Good morning all . First time on the PMR discussion -I have been up since 3:30 am when all 4 limbs were immovable , 1.5 months into my journey and day 28 of Prednisone , now increased to 20 mg. -- What I was looking for is a discussion about the harmonization of words patients should use to describe the locations of the pain and what actually hurts !! i am attaching one link with these medical terms ( below) :
DOES ANYONE or their doctor use the term gel phenomenon? - Thank you
"Morning stiffness and the gel phenomenon – Gelling, or stiffness with inactivity, is a hallmark of synovitis in the systemic rheumatic diseases in general, but in PMR, this phenomenon can be notably severe. Morning stiffness in PMR is invariable; its absence excludes a diagnosis of PMR."
"Functional limitations – Proximal stiffness can result in difficulties with activities of daily living, such as pulling on a shirt or coat, hooking a bra in the back, donning socks and shoes, or transferring from the supine or seated position to standing. The intensity of the gelling phenomenon, coupled with proximal stiffness, can be such that patients may require assistance with morning dressing."

From uptodate-dot-com
Clinical features — Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) is characterized by symmetrical aching and stiffness about the shoulders, hip girdle, neck, and torso, worst on arising in the morning, of recent onset, in a patient over the age of 50 (figure 1).
●
Onset – It is typically a recent, discrete change in musculoskeletal symptoms that prompts the patient with PMR to seek medical attention. The onset can be abrupt, sometimes startlingly so, seeming to occur almost overnight. A story of longstanding stiffness and aching does not suggest a diagnosis of PMR.

Pattern of symptoms – Bilateral shoulder pain is the presenting manifestation in nearly all patients (70 to 95 percent), while the neck and the hip girdle are involved in approximately 70 and 50 percent of patients, respectively. They can initially be unilateral but soon become symmetrical. Bilateral achiness about the upper arms with limitation of active shoulder abduction is particularly common and often commands the clinical presentation. Pelvic girdle symptoms manifest as pains about the groin and lateral aspects of the hips and are frequently reported as radiating to the posterior aspects of the thighs. As described above, the proximally distributed aching and stiffness represent referred symptoms from the joints and periarticular structures of the shoulders and hips.

Jump to this post