1. < Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR)

Hip pain

Posted by granger @granger, Jan 29, 2023

I am waiting to see a rheumatologist. My family doctor started me on 20 MG prednisone after labs indicated pmr. Now I have severe hip pain that ortho doctor is calling IT band inflammation. Since I haven't been able to talk with the rheumatologist, I don't know if this is a flare up or not. I'm not sure what a flare up is. Feeling confused by the pain. Has anyone had hip pain flare up and how did you manage it. I'm on 15mg prednisone, plus aleve and Tylenol.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) Support Group.

Mentor
John, Volunteer Mentor | @johnbishop | Jan 29, 2023

Hello @granger, Welcome to Connect. My PMR is currently in remission but I've had 2 occurrences and both times it was pain in most all of my joints and not just the hips. There are a few discussions you might want to read through to see if members share symptoms similar to yours.

-- Bursitis and hip pain: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/bursitis-and-hip-pain/
-- Hip pain and steroid injection: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/hip-pain-and-steroid-injection/

If you still have pain in your hips after taking prednisone, I would discuss it with your primary care doctor. I'm not a doctor but most all of my pain was gone within a few hours of taking prednisone, so I'm wondering if you really have PMR. Is your hip pain in both hips?

REPLY
1 reply
granger | @granger | Jan 29, 2023
In reply to @johnbishop "Hello @granger, Welcome to Connect. My PMR is currently in remission but I've had 2 occurrences..." + (show)
@johnbishop

Hello @granger, Welcome to Connect. My PMR is currently in remission but I've had 2 occurrences and both times it was pain in most all of my joints and not just the hips. There are a few discussions you might want to read through to see if members share symptoms similar to yours.

-- Bursitis and hip pain: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/bursitis-and-hip-pain/
-- Hip pain and steroid injection: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/hip-pain-and-steroid-injection/

If you still have pain in your hips after taking prednisone, I would discuss it with your primary care doctor. I'm not a doctor but most all of my pain was gone within a few hours of taking prednisone, so I'm wondering if you really have PMR. Is your hip pain in both hips?

Jump to this post

Thanks for the information. My dx was made with labs and symptoms. Plus my mother had pmr for yrs. So I'm pretty confident of the dx. Prednisone worked great. Pain gone in several days. The hip pain came a month later after beginning to reduce my dosage.
It was diagnosed as bursitis and IT Band inflammation by orthopedic doctor. I don't think the orthopedic doc knews anything about pmr flare ups. Unfortunately I don't have my first visit with rheumatologist for 2 more months so I'm sort of trying to figure this pain out on my own. I'm not really sure what a flare up is or how it feels. Very happy to find this site though. I will check you links you suggested. Thanks.

REPLY
1 reply
Mentor
John, Volunteer Mentor | @johnbishop | Jan 29, 2023
In reply to @granger "Thanks for the information. My dx was made with labs and symptoms. Plus my mother had..." + (show)
@granger

Thanks for the information. My dx was made with labs and symptoms. Plus my mother had pmr for yrs. So I'm pretty confident of the dx. Prednisone worked great. Pain gone in several days. The hip pain came a month later after beginning to reduce my dosage.
It was diagnosed as bursitis and IT Band inflammation by orthopedic doctor. I don't think the orthopedic doc knews anything about pmr flare ups. Unfortunately I don't have my first visit with rheumatologist for 2 more months so I'm sort of trying to figure this pain out on my own. I'm not really sure what a flare up is or how it feels. Very happy to find this site though. I will check you links you suggested. Thanks.

Jump to this post

If all of the pain went away when you started on prednisone and you just had the hip pain come back shortly after reducing the dosage of prednisone, that might be due to tapering too fast or to large of a dose. Here's another discussion you might find helpful:
-- PMR Dosages and Managing Symptoms: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/pmr-dosages/.

What helped me when tapering was keeping a daily log with the level of pain when I woke up and the dosage for that day. If it was a day to taper and my pain level was higher than a 2 on a scale of 0 to 10, I stayed on the same dose for a few more days to see how the pain was controlled before going lower. My rheumatologist told me in the beginning that each person is different and needs to listen to their body when it comes to the pain levels and tapering. Slow and easy wins the game.

REPLY
Please sign in or register to post a reply.