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GCA (Giant Cell Arteritis) and PMR (polymyalgia rheumatica)

Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) | Last Active: Oct 25 10:20am | Replies (277)
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@tsc

Hi @moonchild, I suffered with PMR (pain on a scale of 10 out of 10) for four months, full blown and my inflammation markers, ESR and CRP, were only slightly elevated so I wasn't diagnosed. I then got terrible neck stiffness, scalp tenderness, short little stabbing pains on the side of my head, anorexia and anemia. Nine months after the first blood work my ESR and CRP were off the charts. I had a temporal artery biopsy and was diagnosed with Giant Cell Arteritis and put on 40 mg of prednisone. I'm down to 1 mg now.

Were you ever prescribed prednisone and did it help? Usually the dosage for PMR is 15 -20 mg and the relief is often described as "miraculous." The dosage for GCA is higher. It's serious - untreated it can cause stroke or blindness. Have you had problems with your jaw when eating, unable to chew, or difficulty seeing? Has any doctor ever suggested a temporal artery biopsy?

If symptoms don't respond to prednisone, it could be an infection, malignancy, connective tissue disorder or hypothyroidism. I got this information from a diagnostic algorithm for PMR from Cecil and Goldman's Textbook of Medicine.

I hope you get some relief and find some answers soon.

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Replies to "Hi @moonchild, I suffered with PMR (pain on a scale of 10 out of 10) for..."
dmoonchild | @dmoonchild | Aug 10, 2022

Hi, thanks for the reply. I’m getting the jaw pain now and headaches. I don’t suffer headaches normally. ( everything else hurts ) 😂
I’ve been on prednisone for bouts of back issues and it always helped, but that was years ago.

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grammy82 | @grammy82 | May 19, 2023

I have GCA.....and it is possible to have PMR or GCA without the ESR and CRP being elevated. If you suffer from these symptoms, please keep looking for answers.

I had all the symptoms in late 2018 through 2019, even jaw claudication, and I absolutely couldn't chew. It was not until I woke one August morning in 2019, blind in one eye that I was 'thought' to have GCA. The ER I was in at the time in Maine never gave me any steroids but made an appointment with an ophthalmologist and scheduled me for a temporal biopsy in four days! I didn't know the difference and I don't think many people I encountered were any more familiar with GCA. After the biopsy, I was put on first 125mg pred, then 80 mg methylprednisolone along with Actemra.
It has been a struggle..as you all know...I'd lost some of the sight in my right eye also. My ophthalmologist referred me to a neuro-ophthalmologist who put me on Gabapentin for optic neuritis and I have good vision in that eye now..just a few blind spots...little.

Fast forward three years later; I'm on Actemra and just 3 mg of pred. So, yes, please be vigilant.💞

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