1. < Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR)

PMR and exercise: What helps you?

Posted by jcaffrey47 @jcaffrey47, Jul 17, 2021

We are told that we have to stay active but what does that mean? This issue became very real for me when I attempted to swim the crawl stroke in the swimming pool. I was feeling pretty good at the time. The prednisone had kicked in and I swam the equivalent of two laps. The next day my shoulders were on fire and I was suffering a full flare; my first. Maybe everyone reading this will say that I was foolish to do any exercise that involve my shoulders and that I should limit my exercise to other parts of the body like walking or maybe biking. Let’s start a dialogue and find out what exercises work for all of us.

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

paelwell | @paelwell | Jan 17, 2023

Thanks so much. Do you find that, after a time, you are able to exercise longer?

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1 reply
Mentor
John, Volunteer Mentor | @johnbishop | Jan 17, 2023
In reply to @paelwell "Thanks so much. Do you find that, after a time, you are able to exercise longer?" + (show)
@paelwell

Thanks so much. Do you find that, after a time, you are able to exercise longer?

Jump to this post

Not sure I tried to exercise longer. My problem was more when I had to do extra work activities around the house.

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bradninchgirl | @bradninchgirl | Jan 18, 2023
In reply to @paelwell "The day after exercise my inflammation and pain gets worse. Does this get better after a..." + (show)
@paelwell

The day after exercise my inflammation and pain gets worse. Does this get better after a period of exercising.?

Jump to this post

I found that magnesium help my muscle pain a lot. But be sure to get one that has three ingredients and be sure to take D3 with it.
Magnesium Glycinate
Magnesium Citrate
Magnesium Malate
Vitamin D3

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trietsch | @trietsch | Jan 18, 2023
In reply to @johnbishop "@cgent - Sometimes there is not much to say even when you like a person's post..." + (show)
@johnbishop

@cgent - Sometimes there is not much to say even when you like a person's post 🙃 (nope that's not my up the wall yoga thing). Someone mentioned yoga being boring. I'm not going that far because I know folks who really love it and it does help them. For me personally, I would rather be checking my eyelids for pinholes 😁 or listening to my beard grow.

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I have found chair yoga very helpful especially for my shoulders and arms.

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paelwell | @paelwell | Jan 18, 2023
In reply to @johnbishop "Hi @paelwell, You will notice that we moved your post to an existing discussion - PMR..." + (show)
@johnbishop

Hi @paelwell, You will notice that we moved your post to an existing discussion - PMR and exercise: What helps you?: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/pmr-and-exercise/ so that you can learn what other members have shared. It's good to see that you already have a response from @froehlich22. I too have experienced the "next day" effect after over doing it with exercise or activing when my PMR was active. The key for me was how much activity is too much and I'm not sure I ever figured that out 🙂

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After exercising over a period of time, did youcapasity to do more increase.?

REPLY
paelwell | @paelwell | Jan 18, 2023
In reply to @johnbishop "Hi @paelwell, You will notice that we moved your post to an existing discussion - PMR..." + (show)
@johnbishop

Hi @paelwell, You will notice that we moved your post to an existing discussion - PMR and exercise: What helps you?: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/pmr-and-exercise/ so that you can learn what other members have shared. It's good to see that you already have a response from @froehlich22. I too have experienced the "next day" effect after over doing it with exercise or activing when my PMR was active. The key for me was how much activity is too much and I'm not sure I ever figured that out 🙂

Jump to this post

Has the amount of exercise you are able to do increased?

REPLY
1 reply
Mentor
John, Volunteer Mentor | @johnbishop | Jan 18, 2023
In reply to @paelwell "Has the amount of exercise you are able to do increased?" + (show)
@paelwell

Has the amount of exercise you are able to do increased?

Jump to this post

As far as regular exercise, my capacity has increased some but not what I would consider a lot. At 79 going on 80, I still try to do 30 to 45 minutes a day on my Teeter FreeStep Cross Trainer which is similar to an elliptical bicycle plus 10 minutes or so on an inexpensive ride and row machine I bought a few months ago. It's a pretty intense machine for getting your heart rate up quickly and I think is better for my core muscles and leg strenghth as it's similar to doing squats combined with rowing - https://sunnyhealthfitness.com/products/squat-exercise-trainer-sf-a020052. On days where I have to shovel snow or other outside tasks I'm not particulary fond of I generally don't do the inside exercising.

I do feel like I can do more than a few years ago when my PMR was active. I think it's good to have a goal to slowly increase the exercise activity as it begins to get easier for you just because it's a challenge and I like the hope of losing less muscle mass or slowing it way down.

REPLY
2 replies
merryfield | @merryfield | Jan 19, 2023
In reply to @johnbishop "As far as regular exercise, my capacity has increased some but not what I would consider..." + (show)
@johnbishop

As far as regular exercise, my capacity has increased some but not what I would consider a lot. At 79 going on 80, I still try to do 30 to 45 minutes a day on my Teeter FreeStep Cross Trainer which is similar to an elliptical bicycle plus 10 minutes or so on an inexpensive ride and row machine I bought a few months ago. It's a pretty intense machine for getting your heart rate up quickly and I think is better for my core muscles and leg strenghth as it's similar to doing squats combined with rowing - https://sunnyhealthfitness.com/products/squat-exercise-trainer-sf-a020052. On days where I have to shovel snow or other outside tasks I'm not particulary fond of I generally don't do the inside exercising.

I do feel like I can do more than a few years ago when my PMR was active. I think it's good to have a goal to slowly increase the exercise activity as it begins to get easier for you just because it's a challenge and I like the hope of losing less muscle mass or slowing it way down.

Jump to this post

wow!

REPLY
bb1 | @bb1 | Jan 21, 2023
In reply to @johnbishop "As far as regular exercise, my capacity has increased some but not what I would consider..." + (show)
@johnbishop

As far as regular exercise, my capacity has increased some but not what I would consider a lot. At 79 going on 80, I still try to do 30 to 45 minutes a day on my Teeter FreeStep Cross Trainer which is similar to an elliptical bicycle plus 10 minutes or so on an inexpensive ride and row machine I bought a few months ago. It's a pretty intense machine for getting your heart rate up quickly and I think is better for my core muscles and leg strenghth as it's similar to doing squats combined with rowing - https://sunnyhealthfitness.com/products/squat-exercise-trainer-sf-a020052. On days where I have to shovel snow or other outside tasks I'm not particulary fond of I generally don't do the inside exercising.

I do feel like I can do more than a few years ago when my PMR was active. I think it's good to have a goal to slowly increase the exercise activity as it begins to get easier for you just because it's a challenge and I like the hope of losing less muscle mass or slowing it way down.

Jump to this post

Hi everyone.I am 83 and have had PMR for 2 years. A bit of a background. Always active and was fine until 3 covid shots and one shingle shot,then developed PMR,in neck shoulders and arms.
I was placed on 20 mgs. 1 month.
15 mgs 1 month.
10 mgs 10 months,then reduce by 1 mg per month.
Reduced eventually to 0.Then had flare,am back on 5.
At 5 mgs am feeling great,have been told by Dr. This is most likely where I will be to eliminate the pain.
I do exercise with light weights,shoulder shrugs,meditation and walks.
I will eventually try dropping 1 mg but am not in a rush.
Please stop trying to get of Prednisone to fast and do not take ibuprofen with it.
Don't mean to rant.Cheers from Calgary.

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1 reply
sashakay | @sashakay | Mar 29, 2023

These posts are so helpful. I have been off of prednisone now since January, and feeling really amazing. I wanted to strengthen up a bit and went to physical therapist who gave me some exercises to do. They helped for a week or two and then suddenly I went into a flareup. I backed off and things settled down so started back again, very gently, but went into a flare up. I had been doing some very gentle stretches before that with no negative affects so I went back to those and oh my, my body loves it! If I'm allowed to, I would like to suggest Justin Agustin (on FB and YouTube. He has been a lifesaver, especially for those of us of a certain age who want to stay "in the flow". When my body is feeling tight and scared, I put on Harry Styles and dance my little buns off around the house. 79 and caused the Amazon delivery man a few laughs!

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