Your rigidity and the fact that it is worse in the morning might indicate that you have polymyalgia rheumatica or PMR, a condition which hits people over 50 and comes on starting with the shoulders and eventually including the trunk and sometimes knees. Do you have difficulty lifting your arms over your head. Overall, does it lessen a the day goes on? If it is PMR, you will be put on prednisone. After a day or two, the symptoms dramatically recede, and, in fact, reacting positively to the prednisone indicates that you do indeed have PMR. If prednisone does not help, then it is not PMR. Go to google and check oout polymyalgia (NOT FIBROMYALGIA) rheumatica to see if you fit the description.

By the way, PMR is described as self-limiting, meaning it will go away on its own without meds, but it can last anywhere from months to five years! They believe the cause is both environmental and genetic, but there is some speculation that there may be a contagion aspect also.

Ann