Surgery
Posted , 8 users are following.
I am scheduled for rotator cuff surgery. I have PMR and have been on prednisone for 16 months and am still at 15mg.
I am 72 years old and have had 4 back surgeries and I am not able to do very much activity. My rotator cuff pain is only when I sleep on my right side or if I raise my arm above my head. I don't have to do either of those activities, especially if there could be a chance surgery might not heal well or I would have a chance of infection since my immune system is compromised. Does anyone have an opinion on this.
0 likes, 21 replies
LarryM MR._BELLA
Posted
Hello Mr Bella,
I too have PMR which was just diagnosed about one month ago. My Rheumatologistput me on an initial dose of 20 mg per day of prednisone, which helped immensely with the PMR.
My orthopedic surgeon wants me to get my prednisone dose down to 10 mg before he does surgery. The Rheumatologistput is having me do a 3 month taper to get down to 10 mg. Once there, he will perform the total hip replacement surgery.
The way that I I found out I had PMR is that I need a total left hip replacement. The pre -surgery blood tests (erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) showed unusual inflammation in my blood. They did a colonoscopy, an endoscopy, and various other procedures to eliminate other possible issues (cancer, crones, etc.). Finally, they sent me to a Rheumatologistput who poked, prodded, and asked 100 questions. The prednisone knocked down the PMR almost completely within 2 weeks!
For 9 months, when my hip started hurting, I kept getting worse and worse. Almost to the point of needing a wheelchair and caregiver. I thought it was just my body shutting down with severe pain and atrophy from no activity. So it has been a blessing in disguise that they discovered the PMR.
I am so grateful to the people on this site for educating me on PMR! I am getting a more realistic picture of what I am up against.
Sorry for rambling, but this last year has been pure hell, and I am finally getting answers to the mysterious pain I have been enduring, and relief from the pain with prednisone. Hopefully, I will be able to get to a low dose.
Bottom line is that if I get the hip replacement, and keep the PMR under control, I can go back to work in the next 6 months! Pretty good for a 64 year old guy who thought he would be wheelchair bound for the duration.
MR._BELLA LarryM
Posted
If you go from 20mg down to 10mg in 3 months, you will probably have a flare and all the pain would return.
I hope Eileen responds to your post. Good luck with your surgery.
BettyE LarryM
Posted
Best of luck with the hip surgery. My hip is now five and a half years old and the one bit of my body ( much older than yours ) that never hurts.
If you are offered epidural rather than an ordinary general anaesthetic I can thoroughly recommend. Woke up, ate my supper had a good night's sleep and home in under 72 hours.
EileenH MR._BELLA
Posted
Not necessarily - you have to try it and see what happens. If it fails you need a rethink but it very much depends on what the "final" dose will be. If it is well in single figures then a faster reduction may work. And it is almost certain that the hip pain is feeding the PMR - I know a few people who had hip ops and then were able to reduce to a much lower dose afterwards.
ptolemy LarryM
Posted
I was in a wheelchair too before my hip op. I was worried silly they might cancel. Hope all goes well with yours. My surgeon wanted my pred reduced too.
LarryM MR._BELLA
Posted
Thanks Mr. Bella. I have been made aware of decreasing the prednisone too fast by members here. At this point, I will discuss the rapid decrease with the doctor, and take it from there.