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Lingering Pain
Once Pred had the PMR under control and I was able to exercise again I still had pain and weakness in my left shoulder. I did come to realise that it felt better after swimming and I was able to do shoulder exercises with 3k weights so thought I was winning. After my extreme challenge the other week I had forgotten about my shoulder as it no longer gave me any problems. Not been swimming for a few days and pain was back and I realised it was nothing to do with PMR just good old arthritis. It is the shoulder that I had a rotator cuff injury years ago so bond to happen. Swimming 4 times a week now, just 6 lengths fast crawl and done, I do smile that it takes longer to shower afterwards then the swim itself. But just those few hard lengths keep the shoulder moving. At the back of my mind a little voice says the Pred was masking the problem and now I am on 6mg I have to get on and sort it myself.
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It is easy to fault PMR for everything and wonder if it is a bad thing that prednisone “masks”? Doesn’t it actually help keeping inflammation down?
My PMR kicked in just about a year ago. Because it was relatively mild, I managed the pain with Aleve for months. I started 5 mg prednisone two months ago and I’m currently taping. I found that my left shoulder was more painful than the right and subsequently less mobile. I’ve been doing some PT for that shoulder for a couple of months and it’s helped tremendously. I still have morning discomfort, but I am able to swim laps and use my left shoulder more confidently with the PT. My rheumatologist thought that with the pain I was guarding and having rotator cuff problems. I’m nearly done with the PT but I have a set of exercises for maintenance going forward. I’ll keep swimming those laps as well, since it provides such good range of motion for my shoulders.
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1 ReactionI like this post. I am on dexamethasone 1 1/2 mg daily and reducing to .75 in a month. Will try Prednisone again later on. Needed relief to cont movement. PMR for 4 years. Doing chiropractic and swim exercises 3 times a week. Any and all suggestions welcome