Question about PMR pain locations

oh yes....PMR moves around my body from one area to another without warning. I could have pain in my right arm and my left arm is reasonably ok... Sometimes it is both sides and shoulders and neck and other times just one area. I also can have bad pains on one side of my hips and the other is ok. Generally my lower body is at a certain stiffness then pain each day but walking helps and Qigong to keep moving. My feet do not generally become affected but if my legs are stiff so are my feet and I have to steady myself for a little while until I can move off. I hope this helps.

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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.

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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.

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Hello @nyxygirl, Welcome to Connect. New members are not allowed to share links for a short period of time to prevent spamming in our discussions. I thought I would share the UpToDate article for you so for others who have not seen it.

--- Clinical manifestations and diagnosis of polymyalgia rheumatica: https://www.uptodate.com/contents/clinical-manifestations-and-diagnosis-of-polymyalgia-rheumatica.

I see that you have already found one of the main PMR discussions - Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR): Meet others & Share Your Story: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/polymyalgia-rheumatica-pmr-meet-others-share-your-story/. Here is another discussion you might find helpful:
--- PMR Dosages and Managing Symptoms: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/pmr-dosages/.

My rheumatologist never used the term gel phenomenon but did do a good job of explaining the morning stiffness to me along with the importance of mild exercise and stretching in the morning. He also taught me the value of keep a daily pain and dosage log to help me when I was tapering off of prednisone. I was started at 20 mg prednisone for both occurrences of PMR and within an hour or so of taking the prednisone, all of the aches, stiffness and pain were gone until the next morning. It's great that you have done a lot of research on the condition. It pays to be your own health advocate.

Did your doctor or rheumatologist tell you to watch for other symptoms like tender scalp or pain around the temple areas to make sure you also don't have GCA?

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@johnbishop John -thanks for the welcome message . I 'm putting together my thoughts to write a little about myself in the "share your story" thread. Yes thank you - I'm aware of the GCA connection. I am a scientist and used to communicating with my team on Microsoft teams , including sharing Scientifc papers - i'm trying not to get carried away here : ) John -- i think the group would like to see this link : “An Impediment to Living Life”: Why andHow Should We Measure Stiffness inPolymyalgia Rheumatica?" Sarah Louise Mackie et al. 2015

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oh yes....PMR moves around my body from one area to another without warning. I could have pain in my right arm and my left arm is reasonably ok... Sometimes it is both sides and shoulders and neck and other times just one area. I also can have bad pains on one side of my hips and the other is ok. Generally my lower body is at a certain stiffness then pain each day but walking helps and Qigong to keep moving. My feet do not generally become affected but if my legs are stiff so are my feet and I have to steady myself for a little while until I can move off. I hope this helps.

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@em2 for me i am always amazed at how symmetrical is the pain !! So my attention is more lower vs upper. One particular evening i had a scary sensation wiht the pain in my neck begin to feel as if it was constricting my throat ?! i was trying to figure out what i was going to do about that - it only happened once thankfully !

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