Unexpected pain
Posted , 12 users are following.
I have been slowly reducing my pred and am almost at 8mg. This is the lowest I have been since starting this journey in 2016. I have never been completely pain free and am feeling the usual added aches in my shoulders and neck that I get when I reduce but this normally settles down after a couple of weeks. This time however I have had added pain in my hips which does feel like PMR pain and is ok as it goes after a few hours and I just have to be careful not to sit for too long. All of this I was expecting. I have however had a really sharp pain in the top of my bottom. So sharp that it takes my breath away. It keeps coming and going so for instance yesterday I had to get out of bed because of it and moving around was painful then it disappeared after I took my morning pred and I ended up being able to go to the gym. It came back just before I went to bed last night and is still painful this morning although I can feel it reducing. I have yet to have my pred. Is this PMR pain? Just wondered what you thought...
0 likes, 8 replies
Anhaga elizabeth40672
Posted
Is this pain in your lower spine or rhe hip area? It could be indirectly caused by PMR because pred can weaken muscles,a nd that can leave us more vulnerable to injuries. I have certainly found this to be the case for me, having in 2017 had a bad back for some months, despite physiotherapy and exercises, and also for more than a year dealing with rotator cuff injury, for a while in both arms! You'll get more information from the experts on this forum. But I think physiotherapy or even, in the short term, a muscle relaxant, might be better than increasing pred dose if you can avoid it.
elizabeth40672 Anhaga
Posted
ClaireJG elizabeth40672
Posted
When I had pain in that exact region, an ultrasound scan showed gluteal tendinopathy. I also had trochanteric bursitis. He was scanning all over the place and discovered several tendon issues, particularly in my wrists. It's greatly improved now, but I still have problems if I stand for too long, or do too much with my hands.
EileenH elizabeth40672
Posted
Is it round about where the baby's dimples are? If so it could be a sacroiliac problem or piriformis syndrome (where the sciatic nerve passes through and is pinched by the piriformis muscle). Or the piriformis muscle may be pulling on the pelvis and making the sacroiliac joint tight and inflamed. And they are more common alongside PMR but not directly the PMR causing it.
elizabeth40672 EileenH
Posted
Yes it is or maybe just slightly higher. The Rhuemy keeps talking about my sacroiliac being a problem which is why he want to diagnose AS instead of PMR. Maybe this is the beginning of confirming this? I'm about to try a different drug for three months either Etanercept or Adalimumab which is based on AS diagnosis. I am a little scared as this is based on a slight change in my MRI scan which could still be just ageing and a BASDAI score which was based on "on a scale of 1-10 how bad do you feel..." All very subjective I feel. Not very confident in this way of prescribing a drug.
EileenH elizabeth40672
Posted
You wouldn't be the first person on the forums to have been diagnosed with AS after first having a diagnosis of PMR. It can even mimic GCA symptoms. It does appear in the sacroiliac joints after starting with PMR-type symptoms.
There is a range of 5 drugs, TNF inhibitors, that work wonders in AS - you will feel much better if it is that. And since it can take a long time for the structural signs of AS to appear it can be difficult to diagnose. But yes, I suspect if the new drug helps it will be taken as confirmation.
Harrie4 elizabeth40672
Posted
Btw, what is AS?
Great resource, this....thanks to Eileen and the whole crew!
EileenH Harrie4
Posted