Don't be scared because you are not alone in having this concern. GCA is scary but having read comments within the support group how people have done well overall with treatment is encouraging. I, myself, just had the biopsy done recently, and my results came back "least likely" to have GCA (only have an 8% chance of having it).

My journey began 3+ years ago, with very odd symptoms, such as sensitivity to salt. To wrap it up in a nutshell, 15 Specialists and 3 Hospital visits later, I finally found a Rheumatologists that made it her mission to find a diagnosis for me. The day I went into the office, I expected that they didn't find anything since I didn't hear from them sooner. Much to my surprise I was diagnosed with PMR. During my visit, the Rheumatologist asked if I was experiencing any other symptoms. I mentioned to her that I was having double vision for the past 1 to 1 1/2 weeks on an off. I was immediately put on Prednisone 60 mg for GCA. I stayed on that dose for 2 weeks until I received my biopsy results at my next Rheumatologist appointment. With my results being "least likely" my Rheumatologist immediately took me down from 60 mgs to 40 mgs during that visit. Then to 30 mgs the following week, and this Friday I will be going down to 20 mg. The following week I will be taken down to 10 mg. Then I have my Rheumatologist visit again. At that point, she said she would take me down by 2.5 per month, until I'm at 2.5 mgs as my base dose and then she may need to add another medication in to balance me off. Hopefully things will work out and this won't be another roller coaster ride. No matter what, I am grateful for the diagnosis, and optimistic I will get through this too! I am also a cancer survivor.