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@tsc

Hi jcaffrey47, I walk everyday, about an hour, which I kept up even with terrible stiffness in my legs and knees, because of prior open heart surgery and the mandate to walk three miles a day, everyday, for the rest of my life. I couldn't understand how I could do so much walking and still be stiff. My brother, a doctor, said 'You have a disorder that restricts blood flow to your muscles (PMR - a form of vasculitis) - so, off course, you're still stiff.' Being on prednisone eased my pain and gave me more energy so I started a few strength training exercises lately, but am really careful not to overdo it. PMR started after an ankle injury from doing a lot of backwards walking so I'm now aware that an injury or overuse can be a trigger. Probably best to pace yourself and listen to your body. Keep active and moving, but don't push it too hard. Spread the moves out over the day vs, trying to do it all at once. And PMR attacks the shoulders - so avoid exercises that put too much stress on them, like overhead moves. I found acetaminophen helpful for pain when I have it. Avoid NSAIDs when on Prednisone. Hope that helps.

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Replies to "Hi jcaffrey47, I walk everyday, about an hour, which I kept up even with terrible stiffness..."

Indeed, it does. I too, walk 3 miles a day and I also had a triggering event which was when I lifted a 60 pound kayak up over my head onto a roof rack on an SUV. So, now most of my pain is in one shoulder (but also in the other and in hips). Prednisone handled the pain and I was tapering on my own schedule, down to 13 from 20 in 8 weeks when an attempt to do the swimming crawl caused all the pain to return. Three days at 17 mg took care of the pain and this am I was down to 16 mg. I also use EXS Tylenol to supplement in the middle of the night. Do you know of any articles which address this problem?