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Hello @lynd, Welcome to Connect. Headaches can be a symptom of prednisone withdrawal but I'm not sure of sensitive scalp. My doctor was always asking me if I had any tenderness in the scalp or temple areas due to the concern of GCA. I don't think blood tests alone can diagnose GCA. Here's more information on the topic:
"How is GCA diagnosed?
The best way to confirm a diagnosis of giant cell arteritis is by taking a small sample (biopsy) of the temporal artery. This artery is situated close to the skin just in front of your ears and continues up to your scalp."
-- Giant cell arteritis - Diagnosis and treatment:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/giant-cell-arteritis/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20372764.
@tsc and @zaa may also have some thoughts on headaches and sensitive scalp while tapering to a lower dose of prednisone. Have you tried bumping the dose back to 6 or splitting a 1 mg tablet and going up to 5.5 to see if the symptoms go away?
Replies to "Hello @lynd, Welcome to Connect. Headaches can be a symptom of prednisone withdrawal but I'm not..."
@johnbishop I also am struggling with tapering down from 4.5 mg to 4mg of Prednisone. Been on 25mg per day for 30 years, and then spent the last 15 years tapering down, very very slow. The symptoms are the same as you are describing them. 200 mg of Plaquinil has helped me get this far, but now the headaches are beyond the joke. I just took an extra 1mg tonight and see how i go.
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Hi thank you for your message. I will try the 1/2 dose as suggested as dropping from 6 to 5 is more than the 10% recommended. If no improvement I will see my Rheumtalogist. What is the best medication to take for the headache?