PMR and Sciatica with Back Pain

Yes. I'm 71 and have recently experienced right leg sciatica recently. I took prednisone when first diagnosed with PMR - it helped to resolve the inflammation and resolve the pain in my shoulder, arms, and back. Sciatic pain is new. I'm not taking prednisone at this time.

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Hello John

Thank so much for the link.

I've reached out to my rheumatologist and we are going to start with PT.

I so appreciate you sharing this link!

Don

I'm 62, former medical lab tech, who has self diagnosed with PMR. Started having bilateral shoulder and hip pain and then stiff neck within the last 10 years. The pain seemed more associated with bursa and tendon attachments...so right at the top of the shoulders and outer hip. The neck stiffness was where the tendons attach to the skull and not deeply felt in the vertebrae, as if some type of nerve pain. It's never a pain like typical muscle fatigue. It pain at junctures which causes an otherwise strong healthy muscle to suddenly feel very weak. After reading all the possibilities of what I could have, I realized by chance that 15mg of Prednisone was like a miracle drug for me. Disabling shoulder pain that had lasted for months was suddenly 100% gone within 12 hours. Hip pain was 100% gone. Neck pain 100% gone all in less than 48 hours, typically 10 to 12 hours. I have read repeatedly all the side effects of Prednisone and take supplements, exercise a lot(I'm a dancer) so I am aware of the risks. I take the least amount to get rid of most of the pain. I go days without taking any until the pain returns. Unfortunately, all the doctors I have encountered only stress the side effects and don't want to prescribe the drug at all. A rheumatologist told me Prednisone was bad and that the doctor who discovered it won a prize, which should have been retracted once side effects were discovered. Not much of a bias there. My primary care doc kept saying with regards to Prednisone..."bad, bad...bad". And yet this is the only treatment for PMR. This is a quality of life issue. Nobody would opt to be chair bound with pain and weakness in shoulders, hips and neck. The side effects are manageable. And are there any long term studies done on older athletes who take prednisone for chronic inflammation? I also have sciatica in my right leg. Pain is centered around sacrum and causes my right foot to feel numb. Stretching helps. Sitting helps. Walking hurts the most...even more than dancing. It could be stenosis, made worse by PMR. So far 15 mg Prednisone per day takes 99% of the sciatica pain away. It's just like a miracle. It goes from pain with every step, like a toothache around the sacrum to ZERO pain and can walk for hours comfortably.

I'm 62, former medical lab tech, who has self diagnosed with PMR. Started having bilateral shoulder and hip pain and then stiff neck within the last 10 years. The pain seemed more associated with bursa and tendon attachments...so right at the top of the shoulders and outer hip. The neck stiffness was where the tendons attach to the skull and not deeply felt in the vertebrae, as if some type of nerve pain. It's never a pain like typical muscle fatigue. It pain at junctures which causes an otherwise strong healthy muscle to suddenly feel very weak. After reading all the possibilities of what I could have, I realized by chance that 15mg of Prednisone was like a miracle drug for me. Disabling shoulder pain that had lasted for months was suddenly 100% gone within 12 hours. Hip pain was 100% gone. Neck pain 100% gone all in less than 48 hours, typically 10 to 12 hours. I have read repeatedly all the side effects of Prednisone and take supplements, exercise a lot(I'm a dancer) so I am aware of the risks. I take the least amount to get rid of most of the pain. I go days without taking any until the pain returns. Unfortunately, all the doctors I have encountered only stress the side effects and don't want to prescribe the drug at all. A rheumatologist told me Prednisone was bad and that the doctor who discovered it won a prize, which should have been retracted once side effects were discovered. Not much of a bias there. My primary care doc kept saying with regards to Prednisone..."bad, bad...bad". And yet this is the only treatment for PMR. This is a quality of life issue. Nobody would opt to be chair bound with pain and weakness in shoulders, hips and neck. The side effects are manageable. And are there any long term studies done on older athletes who take prednisone for chronic inflammation? I also have sciatica in my right leg. Pain is centered around sacrum and causes my right foot to feel numb. Stretching helps. Sitting helps. Walking hurts the most...even more than dancing. It could be stenosis, made worse by PMR. So far 15 mg Prednisone per day takes 99% of the sciatica pain away. It's just like a miracle. It goes from pain with every step, like a toothache around the sacrum to ZERO pain and can walk for hours comfortably.

Welcome @polykendancer, I am fortunate that my primary care doctor got me a referral to a Mayo rheumatologist that diagnosed me with PMR and started me on 20 mg. I did struggle with tapering off the first time I had PMR but the rheumatologist was very supportive and told me to listen to my body and taper as the body allows (3-1/2 years the first time around). It most definitely is a quality of life issue with the prednisone.

You mentioned sciatica pain so thought you might also be interesting in a discussion on Myofascial Release Therapy (MFR) -- https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/myofascial-release-therapy-mfr-for-treating-compression-and-pain/.

It was really helpful for me to keep a daily log when I was first diagnosed. Do you keep a daily pain log along with the amount of prednisone dosage for that day?