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Temporal biopsies to diagnose GCA: What's your experience?
Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) | Last Active: Nov 6, 2023 | Replies (19)Comment receiving replies
Welcome @sasserb3, Sorry you haven't been able to get rid of the headaches even though they are mild. I can't imagine haven't to add that to the other symptoms. This is an older article from 2008 but it sounds like it might be relevant to your symptoms.
"Headaches were more common in biopsy-negative GCA patients: 91% of them presented with headaches, compared to only 40% of non-GCA patients (p=0.005). Thrombo-cytosis was more common in patients with biopsy-negative GCA compared to non-GCA patients (73% and 19%, respectively, p=0.001)."
--- Negative temporal artery biopsies: eventual diagnoses and features of patients with biopsy-negative giant cell arteritis compared to patients without arteritis: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19210879/.
I'm assuming you have been diagnosed with PMR 15 months ago. Were you started on both prednisone and methotrexate?
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The original diagnosis was several years ago, starting with PMR. I was put on the original dose of prednisone Fall of 2018. On seeking a specialist they raised that dose through Spring/Summer of ‘19. After titrating off Prednisone I was prescribed the Methotrexate Jan. of 2020. Now I am also dealing with Breast Cancer. So put on Letrazole. Makes me sound like a very unhealthy person. But I remain very active & try to stick to healthy foods. 🤷♀️