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I have had PMR for two years. Initially hospitalized for a week the pain was intense, but mostly in my upper body.
Recently I have had a problem with pain in my left hip and back. I thought it was a muscle, but it is not acting like a muscle strain.
I hate to blame everything on PMR, but need to find relief from this The doctor was going to put me on a strong series of Prednisone and I said no, as it has taken me a year to taper down to 5 mg. Yet if it is PMR I will know if that works. Right?
Can someone tell me what your hip pain felt like related to PMR?
Any great advice?
Replies to "I have had PMR for two years. Initially hospitalized for a week the pain was intense,..."
@thereselefever, You will notice that we merged your post with an existing discussion so that you could meet other members with PMR who have experience with hip and back pain. If you click the link below it will take you to the beginning of the discussion.
-- PMR and Hip, Back Pain: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/pmr-and-hipback-pain/
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Have you had much in the way of xrays, MRI's, scans or a full body scintigraphy done? I can't see how any doctor can recommend an increase in an already potentially problematic drug without eliminating the possibility of an actual physical or mechanical cause of your hip and back pain first. Perhaps you have arthritis or impingement in or around your hip and lower back. Only imagining will tell you that and if you do have such problems a different treatment plan may be less dangerous than increasing prednisone such as physio or a good osteopath.
I was diagnosed with PMR a few months ago after a period of intense pain and stiffness all over and had blood test results to support the diagnosis. But, over the years I seem to have developed a lot of arthritis in many joints and recently my lower back and my hips are giving me pain. Imaging shows lumbar disc problem and impingement in my left hip. Sometimes my legs (both of them) stiffen up completely from my hips all the way down to my ankles with sciatica type pain. Not fun if it happens when I'm driving and I desperately need to get out of the car to stretch them in traffic. But at least I do know the reason for it.
Without having the various imaging tests done I've had done every time a new pain kicks in somewhere on my body, I'd have no idea about just how badly affected by arthritis I am. It seems that, for some people, once you get arthritis of any sort in once place in your body, it can actually progress significantly over time to other parts.
I think, if you haven't had any imaging done, I'd ask for that to be done first. I suppose an increase in prednisone might help with any new pain but perhaps there might be better solutions if the cause is mechanical.