Helpful morning routines

Dry brushing works well for me. See my post on this interesting form of stimulation.

@pdxmac, I thought I would share a few of the available related discussions on PMR, exercise and what helps including the one on dry brushing started by @christopherc

-- Dry brushing: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/dry-brushing/
-- MOVING AND EXERCISE WITH PMR: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/moving-and-exercise-with-pmr/
-- Exercise with PMR and/or GCA: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/exercise-with-pmr-andor-gca/
-- PMR and exercise: What helps you?: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/pmr-and-exercise/

I have a recumbent cross training exercise bike that I use for 30 to 40 minutes at an easy pace most mornings to get me started with leg and arm movement along with a few shoulder stretches.

Try taking a small amount of your daily steroids about 9pm. This will mop up the early morning stiffness.

Swimming cold water is good.

Extended periods of just doing range of motion full extent for arms neck brain legs. No need to push into a pain zone and slowly through discomfort zone. Cheers.

There are many forum members who split doses at a ratio of 2:1, morning and evening but research and consider if it's right for you. The upside is that you can probably get to a lower dose a bit faster, but there are some downsides. I had to do this due to really severe breakthrough pain around 2am every night. I have had to maintain the ratio all through the tapering, when I tried to move the evening dose back to the mornings, I had a major flare. It's harder to manage, tricky when you get to single digit doses and not recommended by most experts so it needs to be worth it for you to commit to this change.

This is all wonderful info. Thank you so much, everyone! And in the meantime I remembered something I had on hand but hadn't used for this: it's one of those "massage guns" - or what I call my "thumper". I used to use it for sore muscles when I worked out too hard. It's come in handy these last couple of days even though I'm not working out so hard! I use it on my hips and back and it does wonders.
Again, thanks all. This forum is invaluable.

My internist keeps referring to morning “stiffness”. Shoulder and leg “stiffness”. I said, that’s a nice euphemism for pain. It’s pain I feel, plain and simple! So does pain cause stiffness or vice versa. Chicken and egg?

Thank God those days are over. May they never return.

Stiffness I could cope with, the excruciating pain in the morning? No.

I've shared this clip from Australia before, but will again because it got me moving a few months ago!

The exercises look so simple now but in January, I could barely do them.