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How often does PMR progress to GCA?
Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) | Last Active: Nov 2 9:39am | Replies (128)Comment receiving replies
I'm glad I dropped in on these conversations. I take 5mg of prednisone for PMR. Lately, I've been experiencing difficulties reading. The last time I had my eyes checked, it was determined that it was "dry eye" syndrome. Years ago, I had iritis and was on the verge of going blind when the doctors in Spokane diagnosed it. I was the second person that they had been able to stop going blind with cortisone. i don't have headaches, fever or any of the other symptoms mentioned. Even so, I think I'll schedule an appointment with my optometrist tomorrow. I am assuming GCA refers to glaucoma. Correct me if I am wrong.
Replies to "I'm glad I dropped in on these conversations. I take 5mg of prednisone for PMR. Lately,..."
GCA is for Giant Cell Arteritis. I would highly recommend seeing a rheumatologist for vision change if you have PMR. My husband had PMR and later developed GCA. It’s a very serious condition. To diagnose it they checked his ESR and CRP blood levels for inflammation and scheduled a temporal biopsy which showed he had inflammation of his blood vessels. He was put on high dose prednisone which wasn’t working so we ended up in the ER where the ER doc put him on a very high dose of methylprednisolone (1200 mg) for three days. His inflammation finally started going down. We’re a month into it and his levels are normal. They have him on 80 mg prednisone splitting the dose 50 in the am and 30 in the pm. He just stated weekly Actemra injections which his doc says he’ll need 2-3 years. With the goal of greatly reducing his need for prednisone. Good luck! I hope you don’t have or get GCA. One more things. His PMR was under control. He had been diagnosed in May 2023. He was down to 12.5 mg prednisone and pain free. Then this February he started getting horrible headaches, jaw and scalp pain, his temples were sensitive and there were times his temples were inflamed. He lost his appetite and has lost weight through this process. He’s had multiple CT scans and labs done to rule out cancer.
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We are glad you dropped in!
GCA refers to Giant Cell Arteritis and it isn't the same as Glaucoma. Do you have glaucoma?
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/giant-cell-arteritis/symptoms-causes/syc-20372758#:~:text=Giant%20cell%20arteritis%20is%20an,is%20sometimes%20called%20temporal%20arteritis.
If you ask me ... you should definitely see an "eye doctor" regularly simply because of having PMR and being on Prednisone. Your history of iritis complicates things even more. At the very least you need annual visits. I won't dwell on the potential eye problems that Prednisone can cause.
I had frequent "unscheduled visits" with an ophthalmologist because of Uveitis which is a global term that includes iritis. The type of uveitis you have depends on which part or parts of the eye are inflamed. It doesn't matter because all types of uveitis are serious.
ANTERIOR UVEITIS affects the inside of the front of your eye (between the cornea and the iris) and the ciliary body. IT IS ALSO CALLED IRITIS and is the most common type of uveitis.
INTERMEDIATE UVEITIS affects the retina and blood vessels just behind the lens (pars plana) as well as the gel in the center of the eye (vitreous).
POSTERIOR UVEITIS affects a layer on the inside of the back of your eye, either the retina or the choroid.
PANUVEITIS occurs when all layers of the uvea are inflamed, from the front to the back of your eye.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/uveitis/symptoms-causes/syc-20378734