Also, file cortisone shots under times when Tresiba is not great—I went from 16u to 20u, but still running high, and nervous to increase again, since I’m sure it will catch up and then at some point suddenly be way too much. If I do suddenly start feeling like it’s too much, my plan is to undershoot the next Tresiba shot, so like 13-14u, and then go back to 16u, in efforts to compensate for much more tail initially. I’m wondering whether that might be a reasonable plan for quicker (if still imperfect) adjustments from a higher dose to a lower dose, and vice versa (overshoot for an increase the first day, then go to the target dose the next).
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I have had it off and on since 2000. Recently is was bad and couldnt sleep. I am loathe to get cortizone. So I went for massages which helped a bit, then went to a physical therapist who specializes in the Rossiter method. Please do not think I am crazy, but she had me lay down and stepped on my shoulder whilst I did these odd arm movements. It took a n hour and hurt like heck, but the pain went away! I am still working on mobility and it is getting better, but the pain is gone. Again please do not think I am nuts. It worked for me, and I did not have to take anything.
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I’d certainly try that. It works with thyroxine pills (which have a 6-day half-life in the bloodstream.)
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@mindawhen, this is pretty cool to know even if it is anecdotal. It may work for others, and who, knows, maybe there is deeper scientific truth underneath. After all, many people report improvements from osteopathic treatment, when osteopathy itself originated as a theory (“every sickness is due to vertebrae displacement”) that is largely junk science. I think anything related to PT is still somewhat terra incognita to medical science.
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I had frozen shoulder, both shoulders, but different years. Mine was rather bad, and I was told I could have it corrected by surgery. I was a teacher at that time and decided to have physical therapy. With my right shoulder I had PT twice each week in a hospital, PT department. it took many months, but it worked out well, and I did not miss any work time. The left shoulder was frozen a few years later. after Thanksgiving, bad weather, busy times. I did most of my PT at home. I learned what routine I needed while getting PT on the other shoulder.
There are machines at my local gym that would offer very good PT. I wish I had know about them while I had shoulder problems. There are trainers there who help people who have various physical handicaps. I work out there at least two days per week, just to keep my old body in good shape. Been doing that for more than 10 years. One machine is called a shoulder press. Add a little more weight every few weeks and gradually improve. If I ever have another frozen shoulder, I will work it out at the gym.
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@Richard157 you always inspire me! My mother in law goes to the gym and she calls it her “long term care insurance” - coupled along with guitar lessons - she hopes it will keep her young! I’ll share your story.
Glad the frozen shoulder cleared up!
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So an update:
The cortisone shot definitely helped a lot. It took about 4 days to start feeling the effects, but my mobility has increased and pain decreased, to the point where pain is no longer interfering with sleep. I’m still having pain and muscle spasms with some arm movements and my mobility is definitely not close to back to normal, but for the first time in a while it improved some, instead of the rapid worsening which was happening.
The cortisone shot also, as expected, completely screwed with my blood sugars. I’m honestly just avoiding Clarity entirely for the moment, because I know it will just stress me out and it’s not meaningful really. I increased my Tresiba from 16u to 20u, which still wasn’t really enough, and I felt like I was just taking tons of insulin all the time regardless. I’m now back to 18u, and my blood sugars are mostly reasonable, but so I’m thinking I’m going to back down to 16-17 soon, in anticipation it’s soon going to start driving me low. Given the useful effects above though, I’d say the ortho was correct in predicting the temporary blood sugar effects would be worth it. I would make the same choice again, and maybe just increase my Tresiba even more aggressively.
I start PT on Monday (and no co-pay for this one, yay, since in network, as opposed to my CTD specialist PT), so will see if that helps continue to increase range of motion. I’m curious to see if I can completely avoid the frozen stage this way, which would be great.
Thanks everyone for your well wishes and for sharing your stories and suggestions! The amount of people who’ve experienced it does seem consistent with the findings that diabetics are at greater risk. I would encourage any diabetic who thinks they might have the beginnings of frozen shoulder (i.e. shoulder discomfort when moving the arm to the edges of range of motion) to get treatment ASAP, since I definitely wish I’d done the cortisone shot/PT earlier.
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@cardamom - I know this is an old topic, but I was just diagnosed with frozen shoulder after a way too long runaround and probably too long waiting on my part. I am not sleeping through the night with the pain. Am having a steroid injection under guided imagery tomorrow morning and hoping for some relief; will follow up with 2x/week PT starting a week later. Wondering if you can post an update on how your FS resolved? Many thanks! Jessica
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HI @JessicaD and @cardamom, my spouse who is Non-D went through with both shoulders. She did not have a great experience, but once the issue resolved she was non the worse for wear. For her is was a protracted (3-ish months/shoulder) painful time frame. I wish you both well in your recovery.
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EH did PT for both shoulders over the course of time. I’m thinking he’ll end up getting more PT for that soon. Finding someone who specializes in frozen shoulder would be helpful, although in our current community there’s no one who does that specifically. He’s still of the opinion that PT is the only solution. He’s done the cortisone injection and it didn’t resolve the problem.
I hope you’re on the mend @JessicaD!
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My frozen shoulder (2006) was originally treated with cortisone shots, which did temporarily improve the pain. PT did nothing to improve range of motion. After 4 or 5 cortisone shots I started seeing a chiropractor who used passive motion (ie painful force aka manipulation) to break up adhesions. Again, slight improvement in ROM but ultimately lost that.
5 years after initial diagnosis I had arthroscopic surgery which finally remedied the issue and resulted in full ROM and pain-free living.
Technically this is passive motion, when someone else moves your shoulder. Active motion is when you move it yourself. I found the same thing though—passive motion with someone else manipulating the shoulder to break it up (which my PT does) has been more helpful than active motion exercises that I do myself.
For me it’s been a process that has lasted almost 2 years by now. On average without doing anything, frozen shoulder resolves on its own within a year, but people with diabetes apparently take longer on average and are somewhat less likely to have it resolve, and there’s just a ton of variability in the course and what helps.
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Thanks, I’ve corrected my error … 
Wow! That is interesting. My mom is T2, has had frozen shoulder for quite some time. She’s resistant to both active and passive motion (ie: it hurts, and she’s basically lazy - which isn’t nice to say, but it’s true. She is somewhat the opposite of most folks on FUD). She’d done some PT and it probably didn’t have the results she was looking for. Although she was also trying to address another problem at the same time. Her doctor just last week mentioned the option of the surgery you’ve had. I’m glad to hear it was successful. Although the doctor strongly recommended the PT again, this time solely with a focus on the frozen shoulder.
Wow! That’s crazy to hear! Eric dealt with it for a year before seeking treatment once it progressed to the point where showering and dressing went out the window. Surfing was long gone by then, it hurt too much. And my mom has been dealing with it for longer too. It’s interesting to think of it just resolving! I can’t imagine that.
Thanks for everyone sharing about their frozen shoulders. I am sending good shoulder thoughts your way.
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This was my experience with the shoulder that did not respond to PT, manipulations, assigned exercises, acupuncture, or electrical muscle stimulation. (My first frozen shoulder, on the other side, responded rapidly to a few rounds of PT.) By then I was no longer in pain and I could use my dominant hand again, and I didn’t want to get into steroid shots and/or surgery, so I just left it, and after about a year it was fine. I have not had a recurrence on either side.
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Thank you all for all of the responses! I had the cortisone shot last week – OMG – @Jim_YYC I’m not sure how you geared yourself up to go back for more… Not my favorite experience; then the lidocaine wore off an hour into a three hour (solo) drive - silent tears of pain running down my face for two hours! Ugh! But toward 5-6 days in, I think the cortisone may have started helping things a little? I’m still in pain when I try to move it + sleeping is a lost cause, but I think it’s helping a little.
I started PT this morning and the passive motion exercises that the PT did actually felt good. He then gave me some shoulder strengthening exercises to do and those were more strenuous and not as great, but I’m willing to give it all a shot.
A diabetic friend just had the surgery that @Jim_YYC had after not being able to get rid of the “FFS” as we are calling it (create your own acronym) – I will let her know of your success with the procedure!
Thanks again all - I will keep you posted! Oh! And a blood sugar PS: increased my (Lantus) basal by 33% and increased humalog randomly by a few units with each meal and am doing pretty well with BS mgmt! Waiting for the fall off of the cortisone – likely around 2 weeks post injection? Thanks! Jessica
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Yeah if you leave frozen shoulder alone, it should eventually just resolve for most (but not all) people. Treatment is there to make it happen more quickly, because it’s both inconvenient and painful waiting, and there are a minority of folks for whom it won’t resolve on its own. One reason people may say such different things about what works is that for some folks, it may be resolving on its own but then attributed to whatever treatment they happen to be doing at that point. Hard to say! I know for me, it didn’t seem to be resolving well until I got more intensive manual therapy, so I think that’s been an important factor, but you can never really know for sure.
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Hello again! An update: I did PT 2x/week through the summer, but didn’t see much relief on pain or range of motion. Had a follow up with my orthopedic shoulder specialist last week and had another cortisone injection under fluoroscopy a week ago. I had lost range of motion from when I saw her earlier in the summer. Today I will return to PT for another try. The pain and inability to play tennis and really to function as an active person is really depressing. (Chopping vegetables is painful…?) The cumulative lack of sleep (I wake up almost hourly it seems as any movement will wake me up with the pain) is rotten. It’s really frustrating that nothing is working. That said, I guess I’m only five months into what can be many more months for others. My shoulder specialist said we should consider surgery in a couple of months if the second cortisone shot + PT aren’t helpful. This is all so frustrating, but I am trying to stay upbeat with other aspects of my life going very well so trying to focus on those. I just miss a good morning stretch. Jessica
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PS - over the summer I also had massage once weekly (and am continuing!) and saw a chiropractor a number of times. He used a device called “floss” that weightlifters often use on their knees to wrap my shoulder VERY TIGHTLY, which then allowed him to do range of motion exercises on my arm that achieved greater ROM than without the floss. It also cuts off circulation to your extremity, so it can’t be on for very long. Strange device. I was up in Maine for the summer and am back in Boston now and am just going to stick with PT and massage for now. And there are rumblings of suggestions to try acupuncture or possibly dry needling???
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With my worse of two frozen shoulders, my PT tried acupuncture as well as electrical muscle stimulation. Both brought some relief but not lasting in my case. Others have good success. You have nothing to lose by trying. My approach was “surgery only after everything else has been tried.”
Surprising, isn’t it. That wrist motion really bugs the shoulder, apparently. I couldn’t cook for several months – couldn’t hold a knife, a whisk, or a wooden spoon. Not being able to cook was as much agony as the shoulder itself! Unfortunately I could still use a mouse, so had to keep working …
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