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Very uncomfortable face and head sensations
Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) | Last Active: 3 days ago | Replies (9)Comment receiving replies
@pah17 yes I am dealing with a rhumatologist after having sudden very high
CRP levels (178) and many other blood markers that were suddenly way out of range. Diagnosed with PMR and started on 60mg of prednisone even though I've been feeling ill for many years before with blood markers within range apart from moderate hypogammaglobulinaemia. I've had the scans for GCA twice and they were normal. I'm on 5mg of prednisone at the moment but I think it's not enough to keep my pain away and possibly too low and making me feel really ill.
I do itch pretty much everywhere especially around my torso and chest and arms which I think is a mixture of very dry skin and nerve pain from thoracic/ribcage inflammation/arthritis.
This facial discomfort and the feeling like I'm having strokes all day long is extremely tiring and although I've mentioned it to my doctor and rhumatologist, they haven't come up with any answers.
Replies to "@pah17 yes I am dealing with a rhumatologist after having sudden very high CRP levels (178)..."
First, I'm very sorry to hear hear you are going through all of this. I know this is very frustrating on top of the pain.
I have had a similar -- although not as severe -- experience.
Before my first bout of PMR in 2017, I had some rather minor but unexplained facial numbness/neuropathy. Nobody could tell me why.
Once PMR set in, it became a full-blown cranial neuropathy with intense headaches, sometimes the sudden shooting kind (perhaps similar to what you're describing as strokes?).
Lots of tests, including GCA and MRIs and neurological studies, resulting in only shoulder shrugs from docs in return. Even after my PMR was under control and off prednisone, the head condition continued. The shooting headaches went away for the most part, but the neuropathy and underlying headache never went away and has never been explained. The only thing that helped some was having vertebrae fused in my neck for deteriorating disc disease -- obviously an unrelated condition.
I did have lots of skin conditions on my head as well, but not as severe as you seem to have it, which I attributed to the prednisone.
PMR hit me hard again this past November and with it the headaches intensified, but not the sudden shooting kind. Got the body pain under control with prednisone once again but the head condition continues.
So unfortunately, I have no good answer and have been given no answers over the past nine years. But the intensity in my case did at least ebb some.
All I can say is that perhaps your PMR is interacting with some other underlying condition.
Hopefully you will get some more answers in this forum. And please keep us posted on how it's going.
r/Barry
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@frenchfrank51
Do antihistamines do anything to relieve the itching? Benadryl?
I wonder if the itching is related to some kind of nerve issue. I have an itching at my right shoulder blade that the doctor mentioned it could be the nerve. I have applied nerve pain cream in the area and it did help.
I hate all these mysterious symptoms!
Best of luck to you!!