← Return to Headache in back of head possible symptom of GCA?

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@tsc

Hi @wedgyjackson, I had symptoms of pain and stiffness throughout my body, PMR, not diagnosed. Then I had a very stiff neck with pain extending to the back of my head on the left and right sides. Also a tender scalp, when I touched it, dry cough that started in the evenings, terrible fatigue, and an itchy torso for a couple of weeks, at night, no rash. I had short stabbing pains from my ear to my nose on the right side of my face, and problems seeing out of my right eye a few times. The symptoms came and went, but the neck/head pain was constant. I was diagnosed with GCA following a temporal artery biopsy and started on 40 mg prednisone, tapering down 5 mg every two weeks, then less when I was at 10 mg. I've been off prednisone about a year. I still get neck and shoulder pain, but it's due to rotator cuff problem and arthritis.

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Replies to "Hi @wedgyjackson, I had symptoms of pain and stiffness throughout my body, PMR, not diagnosed. Then..."

Thanks @tsc. I haven't experienced the scalp tenderness ,vision problems or the sharp pains but the rest of your symptoms match mine to a tee. I have an appointment with my PCP next week and will definitely mention GCA. The loss of vision possibility is indeed worrisome. I really appreciate your response.

Any signs of loss of vision don’t wait. Get on high doses of steroids. Vision loss doesn’t necessarily come at once. It may start slowly and then one day it’s gone. Get on higher doses NOW