to these symptoms then it seems like it's a trade off and I have to decide if I rather have the aches, pains and stiffness or the muscle weakness and fatigue from the Prednisone.

    • Anhaga
      Anhaga rocketman42

      Posted

      Unless you let the pred deal with the inflammation you'll merely make your journey back to health longer and more painful.  As long as the inflammation is under control, then that's all you can expect from pred, and you can work gently with yourself to improve your overall health so that as you gradually wean off pred you are returning to a new and even better you (at least, that's what I keep telling myself!).

    • rocketman42
      rocketman42 Anhaga

      Posted

      My point is that if my muscular aches, pains and stiffness are ok at 11mg and it's the weakness that's a problem, then increasing the dose is of no value. It's not going to help with the weakness and fatigue and may make it worse.

    • Anhaga
      Anhaga rocketman42

      Posted

      True enough.  I just didn't want you to think that you'd have to put up with pain and stiffness in order to preserve strength.  

    • Tastyron
      Tastyron rocketman42

      Posted

      Personally if I were at minimal pain at 11mg, I wouldn't think of going up.  If I'm right, Pred is primarily for "mopping up" the inflammation and more importantly the pain and stiffness that goes with it.  Pain free and mobility is my goal.

    • Anhaga
      Anhaga Tastyron

      Posted

      I agree.  If I wanted to be completely pain free I'd be at a much higher dose.  But I am careful as I taper to make sure my mobility is not affected, "niggles" or not.  Fortunately the niggles seem to be diminishing now as well, so fingers crossed....  But if any of the early symptoms of PMR had reoccured I'd have upped my dose.

  • philoso4
    philoso4 rocketman42

    Posted

    Scotth42,

    Individual experiences with pred are clearly different. From the first dosage of medrol I was miraculously pain free and stronger. I have continued to push myself physically and have had no noticeably bad results.

    When I weaned to 3.5mg I began to have shortness of breath on exertion. I jumped to 12mg and could immediately exert without shortness of breath. 

    My current dosage is 9mg and I'm borderline on shortness. OK, but not at my best. I'm just under 82 and can walk at a 13:45 min/mi pace. I move very well on the pickleball court.

  • Handbrake
    Handbrake rocketman42

    Posted

    Hi Scott , I'm now at 0 mg of prednisolone and have found a remarkable decrease in my exercise tolerance to that which I had on even small amounts of prednisolone. The muscles tire quicker,not a flare ( discomfort from exercise disappears after 3days with no tablets) My DXA scan results after 8 months of prednisolone showed osteoporosis secondary to prednisolone so it's important for me to exercise. Like Oregon John and Anhalga advise little and often is best . I walk every day with stops along the way after 4months I am now back at the gym and building up much slower than I could before. No matter what you decide to do stay active, slowly but surely is my mantra ! 

    Hope you feel better soon

    • rocketman42
      rocketman42 Handbrake

      Posted

      What is confusing is the fact that in some instances I am being told that at higher doses weakness and fatigue will be felt as a side affect of the drug and you and others are stating that the lower the dose a patient is on the more fatigue one feels.

      Classic case of damned if you do and damned if you don't.

    • Oregonjohn-UK
      Oregonjohn-UK rocketman42

      Posted

      The higher dose at the start is due to the steroids and the inflammation - the lower doses months later are partly steroids but remember your muscles are very much weaker due also to a lack of exercise, remember weaken muscles takes twice as long to get some degree of fitness back.

      Handbrake summed it up well 'No matter what you decide to do stay active, slowly but surely is my mantra !'

    • ptolemy
      ptolemy rocketman42

      Posted

      Fatigue is a symptom of PMR and also when you get down to around 7.5mg your own adrenal glands have to start working again having relied on the pred to do it while they took a holiday. This will cause fatigue too. 
    • Handbrake
      Handbrake rocketman42

      Posted

      Hi Scott, I hear your frustration 😫 All I can add is that I found the tiredness during prednisolone ( and active PMR ) to be different in that if I sat down I fell asleep😴 I had very little energy whereas now I can be fairly active all day and not even think about it however, as I try to build up my exercise tolerance it is the muscle groups that I have been working that tire and take longer to recover than they did whilst on prednisolone which possibly masked the pain.

       

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