My left should blade hurts. Is that part of PMR or did i just hurt it? thx
Hi Karen, I'm certainly not a PMR expert but if it's any help my left shoulder hurt like hell especially in the early months after diagnnosis. Also had very limited movement in trying to raise my left arm or reach behind me.. . . I have full movement now though still on Pred. . . . .
Cheer up, nothing lasts forever!! J
PS. Of course you could have hurt it, but you'd remember???? (!).
I am really down and depressed today. I am hating pmr and mad I have it. I feel like I will never feel right again. Dont mean to bring anybody down but I am having a bad day. The steroids have taken away the other pains. This may be from something I did. I did play shuffle board theother day. Maybe that is why. Does everybody still feel well enoug to work i am off for the summer and hoping to go back to teaching in the fall. Wondering where I will get that energy. I am a substitue so i can pick and choose when I work. Just do not see it happening. i am so tired. I just want to sleep.
The pains of pmr tend to be symmetric to both sides of the body, but not completly since exceeding the comfortable range of motion by much can aggravate the bursitis and cause a temporary increase in pain to that side.
I remember aggravating my left shoulder while trying to vacuum my livingroom using a heavy vacuum cleaner, and I later had localized (to my right hand usually) pain in my thumb joint when I did work that required heavy gripping.
These days I occasionally over-exert my left hip joint and get the fierce bursitis that an extra dose of pred knocks down within a day or so, and the same thing with my right shoulder.
You can expect joint pains anywhere from neck to feet that pop up randomly, especially as one's pred dosage falls slightly below what happens to be needed at the time. So as I said earlier, symmetry is the norm but not always.
Thanks Dan. Just not liking anything about PMR. It really sucks. Bad day over here.
Karen, I'm so sorry you're depressed today and it seems to be part of the whole PMR thing - firstly because of the (temporary) loss of your health and then it can be a side-effect of the Pred. itself. Let yourself have a bad day and be nice to yourself. There'll be much better ones also. Your shoulder pain could be because of your shuffle-board activity, or PMR, but remember that Pred. doesn't take away all pain. I think I've read here that it can take away 75% or more but most people wouldn't say they are fully pain- free.
Re. your job. Think about that later. Happily you're off for the summer and make the most of it. Take your meds., eat well, gently exerise a little each day if you can, and relax and pamper yourself. It's also good that at the other end of the summer you have more flexibility than most in organising your timetable. Most of all, remember it's extremely likely that your PMR may burn itself out in a few years but LONG before that you'll find it very manageable. Believe me, you could have had a lot more awful and deadly diagnosis.
This is a really great forum, full of advice, expertise, experience - and wisdom. Do some reading - and keep in touch. Kind thoughts, J
Thanks and you are so right it oculd be much worse. Just feeling sorry for myself today. Off to yoga that will help. I do a healing yoga that works on just joints It is wonderful.
My left shoulder always hurts more than the right. It is hard to know if it is PMR .I had a car accident 30 years ago. Wondering if that is it or PMR. That's the trouble with PMR especially if the pian is on one side only. It's a guessing game.
When I get depressed and fed up I take my dogs for a walk . They always seem to cheer me up with ther antics.
Ah that's more like it! But just remember - there's NOTHING wrong with feeling sorry for yourself either . . . .
Hope you have a good doctor. The only vital bit of advice is, when you get to the point where you start reducing your Pred. - do it REALLY SLOWLY. And there's loads of advice here from experts on exactly how to do so. J
The severe symptoms of Polymyalgia Rheumatica (known as PMR) seem to occur quickly but thinking back, you may remember a slow progression of signs. Some of the noticeable signs can be a heaviness in the legs that feel like you are walking with buckets of cement on both feet. An extreme fatigue and strange aches around the shoulder/neck areas are very common. I still suffer on my right side sometimes & have had PMR 2.5 years. Seems to happen when I am stressed in some way.
if it's any help Karen, we've all been there. I've been terribly depressed on and off over the past 18 months and I still wake up and go to sleep cursing my life. I really try to be positive - I am not dying from this - but bugger me - it's hard to live with. I'm a loud, funny, outgoing person and I am still me, but this has changed me. I am just beginning to accept (I think) that my body has changed and the drugs that make living possible are effecting me in ways I can't do anything about.
In the past 18 months I've had about 4 months off - on and off as needed, and I am a pencil pusher. Just getting to work gets too hard some days (weeks). I've started new hobbies now I can't renovate my ouse, run and do triathlons, ride my motorbike (I'm 52). I feel like a old grandmother and I don't like it.
But, there's nothing I can do about it other than take care of myself - and letting other people take care of me for a change.
I know this doesn't actually help you as only time will do that, but I'm sending you huge hugs and support.
I am sorry to hear you are having a bad time. We all have down days but hang on in there. I was diagnosed with PMR in May 2015 though I had it for some time before diagnosis. Last year our choir had been rehearsing for a concert with a well known singer. I had to withdraw and was so disappointed. This year we were invited to do the whole of his Scottish tour. I thought do or die I'll be there. We did one concert at the beginning of April. It was a long day as we had sound checks, rehearsals etc. I arrived home at midnight. I am just home from 3 nights of concerts back to back in different cities. We were on for the whole of the second half, had a lot of songs to learn and had to be off score. Prior to the first one I was tired and a bit sore so I increased my steroids by half a mg. It made all the difference and though it was a wee bit of a struggle I did it and am none the worse. I can't believe I did it but I was determined. There was a lot of walking and climbing up and down many flights of stairs which I didn't rush. I made up my mind that I would find ways round any problems. I am as much pleased with my achievement as the tour. I have caught up on sleep and have now dropped the half mg so back to 8.5 which I had been working towards. This time last year I couldn't have done one concert far less 3 back to back and all the travelling. It does get better though I know at times I found it hard to believe. Don't push yourself too much and enjoy the summer break.
I had a day like yours yesterday...and waking to another day just like it!
New pains...unknown causes. Sometimes I can do pretty well with daily activity and feel great...then, for whatever reason, I am a mess. I have been fully retired for several years, so I really empathize with all of you who are trying to work thru all this. I also have had some severe depression recently. Can only hope that this will lift too. The last 2-1/2+ years have not been consistent at all! Hooe you will feel better tomorrow😊