Joan R Re: Aching and muscle stiffness in hips — a year ago I had a total hip replacement which was successful, However, I now find I have muscle cramps in my thighs, pains in my back and the muscles of my legs and my feet are really sore when I try to walk.
gsrescue Re: Diet changes — I have always exercised. I lift weights and walk at least an hour a day. In the morning when I am very stiff and achey, I can hardly get out of bed and cannot walk my dog til the morning dose of prednisone has begun to work...so exercise by itself does not help polymyalgia....at least not mine. But of course, staying strong is a good thing in itself.
gsrescue Re: Corticosteroids — I was diagnosed with polymyalgia rheumatica in Feb of 2007, almost 2 years ago, and began the usual treatment with prednisone. It worked amazingly well, and within a few days my aches, stiffness, pain and low grade fevers were gone. I also have had fibromyalgia for about 25 years, but it has not been bad except at the beginning....the last 10-15 years I have considered it kind of 'background music' in my life, always there but so 'normal' that i didn't pay much attention to it and it did not stop me from doing what I usually do. When I started on 15 mg of pred, it was amazing. For the first time in 25 years, I was totally pain free! I could not believe how good it felt and I had completely forgotten what it was like to be without some pain.
I began the normal tapering program and all went well til recently when tapering from 6 mg down to 5 mg. The polymyalgia reappeared, pretty much as it had in the beginning, with a lot of stiffness, aches and pain, low grade fever . My doctor now wants to talk to me about taking methotrexate and prednisone instead of simply increasing the dose of prednisone again.
Joan R
Re: Aching and muscle stiffness in hips — a year ago I had a total hip replacement which was successful, However, I now find I have muscle cramps in my thighs, pains in my back and the muscles of my legs and my feet are really sore when I try to walk.
gsrescue
Re: Diet changes — I have always exercised. I lift weights and walk at least an hour a day. In the morning when I am very stiff and achey, I can hardly get out of bed and cannot walk my dog til the morning dose of prednisone has begun to work...so exercise by itself does not help polymyalgia....at least not mine. But of course, staying strong is a good thing in itself.
gsrescue
Re: Corticosteroids — I was diagnosed with polymyalgia rheumatica in Feb of 2007, almost 2 years ago, and began the usual treatment with prednisone. It worked amazingly well, and within a few days my aches, stiffness, pain and low grade fevers were gone. I also have had fibromyalgia for about 25 years, but it has not been bad except at the beginning....the last 10-15 years I have considered it kind of 'background music' in my life, always there but so 'normal' that i didn't pay much attention to it and it did not stop me from doing what I usually do. When I started on 15 mg of pred, it was amazing. For the first time in 25 years, I was totally pain free! I could not believe how good it felt and I had completely forgotten what it was like to be without some pain. I began the normal tapering program and all went well til recently when tapering from 6 mg down to 5 mg. The polymyalgia reappeared, pretty much as it had in the beginning, with a lot of stiffness, aches and pain, low grade fever . My doctor now wants to talk to me about taking methotrexate and prednisone instead of simply increasing the dose of prednisone again.