Connect
← Return to Have you checked your Vitamin D?
Discussion
Have you checked your Vitamin D?
Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) | Last Active: Sep 28 12:33pm | Replies (18)Comment receiving replies
I have right shoulder pain. too. I'm down to 6 mg, but I have good days and bad days. My blood work is perfect--everything. Shoulder X-rays--no problems. So Doc says continue to lower dosage every two weeks. And I want off prednisone, so I do.
This is very frustrating.
Tylenol may lower pain from 6 to 5 or 5 to 4. No more. Last night's pain was a 7-8. I did not lift yesterday. I can tell you the only thing that helps is lifting, and honestly, it's so painful to lift that I'm not sure anyone else in that gym is in as much pain as I am. But the morning after a lifting day, I have the least pain. 3 to 2 even. (I continue lifting so I can babysit/lift my granddaughter.)
I run or walk every day, which may be why my legs are always at a 3 to 2. Yes, some days are so difficult.
I am in such a "poor me" funk. I eat really well, exercise, and this disease stinks. I watch people eat junk food, ice cream, sit around, and here I am doing everything I can to get better and am in so much pain that I wonder how long I am going to have to stand this!
My suggestion is start out with very little weight but start lifting if you can. Then put one foot in front of the other and carry on.
Replies to "I have right shoulder pain. too. I'm down to 6 mg, but I have good days..."
Connect
One thing to think about is that 6 mg of Prednisone is a "fixed dose" but that isn't how the body regulates cortisol. The body is designed to get bursts of cortisol during stressful situations. I would think lifting weights is a type of stress. Your cortisol level should increase when weight lifting but Prednisone suppresses your adrenal function. You won't get the cortisol response to weight lifting that you should get.
The pain you feel when weight lifting could stem from the body's need for more cortisol. Unfortunately, increasing the dose of Prednisone to facilitate weight lifting isn't appropriate.
It might be a mistake to push through the pain when you do weight lifting. Maybe you could reduce the amount of weight you lift.
Another thing that could be happening is something called insulin resistance that is caused by Prednisone. With insulin resistance, the energy from glucose isn't delivered to muscle cells during weight lifting. This can also explain some of the pain you have during weight lifting. Muscle recovery times after weight lifting will also be prolonged because of adrenal suppression. Adequate cortisol function is essential for a normal recovery of muscles that are used for exercise.
I think exercise is vital for PMR. Unfortunately, the prednisone we take to treat PMR makes exercise very challenging. I like the advice you give to start slowly and gradually increase the amount of exercise over time. It doesn't have to be weight lifting on dry land. Water resistance during aquacise can also be very beneficial.