Hi,
I have very severe pain in both shoulders and upper arms when I move my shoulders back. For example it is extremelty painful to put on a jacket, get dressed or anything else that involes backward motion of the shoulders. Also, if I stretch, including my arms for example in the morning, the same excutiating pain happens. The pain is like an 8/10 and radiates down my upper arms, mosty in my arm muscles and feels like a severe cramp. Oftem I hear and feel my shoulders click.
Ongoing there is no pain or discomfort at all and I can use my arms in front of me completely normally. I can stretch my arms out to the sides, but moving them further back is excrutiating. I cammt reach my back at all.
This has been going on for several months now and while it has not got worse it has not improved either.
All comments and advice welcome.
Thanks.
The same thing happened to me last year. in the end I could not get dressed or even scratch my nose without pain. It turned out that I had polymyalgia rheumatica. You may be too young to get it as it tends to affect people over fifty.
Thank you for your reply.
First of all I am actually 59, so within that age range. That said I have already investigated the possibility of PMR and I do not have any of the other symptoms, in fact even the shouldr pain I have is not symptomatic of PMR. In my case I only get severe paim when my shoulders are move further back and not at all when my shoulders are forward, and I can lifet my arms vertically without pain as long as they do not move back as well. I will continue to monitor for possible PMR though.
I don't have any clicking. Thinking back I had the pain initially when stretching back, but only in the upper arms and shoulders not the lower arms. Eventually it did get much worse. It also then went down to my thighs too after several months. The GP said it was a virus. I had a blood test and my ESR was 127, it should be a max of around 20 or so and my CRP was 123 which should be a max of 5. Both show inflammation. PMR does not have a diagnosis as such, you have to eliminate everything else such as vit D deficiency, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis etc. A blood test may be a good idea though.
Thanks very much again - very helpful.
My doctor is very cooperative when I need him and if my condition does begin to head towards PMR - which I am extremely aware of and monitoring myself for - I will see the GP and request the blood tests for inflammation etc and also a hugh dose of steroids which, if it is PMR, usiually is very effective in a few days which would confirm it.
It may be worth getting a blood test anyway as it may diagnose something else. They do try a steroid sandwich test for PMR with vit C for a week, steroids for a week and then back to vit C for a week. When I took steroids the pain went within twenty four hours and I was human again!
Thanks, I will do that. I think that doctors generally need pushing on PMR as they often seem to nisdiagnose it which can be dangerous as it can progress to Temporal Arteritis which can be extremelt serious. Good yop know that steroids change things around so quickly as well.
that doesn't sound very comfortable. Did you strain them at all by heavy lifting etc.? If not I would have it checked out. I really don't have any other advice sorry.
Apparently twenty five per cent of GPs fail to diagnose PMR and probably many have never even seen GCA, which is really nasty, as you say. My optometrist was much more knowledgable. Let us know how you get on, it would be nice for you to get a diagnosis.