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Prednisone and change in hair texture

Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) | Last Active: Sep 16 11:28pm | Replies (28)
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@karo89135

Hi Teri,

Curious, how did you know the GCA returned? My new rheumatologist thinks I should have the arterial biopsy after 8 years on prednisone, dose packs for flares, methotrexate and now, Kevsara. Have had bad headaches, (history of migraines), tmj pain and vision issues. Not really interested as it is extremely invasive but certainly scary and might set off another flare as I don’t tolerate pain well.
Good luck to you!
Karo

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Replies to "Hi Teri, Curious, how did you know the GCA returned? My new rheumatologist thinks I should..."
Teri | @tsc | Sep 12 3:14pm

Hi @karo89135, my GCA returned earlier than I suspected. I had severe neck and head pain which I thought were muscle aches. I lost my appetite and experienced malaise. That's kind of like a gray cloud surrounding me where the thought of doing things is overwhelming. I also felt faint when I got up in the mornings. The pains in the head became tingling, numbing pains.
When I went for my Medicare checkup I asked the Nurse practitioner to order a CRP because I was "feeling things." CRP was elevated. The rheumatologist tried a Prednisone quick pack, but after the last dosage CRP had doubled so he put me back on 40 mg prednisone and brought up an Il 6 inhibitor which I have not taken yet. I'm down to 10 mg of prednisone now.

I had the temporal artery biopsy when I was first diagnosed and it wasn't painful. I did get general anesthetic.The incision healed quickly and I really didn't feel it.
GCA can result in permanent blindness so visual disturbance is serious.
Have you been on high doses of prednisone all these years?

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