Update - PMR or Old Back Pain? - Useful information gleaned from old discussions

Posted , 11 users are following.

I have been going through some old discussions and I think I now know how I must deal with my problem.  I am fairly certain it is a flair of my existing back problem rather than a PMR flare.  To be honest, I think any health professional  would be hard pressed to distinguish between them unless there is a flare in my shoulders and hands, which there isn’t.

So many thanks to  Anhaga for the discussion ‘Injury and flares’, to Eileen for the very useful links in the discussion she started ‘Pacing in chronic illness’ These I will study carefully and make myself an action plan. To BettyE for her ‘PMR and muscle strain’ and to Michdonn for ‘PMR and Exercise’  I am grateful to you all.

Am I alone in this ? – One of the things that really gets me down is the embarrassment of having to tell people I am not better!

1 like, 34 replies

34 Replies

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  • Posted

    Kate, you are not alone, we are all on the same crazy PMR journey. Each journey has it unique quirk. But we hash things out and continue on. Think positive, stay active and smile.

    Believe me we will all get this condition under control. ☺️

  • Posted

    I know what you mean.  Sometimes I'm asked if I've stopped taking prednisone yet (not often, hardly anyone knows I've been ill, or that I have to take this medication) but even so I sense they are a bit shocked that I still take it after several years.  I can't imagine how I would have managed had I not retired some months before my diagnosis.  

  • Posted

    Why embarrassment? Chronic illness is what it is - and you DON'T get better in a few weeks. There are a lot of such disorders.

    • Posted

      I don't know why I am so embarrassed by it. I have had the nerve pain problem with my back running concurrently with PMR  throughout this year.  On good days I have arranged to go for coffee or suchlike with friends only to have to cancel at the last minute.  I have also had to cancel the dentist three times because it is impossible to lie on my back at the moment.

      Recently I tried asking myself why I was so upset by the latest relapse anfdthat is the answer - I am embarrassed about cancelling and disappointing people by not being better!! 

      Is this too much honesty?

    • Posted

      I don't think so - but then, I'm a fairly up-front sort of person and feel you need to know all that to be able to acknowledge it and deal with it. 

      Have you considered myofascial pain syndrome and looked for a therapist who treats it? I found Bowen therapy helpful originally but where I live now that isn't a viable option. Instead my doctor prescribes massage and manual mobilisation by a physio at the local hospital - it has worked very well each time so far but because of the underlying cause it tends to come back after a year or so. The rheumy also gave me a week of i.v. NSAIDs recently when I had excruciating sacro-iliac pain - it worked despite my apprehension! But these are very Germanic approaches so won't be easy to find in the UK. I also have something called needling - and you can find practitioners in the UK who do intramuscular stimulation which has a similar effect.

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