How much muscle fatigue do you have with PMR?

Hi @reewhite, welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I'd like to invite @pjnewm, @annettetompkins, @gagapapa, @bcarr54 who all discussed fatigue with PMR and also their experiences with fatigue when tapering prednisone in the discussion:

- Chronic Fatigue while tapering prednisone with PMR, https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/chronic-fatiguewhile-tapering-prednisone-for-pmr/.

@reewhite, has your muscle fatigue improved or worsened at all? How about your pain and stiffness with the prednisone?

I have been using prednisone for pmr & felt fatigue . lately I have taken a spoonful of honey few times a day & constant fatigue has diminished. still have limited stamina but no longer dragging myself around. not sure of connection. but so far so good.

Yes its normal for me. There are days when I do moderate and limited amounts of work around the house and garden. I always pay for it with sore burning muscles and overall tiredness. Yesterday I really overdid it. In evening, I felt like I was getting the flu and I was exhausted and sore.

The stiffness has improved greatly ,but I still get a lot of muscle fatigue and weakness .

Thank you for that info. The same thing happens after I do the stretches PT gave me. The pain seems to settle back in and takes days to feel

I am in agreement with you....and happy to hear that this isn't just me. Its ridiculous that a moderate amount of housework can cause pain and exhaustion, but very true with me as well. Last night after I did some routine stuff around the house, I could barely get a shower and fell into bed. Wish I had an answer to alleviate these awful auto immune symptoms.

It certainly is for me. The "rubbery" leg feeling is very common.
I have found that it is best to exercise anyway, despite the pain, and as much as possible. Use real resistance in a gym to strengthen the muscles as much as possible. Follow with heat if you can.

At first I had bad reactions from "overdoing" but over time there has been much improvement.
It still hurts some when I walk and rubbery sort of cramped feeling most of the time, but I can walk up to a mile now and my legs are much stronger and hurt less. (still not zero except occasionally).
ps I have had PMR for many years undiagnosed until the past two. Still hopeful to be doing normal activities (dance, hike etc) in the next few months. Good Luck!