More Than A Pain In The Back

Be warned, PMR/GCA are much more than a pain in the back. I’ve had a few lumbago and sciatica attacks over the years due to my sedentary occupation. And whilst both of these are quite painful conditions, they are nothing compared to what I got next.

Shortly before the Corona crisis began I contracted two related conditions called PMR and GCA and they are sheer hell to live with.

It is not quite certain what all the causes that trigger it are, but I am convinced that sitting for long hours without moving is one of them. For me it all started when I went out to perform with my guitar. I play as a solo artist, singer songwriter. I normally sit for long hours on a low chair in restaurant outdoor patios with my accoustic guitar resting across my right thigh. On the first evening that it hit me it scared the living daylights out of me.

I went to get up and couldn't. I had no power from my hips down. I quietly put my guitar down to free my arms and used my upper body strength to haul myself upright. I felt the pain of doing this in my hips, it was truly excruciating. Once upright I was ok and started to slowly move around. After then minutes of walking in small circles I sat back down. When I tried to get back up, it was the same problem all over again. The next morning I woke up to discover that the pain had spread to all my other joints. This was clearly something very serious and as scary as hell. I immediately realised that this was something that was going to have to be medically investigated, the sooner the better.

My doctor said it was nothing more than winter aches and pains and prescribed Paracetamol. A second doctor simply prescribed Tramadol, a pain killer for cancer patients. Both medications had only a limited effect. I felt that this problem just was not being taken seriously enough. Neither doctor seemed to have a clue what I had and, more to the point, what I was going through.The first doctor was having a meltdown due the demands of the Covid pandemic, and the second doctor was reluctant to even see me for the same reason.

To make matters worse, on two ocassions the police stopped me en-route home from my local health clinic and threatened me with a 600 euro fine if they saw me out and about again. They ordered me to go home and to stay home due a lockdown. They were not in the slightest interested in my explanation. I felt like they just wanted me to go home and die.

The lockdown rules, which limited being out and closed down all my usual performance venues had stopped me from from going out to work. So there I was, seriously ill and racked with pain,out of work with no social security, and stopped from seeking medical assistance. I was at my wits end

Luckily my wife is an occupational therapist in Japan and did a little research on the internet and correctly diagnosed PMR/GCA. Now all I had to do was leave Europe and get myself home to Japan where I knew I would get the proper treatment I was sorely in need of.

The journey to Japan was expensive and exhausting. The trip took seventy two hours due to a stopover in Germany and rigorous checks in Japan. By the time I finally managed to get through immigration controls I was pretty much dead on my feet. At one point it was thought I would have to be sent all the way back to Europe, the epicentre of the pandemic at that time. Thankfully due to being an officially registered resident of Japan I was allowed to enter. Even better, I was able to access what I believe to be the best medical treatment anywhere.

PMR/GCA (Polymyalgia Rheumatica and Giant Cell Arthritis) are in fact predominantly North European, female, over fifty years of age problems. But I do not, as far as I am aware, fall into that bracket. So yes, men can get PMR/GCA too. Basically it is when every single joint and muscle aches and hurts in an excruciating fashion, all at one and the same time due to inflamation. The exact cause is not known for certain, all that is known is that these conditions are when the body's auto immune system turns on the sufferer's body. In effect, your immune system attacks that which it is intended to protect.

I had it in my jaw, neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, lower back, buttocks, hips, groin, thighs, knees. It felt like I had been hit full on by a forty ton truck. I couldn’t sleep, lie or sit without the intense pain in every part of my body all day long. I even had it in my temples which swelled up and became very sensitive.

Painkillers only hide the problem, they do not reduce the inflammation that is the cause of all the pain. Steroids are the answer, but you need to ask for a blood test before you can get them. Steroids actually reduce the inflammation. However, steroids can bring other problems as side effects. In the end I was weaned off the steroids and put on injections of something called Actemera. This seems to work a treat. Having said that, it is quite an expensive medication at 500 dollars a shot! Fortunately the Japanese state subsidises the cost to the point of reducing the price to about 35 dollars a shot. Whatever the cost, it is worth every penny for the relief it brings in putting the conditions into remission rather than just treating the pain.

So if you are getting aches and pains which are out of the ordinary, get it properly checked out as soon as possible. Meanwhile try not to sit in one position for too long. Get up and move about. Stretch those muscles and relax. Oh, and try not to get too old.