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freesia 
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 Posted: 24 September 2011 at 11:41am |
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MrsE---how does a person identify "leg claudication pain"? Just wondering because my legs have been the main source of stiffness and pain for me.
I did find this article online from the Mayo Clinic: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/claudication/DS01052
freesia
Edited by freesia - 24 September 2011 at 11:45am
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MrsE
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Posted: 24 September 2011 at 12:55pm |
Claudication pain is pain - or you might feel it is an ache or cramp or just plain tiredness - that starts after you have been exercising a muscle for a while and eventually gets so bad you have to stop doing the movement. After you have rested the pain goes away but then it comes back when you start again. So if you go for a walk, after a while your calves start to ache so you stop for a rest. It stops and you start to walk again and it comes back.
It happens when the blood supply isn't enough to supply the working muscle with all the oxygen it needs and that is what causes the pain. People with diseased and blocked arteries in their legs get it as well and to start with they can walk some distance but as the disease worsens the distance they can walk gets less and less until eventually they can only walk 50 yds or so before having to stop.
In PMR and GCA it is also because the arteries aren't supplying the muscles with enough oxygen but it is a slightly different mechanism - at least at first. If it is untreated for a long time then there can be some blockage too. There are ways of treating it if it gets too bad.
Eileen
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Not a Newbie to PMR - just to this community!!! Hi all!
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freesia
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Posted: 24 September 2011 at 1:55pm |
Thanks, MrsE. 
Edited by freesia - 24 September 2011 at 3:20pm
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freesia
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Posted: 25 September 2011 at 9:59am |
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If I wake up at night from pain in my right leg only, could that be claudication or does it sound like something else? Eventually I was able to get back to sleep but it felt like it did before I was diagnosed--sort of like cramping and discomfort. But that was both legs before I got diagnosed, this is just my right leg.
I have had some issues with my feet in the past and recently started doing some new P.T. exercises for my hips--also the therapist has me trying out a "shim" in my left shoe because my left leg is shorter than my right! Guess I just can't understand why the pain woke me up during the night.
So I'm hoping it's "something else" and not arterial trouble due to inadequate prednisone...if it's just a scare, it's scaring me into understanding what mrs UK, MrsE, Celtic and others mean when they say tapering isn't a contest!
freesia
Edited by freesia - 25 September 2011 at 10:09am
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MrsE
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Posted: 25 September 2011 at 10:20am |
Does anything ease the pain at night? Like getting up and walking round, or hanging your foot out of the bed, over the edge?
There are so many things it could be! To some extent we have to accept we are beginning to fall apart   . I'm not ready to give in yet though! If a bit of pred will keep me going a bit longer - that's fine!
Eileen
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Not a Newbie to PMR - just to this community!!! Hi all!
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freesia
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Posted: 25 September 2011 at 10:53am |
Hi MrsE, Hope I'm not starting to sound like a complainer--and I know you can't diagnose over the internet !  (although you are pretty good at it!!!) Anyway, finally I put my leg up in the air--just held it straight up for awhile! That seemed to help. Walking around didn't feel good, it hurt. Riding my stationary bike is fine, though--no problems there! I know--it could be so many things! I guess I'm just getting scared that I haven't taken enough prednisone--and if so, I am mad at my rheumy for pushing me to taper. Rheumies should tell people the bad results of not treating this disease properly. I was in good health before PMR so I wouldn't expect to develop arterial problems so soon, but who knows! And I agree about accepting that we are beginning to fall apart! It's part of life. Thanks!! freesia
Edited by freesia - 25 September 2011 at 11:16am
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MrsE
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Posted: 25 September 2011 at 12:12pm |
Sounds like you could do with doing some gentle stretches of leg muscles and hamstrings! It's so easy to get into a position in bed where the muscle shortens a bit and then gets crampy. If your muscles are tight, it can pinch nerves a bit too and make them uncomfortable.
Do you know the sort of stretches I mean? The sort you do after exercise to stop the muscles tightening and being sore and you see people at the gym doing. It's a good idea to hold them a bit longer than you usually see people doing and that should help. It's worth a try for a start and if it doesn't work you could ask a physio for some advice.
Don't feel too bad about the reduction and blame that. The docs have never had PMR themselves and expect you to be able to reduce the way the textbooks say. We all only know because we have experimented, especially me as I haven't had to fight with a doctor about how and why! I just collect a load of pills every so often and have never had to ask if I can reduce a tiny bit at a time, I just tried it when other things hadn't worked and it seemed to be better. Then other ladies tried it with encouragement from Ragnar's experiences. The rest is history, as they say! And then you reduce a bit and it goes well and after a while, because you are doing well everyone forgets the advice and want you to go for another or a bigger drop. Then you start to feel bad but it doesn't occur to anyone that this is exactly what happened last time   . Or at least not until we remind you!
We are a load of pessimistic Minnies aren't we - or are we just realistic? Everyone is so scared of the pred - but as MrsUK says, it isn't the pred that is the enemy, it's the PMR!
Eileen
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Not a Newbie to PMR - just to this community!!! Hi all!
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freesia
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Posted: 25 September 2011 at 5:23pm |
I know exactly what you mean: the hamstring stretch--hands pressed against the wall etc. I always forget to do those. This afternoon the pain is letting up--but that is also when my pred kicks in, so who knows. I will call my doctor tomorrow if it hurts tonight. You're so lucky you can just get the pills and do the reduction your own way without a rheumy bugging you about how you aren't going fast enough. It takes a lot of experience with PMR to start to really understand tapering. I don't like making the same mistake over and over, but I guess it's human nature. I think we are just realistic! I've always felt like I'm an optimist--although this disease has certainly challenged my outlook at times! But I want to know the facts about PMR so I can work with it! Editing because I forgot to add: mrs UK is so right, prednisone is not the enemy, PMR is. Thanks so much MrsE. You don't know how much I appreciate the time and effort you put into advising me (and everyone)!  freesia
Edited by freesia - 26 September 2011 at 9:11am
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freesia
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Posted: 30 September 2011 at 11:21am |
Just a little update. Others might be interested in this, to remember as they go through tapers. As MrsE suggested, I gave the 6 mg dose about a week to settle in, and lo and behold, after a week on that dose I felt the PMR symptoms subsiding a lot. Still not sure what's going on with the other stuff, like the leg pain. I am working on the stretching. Someone I know suggested that my I.T. band might be tight and need stretching. thank you MrsE  I had put a call in to my rheumy about inflammation control, and it never was answered...this is the second time this has happened recently. I think the messages get lost in the bureaucracy somehow, but I'm sick of fighting just to get answers. You and this site saved me. freesia
Edited by freesia - 03 October 2011 at 8:31am
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