Prednisolone Success but now have Leg Pain

gilly - run up stairs? You MUST be on a high! Or I need to up my steroid dose! I know what you mean about \"a different sort of pain\" though. Hope the doc comes up with a decent suggestion. Wouldn't hold my breath though!

Eileen

Sorry about the leg pain, Gillybee but happy about the baby.

I second what Eileen said about steroid highs. I remember bouncing in to see my doctor after a month on 30 when I had PMR first time, beaming from ear to ear. Slower relief this time starting on 15 as per the current thinking. On the whole I had more satisfactory progress eleven years ago and do wonder why the regime was changed. But then I am eleven years older!

Leg pain, yes but mine is from the groin down the inside thigh. It began very suddenly and fluctuates from crippling to tolerable. Cannot identify any contributary factors and I don't want to know about needing a hip replacement if that is the cause. One thing at a time!.

After three weeks back on 7 from 6.5, tried 6.5 yeasterday and so far all well. New year and better weather should help I hope.

:nurse: Nurse didn't like my BP so we try again in ten days. Took it twice with blood letting in between and it varied by 20 points.When I got off Pred completely in 2002 it went back to117/78 and I'm not a bit keen on more pills to chase the pills so shall resist.

Seeds should arrive today. A big ray of hope.

:goodluck: nearest I could find to a plant

Best to all.

:rose: Thought I was being clever Betty then realized I'd never seen a packet of rose seeds!!

Lizzie

Hello gillybee

I'm so sorry to hear that although you tried increasing the steriod dose, the leg pain hasn't improved.

I notice you are querying whether it could be sciatica. That is a horrid pain and I have suffered with it for a long time - my pain starts in the buttock on my right side and travels all the way down to my foot. I am reasonably comfortable when walking briskly but strolling and stopping around the shops is a big aggravation. Unfortunately, there isn't much that will help sciatica although my physio has now got a new machine that can confirm the diagnosis and he is also confident that he can relieve the pain. I have only recently had a round of treatment with him for upper arm pain (thought at first it was PMR pain but it turned out to be muscle atrophy caused by the steroids) which has been very successful but I haven't embarked on the sciatic treatment yet. Hopefully, if your Dr can confirm it is something other than PMR inflammation, then you will be able to reduce the steroids again, and perhaps try physio.

Very best wishes,

MrsO

Well here I am sitting 'perched' and I do mean 'perched on the edge of the computer chair.

I had a bout of leg pain last September and it was crippling, at that time the GP sent me for am x-ray and by the time the x-ray came back (seven days) the pain had disappeared and I was a very happy bunny. The x-ray just showed normal wear and tear.

New Years Eve, unbelievable pain, which moves around in the left leg only.

Feels like a large elastic band which contracts and then moves on, thigh, knee, shin bone (yes the bone) back of leg, ankle bone and then foot. But it never starts in the same place and never moves in progression. If sitting, have to get up and hobble around, if lying down have to get up and hobble, if walking or standing either have to sit or lie down.

When sleeping - pain wakes me up. After 5 days at wits end and taking too many co-codamol, which is not really touching the pain. Many tears and feeling sorry for myself.

Wednesday 5th visit GP - pulse in foot OK, touching toes OK, he bends leg back and forth OK, can I push his hand upwards OK, downwards OK.

All the time tears and laughter as I got up too quickly from touching my toes and lost balance.

GP baffled, had different X-ray (7th) - lumber and spine - get result hopefully end of this week. GP talked to my Rheumy - its now a question of elimination.

I am exhausted and have resorted to tramadol to get me through 6 hours at night. Result is permanent treacle/brain fog but pain bearable - just.

I am so tempted to go back to the Brandy solution.

Will tell you more, when I no more. Meanwhile walked round room twice when typing this grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

MrsK - if it's nerve pain ordinary pain-killers won't touch it, there's special stuff. Hasn't your GP offered something else besides tramadol - vile stuff? In the absence of that - resort to the brandy!

Thanks for telling admin - you feel so frustrated when you know someone needs to know but don't know how to contact them!

Eileen

For your consideration, ladies with sciatic pain:

Is it worse when sitting, walking or going up stairs? Piriformis syndrome is worth considering. I gather from the descriptions on the internet that this is the proper name for the problem I have! In quite a few people (especially women, where have we heard that before?) the sciatic nerve passes through the middle of the piriformis muscle rather than beside it. If anything happens to cause that muscle to be tight, it will irritate the nerve. It may appear as low back discomfort and progress to the pain down the leg. It is generally caused by repetitive movements but may be from reduced mobility of the sacro-iliac joint/lower spine - just as we tend to experience in PMR. It's also known as fat wallet syndrome - from having a fat wallet in the back pocket of your jeans. That's not the cause for us being ladies and skint! :wink: Stop keeping the store cards in that pocket!

It is treated by stretching and the main stretch is one which is a common one in Pilates and physio exercises for back problems: lie on your back, bend your knees and then place your right ankle on your left knee so that you form a figure 4. Grasp your left knee and try to pull it towards your left shoulder. Repeat with the other side.

Now I appreciate that this might pose about 10 difficulties for those of us with PMR :roll: :oops: :lol: and I, for one, can't remember when I last tried lying on my back anywhere except in bed and you do need a firm base for this so an ordinary bed mattress isn't ideal! However - I realised with this spate of pain since last week that I haven't done any stretches for FAR too long and I can't get to my toes. So if you don't hear from me it's because I'm stuck somewhere :lol:

I won't describe all I found out about diagnosing it - it'd make you blush!

EileenH

Just to give you all an update on my situation.

Have been to the doctors, and he ordered me more blood tests (which I had done yesterday).

He said to continue on 15mg of Pred untill we get results of the blood tests (next week).

The pain did decrease a bit when I first upped back on to 15mg, but is still there in the morning, and last thing at night.

I have no pain anywhere otherwise.

The pain has been quite bad this morning shooting down my leg from my hip/thigh joint, but is wearing off now.

I am finding this all very frustrating as it is just this one pain that is disrupting the progress of my treatment, and of course my life.

I am afraid that I am feeling quite low and fed up this morning..

:cry:

gilly.

Poor you Gilly. This time last year I was really down and finally told everyone on this forum. I got so much support. So I just wanted to say that there is light at the end of the PMR tunnel and that 12 months on I feel very different. I do hope you feel better very, very soon and that the leg pain can be dealt with very quickly. Take care and feel free to have a good moan whenever you want. We sort of take it in turns - not everyone feels good at the same time or down at the same time, so always someone about with a cheery word.

Lizzie Ellen

gillybee

I can wholly sympathise with you and the leg pain and I do not have PMR.

Sept last I had two weeks of sheer hell, visited Gp had x rays - zilch, then it disappeared.

Three weeks ago, back it came in spades, Gp again, different x-ray - zilch. GP talked to Consultant, seeing Physio next Tuesday, then Consultant.

Hang on in their, might find something out at sometime, in the meantime I found a small measure of brandy , yes brandy when the pain is vicious works. Mind I use a good one.

Sorry to hear of your pain

I had a lot of problems with the muscles behind my knees over a year ago and had some private massage and the results were amazing I was hobbling everywhere and any stairs were a real problem and I have found that massage was far better than any painkillers

Its come back to a lesser degree sometimes and I had to have a massage when I was away on holiday at Xmas I have now asked my Dr for physio as massage is a bit expensive at £45 a time !!

Best wishes

Mrs G

Mrs. K. A good scothch works wonders, too. I am sure our \"remedy\" is at least as good as painkillers. Can I ask what constitutes small? I read somewhere that the alcohol guideline levels were plucked out of thin air.

My response to a doctor who asked me how much I drank was \"how much do you drink?\". We agreed that that was fair enough. When I look at how much some people I know drink in an evening, our bottle between us looks quite respectable! There is a problem - but the British gov's version of guidelines will never stop people drinking, at least not if you tell me the glass of wine I have in my hand constitutes binge drinking and then show me pictures of teens/20s in city centres and tell me THEY were also binge drinking! :roll:

I don't know about the alcohol guidelines being out of thin air - I did read in a scientific paper that the 5 portions of fruit and veg guidelines certainly are. After all, what constitutes a portion?

However - a discussion a few weeks ago with a scientist working in the Uni hospital in Innsbruck suggests that the brandy/scotch approach is probably well based for us as it is likely to improve the blood flow to the bits that hurt. So if it works for you - why not! But it might be better not to get to this stage :cdouble:

EileenH

I did say this somewhere before

Brandy was invented by medieval monks as a medicine.

Scheppes provided on there bottles plastic measures.

I find one dose of brandy up to the lowest marker - kills some pain and mutes other more extreme pains, whereas tramadol, co-codamol just do not touch it at all and they cause a fog in brain.

I have a rule that I have had for years for presents, if I cannot eat it, drink it or plant it - I don't want it. I will be 3 years older than I was three years ago in April and guess what I am still using the bottles of some very good brandy that I was given for my birthday.

Now whisky that was not invented as a medicine.

TTFN.

Alcohol is a great relaxant too :D

I sometimes get a \"dodgy\" back, don't think its PMR and I clench all my muscles and have the feeling if only I could unclench things would have a chance to get back to normal. Dr will give me diazepam for this (used to be called valium) but something alcoholic's more fun :zen:

Green granny