Giant Cell Arteritis Concerns after One-sided Jaw Pain

After headaches, prominent vein shows at my temples ,and left side jaw pain, I was diagnosed and confirmed to have GCA by biopsy. Also, had horrific stiffness and pain in hips and shoulders and was diagnosed with PMR at the same time.That was in 2015 at the age of 58 and I'm female. i was under extreme stress caring for my elderly Dad and traveling for my job. I had experienced the jaw pain to the point that I hated opening my mouth to eat. Went to the dentist first and he said he was not TMJ. Went back to my general Dr. and after 3 times complaining that rx anti inflammatory weren't working, I saw a new Dr. and he became alarmed and put me on 60 mg prednisone ,so I would not suffer sight loss.I had a biopsy done by a neuro opthalmologist the following day before the prednisone could produce a false negative. I am very grateful that the new Dr. took it seriously. The outcome could have been much worse.The GCA symptoms went away within days and have not returned. The PMR is a constant battle. I am now after 3 years off prednisone ,but have flares occasionally that I take celebrex for. Sorry to be so lengthy, but many times important details make a difference for others. Prayers be with you.

@dsteede and @kdmorris - I know my reply to each of you is a bit late, but I just wanted to say that I hope you both are able to have a little peace. More importantly, please know that I shall keep you both in my heart and prayers. God bless you both.

@mrsbv, @dsteede and @kdmorris -- There is a another much larger discussion where your posts will receive more visibility and you can meet other members discussing Giant Cell Arteritis (GCA).

> Groups > Autoimmune Diseases > Temporal Arteritis or Giant Cell Arteritis
-- https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/temperol-arteritis-or-giant-cell-arteritis/

@dsteede, I also have polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) but it is currently in remission. I've had two occurrences of PMR. The first one lasted a little over 3 years and the second one about a 1-1/2 years. Both times my rheumatologist was concerned that I might have GCA and would ask me about tenderness in my scalp and temples but fortunately I did not have GCA. You mentioned doing some research which caused you to be a little concerned about the possibility of GCA. The following sites which you may have already seen do mention jaw pain associated with RA in case you didn't already know about it.

National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society -- Jaw problems - RA and the jaw
-- https://www.nras.org.uk/jaw-problems

RA and Jaw Pain: Can Rheumatoid Arthritis Cause Jaw Pain?
-- https://www.rheumatoidarthritis.org/ra/jaw-pain/

I have yet to find a GCA discussion group that you refer to in link above. When I am signed in and connect to the link: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/temperol-arteritis-or-giant-cell-arteritis/
I get a page with discussions from 2018m, and if I try to link to any replies to the questions, I get a pictures of the repliers, but no messages to see.
Maybe I misunderstood and maybe the only discussions pop-up once-in-awhile on the PMR Group site.

Welcome @abi, You are right. There isn't a GCA only discussion group. GCA related discussions are included in the Polymyalgia Rheumatica Support Group here - https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/polymyalgia-rheumatica-pmr/.

The link I shared was to one specific discussion on GCA that was created in 2018 but has posts from Dec 2022. The discussion description is at the top of the page and the posts are below the description with the member profile pictures to the left of each post.

Do you see the post text to the right of the member profile picture?

Thanks, John, for your response. I will definitely go to the general PMR link to see messages about GCA. I am assuming that one has to reply to a post only with the blue reply button? I was clicking on the reaction link hoping to see others' response to a post, and found no replies.
Thank you for your patience with a "tech-impaired" member. . .
Carol

Hi Carol, Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. We all learn together 🙃 If you use the Reply button under a post, the member who posted will get a notification email. If you go to the bottom of the discussion and click on the Post Comment button only members following the discussion will receive email notifications.

The Help Center (link at top right of Connect pages) has step by step instructions for the different tasks you can do on Connect. Here's the link - https://connect.mayoclinic.org/help-center/.