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joanne2000
joanne2000

I have been having a very sore, stiff right shoulder and groin pain for around 3 months now. I am now at the stage of just having had a blood test and it suggests PMR. I have been coping (just!!) on Naproxen but still struggling. I assumed that the pain in my groin wasn't linked at all to my right shoulder pain. The groin issue started when I power walked on the treadmill for arond 35 minutes and had tenderness in the pubic bone area for several weeks. This seemed to spread to my groin and in particular the adductor muscle right at the top of my leg into my groin. I can press on it and it is so sore. As far as my shoulder is concerned I just need to lightly tap it and the pain is bad. Are these typical sysmptoms of PMR? I genuinely feel like I have been going mad with the pain. I am now on 15mg of Prednisone a day as an introduction which is getting reviewed in a few days - I have only been on it for 3 days so far. I am trying to cut back on the Naproxen and for the first day really though the steroids were a miracle cure as the pain subsided massively. It is still sore again in the morning though and if I dont take one Naproxen in the morning tends to be sore during the day. Should I be taking Naproxen as well as Prednisone? When should the steroids kick in? Is the dose of 15mg reasonable?

Sorry for the ramblings as I am very new to this and to this level of pain.

Would love to hear about your experiences.

PS. I am 48 years old and historially have had hip misalignment problems for the last 25 years which has been dealt with by a chiropractor (that may or not be relevant!!)

0 likes, 38 replies

38 Replies

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  • Michdonn
    Michdonn joanne2000

    Posted

    One year ago I started with the exact same symptoms, was started on 20mg of Phedinsone, things went well was down to 7mg then a flare up, back up to high dose. Hang in there!
    • donna25417
      donna25417 Michdonn

      Posted

      Oh no I just went from 7 to 6 mg a day hope no flair ups but know that is highly possible fingers are crossed 
    • donna25417
      donna25417 EileenH

      Posted

      ok thanks Eileen good idea may try that as getting down to lower dosage how many are you on per day now ?
    • EileenH
      EileenH donna25417

      Posted

      Currently 6mg. I have been as low as 4mg but had a flare about 16 months ago and went back to 15mg for a few months.
    • donna25417
      donna25417 EileenH

      Posted

      Ok may do 6 1/2 tomorrow the pills are so small not sure how easy to cut in half tough 
    • ptolemy
      ptolemy donna25417

      Posted

      Hi Donna, if your pills are very small, they are not enteric coated are they?? If so you must NOT cut them. 
    • ptolemy
      ptolemy donna25417

      Posted

      The tablets are coated so that they can pass through your stomach into the gut before being absorbed thus saving your stomach from possible problems. The 5mg ones are usually red. It usually says enteric coated on the box. The non coated ones are usually white. 
    • Michdonn
      Michdonn donna25417

      Posted

      I will come down slowly, 5/mo till 20, 5/2 mo till 15 , 1/mo till 10, 1/2 mo till off. Hoping that I do not get another flare-up. Have to talk it over with my doctor. But that is my plan now.
    • EileenH
      EileenH ptolemy

      Posted

      My enteric coated tablets were much larger than the plain white pred was. For anyone else looking on - enteric coated pred is only available in the UK for some reason.
  • donna25417
    donna25417 joanne2000

    Posted

    Hi Joanne my PMR pain also only started in my one shoulder had that pain for about 6 weeks dr sent me to physio twice a week well that did nothing and then when it started in my other shoulder the very same pain I knew this was more than anything physio would help and now in my hips and legs also .Finally the correct blood work diagnosed me with PMR that was last August. I also was put on 15 mg per day which did take quite awhile to kick in and make a difference in the pain, Mornings where always the worse as no movement during the night makes everything very sore found it very hard to sleep when it was in both shoulders .  but I am now doing great  on prednisone tapper and now take 6mg a day for a couple of weeks fingers crossed that will be ok. From reading this forum I found that some take their prednisone twice a day although my pain is now mostly in my hands I started taking  5mg in the daytime and 2mg (when I was on 7mg  ) before bedtime that really helped a lot with the morning stiffness. 
    • joanne2000
      joanne2000 donna25417

      Posted

      Thanks Donna,

      That sounds exactly like what I have been experiencing. Mine started with the groin and then my right shoulder. You are right, mornings are the worst. How long did it take for the 15mg Prednisone to kick in when you started taking it?

    • EileenH
      EileenH donna25417

      Posted

      Mornings are the worst because a new batch of inflammatory substances is shed in the body every morning about 4.30am - and by the time you are ready to get up the inflammation has started up again. Some people find if they have to get up for the bathroom at 4am they are fine - but at 5am they are stiff!
    • donna25417
      donna25417 EileenH

      Posted

      Yes when I got up in the middle of the night tried to move around some see if that would help with the morning stiffness and it did some 
    • donna25417
      donna25417 joanne2000

      Posted

      I think I was a couple of months before it really helped I know are on a lot higher dosage when they start some 30 -60 mg a day that high would probably have worked faster but at 15mg it did get manegable . Dropped to 10mg in January stayed on there for a few months as I tried to down to 5mg that didn't work back to 10 then in April down to 7mg today 6mg see how that goes probably stay there for three weeks . When mine was real bad back in Sept I went to a health food store and got a spray of all natural oils that is used to treat many things including inflamation and would spray my shoulders and legs and hips before bedtime would finally get a good sleep  it worked great was a life saver for sure.  Went on a trip to Germany and France in Sept for two weeks with lots of walking so spray was amazing to have. 

    • EileenH
      EileenH donna25417

      Posted

      30-60mg/day is usually only used for GCA - it is very unusual for more than 30mg to be used in PMR.
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