Exercise

I started lifting weight when I was 19. I never lifted competively but I always made time for my workouts. I became a jogger for awhile as well. It is addictive if you try to take care of yourself your whole life then get PMR. I had read it was not a muscle wasting disease but lack of activity could be. So I went from heavy weights(for my age) to barely lifting the bar. I could barely get out of bed but I felt better if I went to the gym. I set up an exercise rotation where I briefly worked every muscle. Everything hurt. I have about 15 exercises I do where I do one set of ten and then start over and do the second and then the 3rd. Then 3 times a week I do the treadmill for 15 min. I do the Bruce protocol on the treadmill. PMR and Covid made gym workouts difficult but I did my best. Once I started steroids I was almost pain free. Like you I had to be careful. I was not feeling any pain. There were days that I just did what I could but I very seldom miss. I go every day for about an hour and fifteen minutes. I have kept the same workout since PMR. The only difference is my 3 sets are the first set is an easy set of 10 for warmup. Second set I add some weight and the third set is where I can barely do a set of 10 or 8. I am 72 now. That has also added a level of humility. I attribute the fact that I burned out PMR in 6 months and was off steroids to my dedication to exercise and knowledge of steroids. Steroid dependency was a lot more serious condition than the PMR. I no longer believe I can build muscle due to age but I can still maintain and strengthen what I have. I also after PMR had all my hormones checked. I have been able to stop most medications that I started from 6 months on steroids. I dont know if this helps. I can give you specific exercises I do. Its just a full range of movement from legs , shoulder, back , abs, arms. They say to let muscles rest a day or two between workouts but I needed to keep blood flowing to everything. I very seldom do single rep heavy weights. Occasionally some young pup fires me up into competing then I pay for it.

WOW, good for you, Tucker! I'm fascinated by your story, the commitment and hard work. I think regular exercise, whatever you can do is possibly the healthiest thing for us mentally, physically, emotionally.
I would love any info you wish to share about the exercises you do. Isn't the Bruce Protocol for medical stress testing?
Big respect to you! I'm older and still fired up. And I believe it's due to my unfailing commitment to physical exercise. I always say that exercise has saved my life...many times.
Looking forward to any feedback and homework!! LOL
Thanks so much for responding, so helpful.

I don't know what did more harm --- PMR or prednisone.

Since PMR is a condition that usually doesn't cause permanent damage to joints or muscles then I need to hold prednisone responsible for some of the harm. In my case, some of the blame must be pinned on inflammatory arthritis too. I hope underlying inflammatory arthritis isn't pertinent to most people with PMR.

I'm off prednisone but my rheumatologist says I still have PMR. I'm still being treated for PMR but I'm on a biologic instead of prednisone. I want to put prednisone behind me along with my battle with daily pain. Yes, prednisone relieved most of my pain. However, if I didn't take prednisone the pain would return. Frankly, the pain would return before it was time for my next prednisone dose. I waged this battle for more than 12 years.

The biologic I currently take for PMR has helped me tremendously. Not being treated with prednisone has made a world of difference in my ability to exercise. I can do so much more now compared to when I was still taking prednisone. When I was still on prednisone, I didn't exercise at all because the fatigue was just too overwhelming. The fatigue had to be caused by adrenal insufficiency assuming I still have PMR like my rheumatologist says.

My excercise is mostly aquacise these days but I also do resistance exercise with elastic bands. I also do aerobic excercise doing the treadmill, steps, and push-ups. I can do 50 pull-ups in the water which really helps my ego!

A physical therapist supervises an exercise class that I attend. I do at least an hour or more every day doing "something" that I consider to be exercise. I don't worry about overdoing anything or pacing myself. However, the exercise I currently do is a far cry from what I used to do when I was younger. I just turned 70 so I try to keep what exercise is feasible in perspective considering my age.

The biggest difference I notice is my recovery time. I can push myself pretty hard and I recover quickly. When I did anything remotely strenuous when I was on prednisone it would wipe me out immediately and I didn't recover until I slept for a few hours.

Delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is muscle pain that begins after you've worked out. It "normally" starts a day or two after a workout. I felt muscle pain within a few hours and it persisted for days so it wasn't normal. Sometimes I needed to increase my prednisone dose the next day if I did something too taxing. Almost anything required a lot of work so I avoided doing anything at all.

Now I have "normal DOMS" which actually makes me feel good. I feel like I accomplished something now when my muscles are a little sore the next day. I think prednisone wasted away my muscles and now I see a bit of muscle tone which is good for an old guy.

I will PM you my workout. In Jan 2020 I was diagnosed with prostate cancer, in Dec 2020 my wife was diagnosed with GBM. In Feb 2021 I got the COVID vaccine with a reaction. In May 2021 I diagnosed myself with PMR. I went off steroids in Dec 2021. Most of 2021 the gyms were closed. In Nov 2022 my right Carotid was 100% blocked and my left was 70% blocked. I had my left side cleaned. In May 2023 I infected my kidney with a 9mm kidney stone. I had surgery to remove it. Shortly after had my first re-lapse of PMR. (7 day prednisone pack fixed it) In Feb 2024 I had epididymitis with a UTI.(incontinence complications from prostate surgery) So I mention all this because from 68 to 72 has been like a whirlwind for me to dedicate myself to exercise. However, I still feel like a young 72 yr old.

Forgot the point of my story was during my PMR and Cardiology visits they scheduled a stress test. I looked up the stress test and they use the Bruce Protocol. So I thought I will just start training for the test by working that into my treadmill routine. I idea is to go to 80% of your maximum heart rate. Your maximum heart rate is 220-your age. Thats how they do the test. I think my number is around 120, I can go 15 min before reaching 120,

Wow...I am so sorry for all you've been through. Unbelievable.
The fact that you feel good now is fantastic and I'm sure exercise is helping.
Are you on a statin or any other med to keep arteries clean?
And, HOW is your wife??

thanks for your concern. I have always had high cholesterol. I tried lipitor 25 years ago and it made me really sick. I cant take a statin. So I thought a 230-240 total cholesterol was not bad. I was not treating it. Then I find out I had all this blockage. I found that out because the steroids from PMR made my cholesterol go up to 300. So they sent me to a cardiologist who discovered the blockage. I had all this work done at Mayo clinic. Mayo put me on Repatha. A once a month injection. No side effects so far. My total cholesterol is 120 and LDL is 55. My 2 year scan recently was clean. GBM is a terminal cancer. She is on hospice. They gave her 6 months almost 4 years ago.

Very happy for you that you have gotten yourself in a healthy state, fingers crossed.
Unbelievable your wife has really beaten the odds. How is her quality of life? Heartbreaking.

I try to do 30 min of some kind of exercise most days.
It may just be stretching or chair yoga depending on how I feel.
Better than no exercise at all.

Good for you! Excellent. Keep moving!