Scaphoid joint (thumb) pain and stiffness with PMR

Hi @priscillat, You will notice that we added a little to the title of your discussion to better describe your questions so that members with experience can share with you. I've experienced some pain and stiffness in the fingers joints and hands when my PMR was active but have associated a lot of it with carpal tunnel syndrome which I also have in both hands. I did have an injection at one time but it never helped. The doctor mentioned I could have surgery but it really doesn't bother me that much yet.

Have you ever seen an orthopedics doctor or hand specialist about your symptoms?

I’m going to wait until after I get the Moderna booster. Then I may need to go back to 20 mg prednisone anyway - which takes care of my hands. Just glad to hear that other folks have the same area of pain; well, not really glad, but you know what I mean.

After first experiencing PMR in January and tapering down on Prednisone to none just recently I've had extremely sharp pains in my thumb joints, both hands, joint in wrist and knuckle joint. Rheumatologist thinks it's arthritis unrelated to PMR. It comes and goes and is extremely sharp causing me to flinch. I'm 76, old age is not for the timid 😟

Because mine is bilateral and exactly the same on both hands, I didn’t think it could be arthritis. Probably time for an X-ray, or to see a specialist. Thanks.

I have not noticed the pain so much in my thumbs, but quite a bit in my forefingers. I am on 4 mg of prednisone per day, and as I taper, for a few days I notice the stiffness and pain in my fingers. Once my body accepts the lesser dose, that improves. I also use this as an indicator - if the finger situation doesn't improve in a few days, I won't taper further until it resolves. A time or two l have had to increase the daily dose by 1/2 mg of prednisone.

Thanks. Good suggests.

Good suggestion.

Hi@priscillat My wrists and fingers were sore and stiff with PMR, and I was not able to do much beadwork. I managed to knot about ten pearls, at most, when I used to be able to knot whole necklaces, 16" and more. Eventually, with the proper dose of Prednisone for Giant Cell Arteritis, all that pain disappeared. My rheumy just upped me to 10 mg Prednisone daily from 7.5 because he wants my CRP to be lower. All the best.

Thank you. I think I need to up my dose too, but I’m waiting until after the Moderna booster (I’m at 8 mg now). I really want the booster to be effective. Luckily for me, my primary care dr is very understanding.