Before the PMR, I used to suffer now and then with lower back pain and also a lot of pain in one hip. Both have been milder since taking the pred but the hip still gets sore. I also get sore ankles.
I do wonder if something else is going on in the hip. Anyone else have persistent hip pain?
hi there , i had trouble with a sciatica nerve , and been to physio , but i didnt follow the exercises , and still have numbness in my legs a pinched nerve is hard to fix , but since then im not sure if that is still the problem or if its the weakness there that the polymy. has gone to , im on prednisone too if you have seen my past discussions , just be careful with the doseage , hope you get relief ,
Thanks nanna. Yes I am on pred.
I was just reading a post on another thread where Eileen mentions trochanteric bursitis and she has posted some info on that. I think this is what my problem may be.
That was what happened to me originally when the PMR went mad 5 years ago - I had severe hip and thigh pain that restricted walking really badly. It improved though didn't go away entirely when I came here to my flat - no stairs required, better as they aggravate it! After a few months on pred it faded gradually and eventually was fine. Then I had another problem that put me on crutches and made me walk unevenly and it came back full on - and then I needed targeted injections to clear it up. So it can appear in both forms and respond to oral pred if it isn't too bad.
The other bit is small areas in the lower back that form knots of hard muscle because there are high concentrations of cytokines - the same stuff that causes the inflammation in PMR. The tightened muscles can affect the sciatic nerve - and lead to referred pain down the thigh, into the knee and even as far as the ankle - just like severe sciatica. It's nothing to do with being pinched by discs though and it relatively easy to deal with once recognised.
That is it exactly - the back would knot up and the nerve gets trapped causing sever pain right down to the back of my knee and some days to the ankle. The only relief was to hoist the leg up over the back of the settee whilst lying flat.
I will talk to my GP. Did not realize I could get some treatment for it. Are the injections painful?
I didn't find the steroid injections for the bursitis too bad at all - infinitely preferable to the pain! Injections into joints often hurt, ache and a really strange sensation, after the local anaesthetic part wears off. The bursitis injections don't go into the joint, although the pain can go deep into the hip joint, they are into the place they identify the most severe pain when they press hard. That's worse than the injection actually.
The knots in the back can be dealt with by massage or a physio technique where they mobilise the knots - in PMR you do have to be careful with massage as when it releases these cytokines it can make you feel as if you've had a flare as they go for a party in the rest of your body! Drinking loads of water helps too. They can also be treated with injections but although that is used here on a regular basis I don't know if anyone does them in the UK. I also found Bowen therapy helped a lot - worth a try even though you have to pay for it. I like it as much as a good massage to be honest!